It’s mid-semester school holidays Down Under, and while the Australian states and territories might have slightly different school holiday times, just about everyone agrees that it’s hard to have a great holiday without a great book.
As Aussies bid farewell to our brief winter season and move into longer days and warmer weather, we begin to see more people spending time outdoors, often enjoying a good read in traditional print or in e-book format.
School students of all ages not only follow suit, they can actually be ahead of this and other reading trends. Remember when Dan Brown’s Da Vinci Code stormed the world, selling so quickly that book stores and public libraries couldn’t keep up with the demand?
Many of my senior secondary school students quickly identified with the interest in Dan Brown’s international best seller and became a part of this world wide reading community. They’re still reading.
These days, recreational reading is setting a new trend and has many forms. No matter whether the traditional book or the latest model e-book device is the preferred method, recreational reading is enjoying a resurgence not only with readers who identify more with book stores and public libraries but within the connected community as well.
Never before have readers had so much choice. From Shakespeare to J K Rowlings, anyone, anywhere will now be able to read almost anything ever published in almost any format.
The following Great Holiday Reading suggestions have been developed in response to the readers I work with and know best – middle school students. I work in a boys’ school, and my students continually affirm the research findings that boys prefer reading series to stand alone novels or titles.
The Ishmael series
Michael Gerard Bauer
Skulduggery Pleasant series
Derek Landy
People’s Republic (new Cherub series)
Robert Muchamore
Furnace series
Alexander Gordon Smith
Spud series
John Van De Ruit
Tomorrow series
John Marsden
Ranger’s Apprentice series
John Flanagan
The Chronicles of Vladimir Todd
Heather Brewer
Darkside series
Tom Becker
The Youngest Templar series
Michael P Spradlin
Currently all the above titles are available in book form. However, some may be available as e-books now, and if not, then my readers tell me that the ‘connected community of readers’ won’t have too much longer to wait before they, too, will be able to enjoy reading these and others on their preferred device. Happy reading!
Nerelie Teese [B Teach (Hons); M Ed; Grad Dip T-L Ed] is an experienced educator and teacher librarian in Melbourne, Australia. She is also an avid reader who enjoys sharing her passion for books and reading.
Want to write for Edudemic? It’s free, fun and a great way to get your work noticed. Click here for details.