Fantastic Friday: Summer is for Reading + Giveaway!

Happy Summer!

Okay, so summer may not be here officially given the date on the calendar, but it is June, and school is out, and I’m already halfway through my first summer reading book.

For today’s Fantastic Friday post, I wanted to give a shout-out to the students at Catoctin Elementary School, who invited me to attend their literacy night. During the year, the students created projects showcasing why literacy is important through all stages of life. You can find many of the facts they used here.

The students had invited me to do a workshop earlier in the school year, and I was honored to be invited back to hear and see their presentations about literacy. The night even included service dogs and student-read stories. What a fun way to end the school year and to kick off the start of summer.

My summer reading list includes several books I’m reading that are affiliated with book clubs and high school reading groups:

I enjoyed discussing Corgi Capers with eager young readers and writers at the start of the year. Photos courtesy of Catoctin Elementary School facebook page.

Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir is the book I’ve chosen to read as part of a community-wide reading program. I’ve displayed my book choice and encourage students and parents from the community to read the same book and then get together in August for a discussion.If you are local and interested in joining the discussion, please email me.

Then there are three sort-of-but-not-quite random books I’ve been assigned for a young adult reading club I’m in for the coming school year: A Constellation of Vital Phenomena by Anthony Marra, 13 Little Blue Envelopes by Maureen Johnson, and Girl in Pieces by Kathleen Glasgow.

You can look forward to reviews on my blog each Monday. I’ve got lots of other books, of course. The summer is never long enough to conquer them all.

In the meantime, I have been reading several books in The Magic Tree House series after purchasing a bundle of them for my daughter at a consignment sale. I ended up with two copies of Book #4: Pirates Past Noon. To celebrate summer reading, I’m running a giveaway. The winner will receive the used copy of Pirates Past Noon, an autographed copy of Corgi Capers: Deceit on Dorset Drive, and a code for a free download of The Scarred Letter. You can enter using the rafflecopter link here.

In the meantime, good luck, happy summer, and happy reading!