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A Summer Reading Wrap-Up


I don't know about you, but Labor Day weekend always marks the end of summer to me.  Even though the actual first day of fall comes a few weeks later, it just seems like the beginning of September really makes it feel like fall.

And with fall here I thought I would do a little Summer Reading Wrap-Up!



The kiddos have been busy reading and earning $$ all summer with our very own custom summer reading program.  They've kept me on my toes making up coupons and coming up with prizes!  As the summer began to come to an end, I resorted to recycling coupons and then finally just saying "if you bingo, I'll give you a dollar" (just so I didn't have to make more coupons...haha).  

The Princess ended up earning $47.81 and Mr. B earned $20.27.  That was at a penny a page.  You can tell who loves to read the most:)

I'm just glad they were motivated to read though.  The Princess was definitely more motivated than Mr. B was but they both got some books read and that makes it worth it.  

The Princess even participated in a relaxed book club with friends each week this summer.  It was really fun!  The girls would discuss the book they were reading that week, eat snacks, and work on crafts together.  And we mamas got to sit around for a couple of hours, snacking and chatting it up ourselves:)  


They read through six classics over the summer: Under the Lilacs, Eight Cousins, Five Little Peppers and How They Grew, Five Little Peppers Midway, Joel: A Boy From Galilee, and A Little Princess. 

As for my personal reading...

I got a few books in.  I mostly did a little review reading of some youth books we'd received but that I didn't know anything about--best way to find out was to read them so I did.

This is what I got finished:
  • A Thomas Jefferson Education by Oliver DeMille: an excellent read for any parent--homeschooler or not--or educator!
  •  The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton: a re-read for me, but I was 12 the last time I read it.  Loved it just as much the 2nd time around.
  • Esperanza Rising by Pam Munoz Ryan: a wonderful story of a Mexican family who immigrates to California during the 1930's.
  • The Wonder of Charlie Anne by Kimberly Newton Fusco: a sweet story of two young friends standing against racism during the 1930's
  • One Came Home by Amy Timberlake: a good mystery story set in the 1800's--not great, but good
  • Doll Bones by Holly Black: didn't like this one particularly
  • Shadow by Michael Morpurgo: a heart-warming story drawn from true events.


We always have a family read-aloud going, too.  This summer we read (some for the 2nd time) through the books by Beverly Cleary about Henry, Ribsy, Beezus, and Ramona ...some of our faves!  We did a lot of laughing!  Now we're in the middle of The Extraordinary Education of Nicholas Benedict.  We love this series of books, too!


And that pretty much wraps up our reading this summer!  

What have you been reading lately?  I'd love to hear!

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