Don't Get Dumber This Summer

Don't Get Dumber This Summer

Friday, July 4, 2008

filed under: tween & teen logic

Guest Blogger Pam says anytime is learning time and you can slip a little bit of history in like those hidden vegetables.

Summer is here and the living is easy, at least for the kids. But why let their little brain cells atrophy, keep them learning and reading this summer. Books with some history embedded are a painless way to learn about the past. Here is a list for tweens (9-12):

	Percy Jackson series by Rick Riordan. Mr. Riordan was a sixth grade teacher who had a dyslexic son who hated to read but loved Greek myths, so his dad told him the stories using a modern twist and those stories became these books. They actually do teach about Greek mythology.
	Left For Dead by Pete Nelson An inspiring story that boys of this age will enjoy. It tells the very true story of the U.S. Indianapolis and how she was sunk after delivering the atomic bomb to the planes who would drop it. The ship was sunk by Japanese torpedoes and only 150 men survived. The story doesn't stop there, but includes an 11-year-old boy, who in 1996, comes to the aid of the survivors and changes history.
	The American Girl Series A wonderful series that takes girls through American history starting with Kaya, an American Indian girl, and ending with Julie, a girl who wins the right to play on the boys basketball team in 1971. This is a fun series that has the dolls as an added element for inspiration.
	Riding Freedom by Pam Munoz Ryan A fictionalized biography that tells the story of Carlotte Parkhurst, who was raised in an orphanage for boys and became a famous stagecoach driver and the first woman to vote.
	The Way Things Work by David Macaulay Macaulay writes and illustrates books that teach history and architecture with beautiful, fascinating books that even adults will enjoy with their tweens. The City walks us through the construction of an imaginary Roman City.

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We looked at Battle of the Labrinyth in a sci-fi/fantasy lit class I took last year, it’s interesting and a good read for the kiddies. =] Aren’t the American Girl books a little underaged, though, for tweens? I remember reading them at 4 or 5 … although I did continue reading them at 11 and 12, it was moreso because they were familiar re-reads at that point.

- Kirstie

Posted 07/04/08 12:00 PM