The summer reading assignment: all students dread it. Sadly, some students don’t even do it, and if they do, a lot of them copy someone else’s work or just look up a summary of the book.

I’m an avid reader. I love reading but every year when the summer reading assignment is mentioned, I loathe it. I don’t like being forced to read a book. I already finished school and now have to read a book I don’t want to read. I haven’t liked any of the books we were forced to read. However, if we must read a book every year over the summer, I think we should take into account the following thoughts:

• Different genres: For the past three years I’ve been at this school, the book has been the same genre every time. Not everyone likes to read non-fiction books. In English class, are the books we are asked to read all of the same genre? No, they’re not. We read a variety of genres so we are exposed to different types of writing. If you want to get more students into reading, you can’t have the same genre every single year.
• Get the students involved: You can make the students feel like they have a say in the book. Make a list of books that you think will be good (with different genres), send out a Google form with descriptions of each book, and let the all of the students vote for which book they want to read based on the description. Then the book with the most votes is the book we read.
• A list of books to choose from: Even better, let each student choose what book they want to read. You could send out a list of books (with different genres) and have the individual students choose the book. This could make reading more enjoyable for the students if they read a book that has a topic or something that interests them. Allowing student choice may lead to more avid readers and students completing the summer reading assignment.

The summer reading assignment makes students think of reading as a punishment and something to despise, especially when they have to do a written assignment along with reading that is written in the most confusing way possible. If you do any of these things, students may read the summer reading book. And they may even find reading as enjoyable as I have.