April 11, 2024

Dear Families of Students in Grade 8,

As the end of the school year draws near, our Reinberger Libraries begin planning for summer reading. This year, your rising ninth-graders will participate in the Upper School’s summer reading program, which is designed to encourage reading as a fulfilling and pleasurable activity, modeled by the faculty. It also helps to maintain reading skills and reduce the effect of the “summer slide.” In Upper School, students are required to read only one book over the summer – chosen from a selection of faculty nominations – which is paired with a short assignment. We always hope, of course, that students will use some of their extra time during the summer months to read many more books of their choosing. The range of faculty nominations takes into consideration the varied interests, abilities, learning styles and maturity levels of the students served as well as provide varying levels of difficulty, appeal and points of view that are reflective of the pluralistic nature of a global society.

We are launching these book nominations to your eighth-graders today. While printed copies of nominations are on display in the Upper School Library, nominated titles, book covers and links to reviews are located on the Summer Reading website, which is also available under Upper School Resources on the Family Resources Page of the school’s website. Families are strongly encouraged to review this list and talk with their children about the possible choices, as this may be your children’s first introduction to upper school reading material and its range in levels of maturity and difficulty.

Although nominations have a high degree of potential reader appeal, ours is a student-focused model, and the final summer reading selections are determined by student choice. These choices are due by next Friday, April 19, which provides students and families over a week to browse and research the nominations. The website will be updated in mid-May after these selections are determined and again in early June after assignments for each book are posted. Students will receive their assignments in late May when they have the opportunity to meet their faculty/staff discussion group leaders.

Summer reading nominations are often highly anticipated by students each year, so we hope that you might also find a title or two that you’d like to read this summer as well.

Sincerely,

Lorena Popelka

Upper School Librarian 

Yearbook Advisor