10 Books For Summer Reading
A list of challenging, interesting books for high school students
Ask any tutor what skill is the hardest to improve and you’ll get the same answer: pure reading comprehension. Math and grammar skills improve steadily if you work on the right material. You can teach time management, decision hygiene, and many other test-specific skills. But pure reading — What did that paragraph mean? — often does not budge. That’s because that skill only improves when you read difficult material carefully. And since many students don’t want to read difficult material at all (let alone carefully), they don’t improve.
But it’s always worth a shot.
Here is a list of books I’ve shared with students over the years. I can’t promise your students will read them…but they might! And if they don’t, maybe you’ll like them. These are all non-fiction because that type of writing is more common on standardized tests. Quick caveat: you really should vet these on your own. I can’t guarantee they will be appropriate for all students.
10 Non-Fiction Books For Students
The Devil and Sherlock Holmes: Tales of Murder, Madness, and Obsession, by David Grann. Possibly my favorite non-fiction book to recommend to students. David Grann wrote for The New Yorker and The Atlantic. This is a collection of his articles.
1491, by Charles Mann. So much of what I was taught about the Americas before Columbus was wrong. I’ve bought this book as a gift for friends and family more than any other.
Blink, by Malcolm Gladwell. I know, people question his rigor. But he’s an incredible writer, and kids love his work. Probably any of his books would be fine to recommend. If you can find his New Yorker articles, they are fun to assign also.
The Secret Life of Groceries: The Dark Miracle of the American Supermarket, by Benjamin Lorr. Funny and fascinating throughout. We talk to the Joe behind Trader Joe’s, ride with a trucker, stock frozen fish at Whole Foods, and pull for a product creator (of slawsa?) to make the big time as Lorr explores every link in the supply chain of the grocery store.
Killers of the Flower Moon, by David Grann. Yes, the same guy earlier in the list. He’s my favorite non-fiction writer, and all of his books are great. This one got turned into a Martin Scorsese movie.
Born Standing Up, by Steve Martin. Short, entertaining, and very well-written.
Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, by Michael Lewis. Like Malcolm Gladwell, Michael Lewis has come under fire for putting the story above all else. This book has flaws, but it’s also got a lot of interesting ideas, and it’s really fun to read.
The Devil In The White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America, by Erik Larson. Two story lines — one about a serial killer, the other about the Chicago’s World’s Fair.
Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup, by John Carreyou. The story of Elizabeth Holmes and Theranos.
Masters of Doom, by David Kushner. The story of the video game Doom and its two creators.