The Teacher's Summer Reading List

Some people say that the top three reasons to become a teacher are as follows: June, July, and August. While our post-spring-break-tired-teacher-selves might be inclined to agree, generally that particular characterization of our professional motivation can be a little demeaning. 
Nonetheless, there’s no denying that the respite of the summer months is a pretty significant perk of the job, especially when it comes to freeing up the headspace for one of my favorite summer activities: reading! Call me a nerd, but I eagerly look forward to the annual summer book binge, and my many trips to the local library and bookstores are truly a hallmark of the season.

I like to have books from a few different genres on hand at any given time so that there’s always something interesting to accompany my present mood. Sometimes I like taking advantage of the time away from the daily chaos of teaching to reflect on my practice with professional development books, sometimes I’m in a mood to expand my mind with nonfiction and current events, and other times I just want that silly escapist beach-read that gives me a whole new world of people and places to explore in my mind.

My husband may not love the stacks of books teetering on every flat surface of our house, but I insist that I am reading them all simultaneously and no, I can’t just do one at a time!

So, if you’re like me and looking for some great reads to dive into this summer, here’s a list to get you started. Some I’ve read personally over the years, and some I’ve heard great things about from others. We’d love to hear what you’re reading this summer as well, so feel free to leave a comment below, and happy summer reading!

Great PD books for teachers:

• The Flat World and Education by Linda Darling Hammond
• Teach Like a Champion by Doug Lemov
• Focus by Mike Schmoker
• The Essential Conversation: What Parents and Teachers Can Learn From Each Other by Sara Lawrence-Lightfoot
• The First Days of School: How to Be An Effective Teacher by Harry Wong
• Waking Up White by Debbie Irving
• Under Pressure: Confronting the Epidemic of Stress and Anxiety in Girls by Lisa Damour

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What the “kids” are reading, and books to build empathy in students:
​(Generally appropriate for middle and high school level.)

• All American Boys by Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely
• Refugee by Alan Gatz
• Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Saenz
• The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
• Turtles All the Way Down by John Green
• Dear Martin by Nic Stone
• Internment by Samira Ahmed
• Brain on Fire by Susannah Cahalan

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Nonfiction:

• American Like Me: Reflections on Life Between Cultures by America Ferrera
• The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates by Wes Moore
• Julia Child Rules: Lessons on Savoring Life by Karen Karbo
• Tribe: On Homecoming and Belonging by Sebastian Junger
• Tiny Beautiful Things: Advice on Life and Love by Cheryl Strayed
• What Made Maddy Run: The Secret Struggles and Tragic Death of an All American Teen by Kate Fagan
• Oh, Beautiful: An American Family in the 20th Century by John Paul Godges
• Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption by Bryan Stevenson

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Fiction & Memoir:

• Educated by Tara Westover
• Becoming by Michelle Obama
• Dispatches from the Edge: A Memoir of War, Disasters, and Survival by Anderson Cooper
• The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls
• Let’s Pretend This Never Happened: A Mostly True Memoir by Jenny Lawson
• Americanah by Chimimanda Ngozi Adichie
• Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens
• There, There by Tommy Orange
• Eligible by Curtis Sittenfeld
• The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein

Svea Schreiner

Svea Schreiner has been teaching middle and high school English and Language Arts in public schools for ten years. She has worked in suburban and rural settings in New Hampshire and West Virginia. She received her undergraduate degree in English Education from SNHU and her Master’s in Educational Leadership and Policy from Boston University.