The Ramsey Public School District is dedicated to encouraging young people to see reading as a meaningful way to better understand our passions, our curiosities, and the world around us. In these particularly trying times, we feel that reading now, more than ever, is an essential outlet for our young people, as it provides a medium to grow creativity, critical thinking, communication, empathy, reflection, and the essential literacy skills that they will need in the future. In order to do this, we feel that choice is essential to finding the right book to pique our students' curiosity during the summer months; therefore, this summer students will choose at least two books, fiction or nonfiction, which they feel would be both engaging and appropriate for a middle school audience. Although the minimum is two, we hope that students will read more. While reading, we encourage students to continue using all the skills and strategies they have learned this year to be active readers. This could include jotting, using post its, and writing about their reading in a reader's notebook. During the week of September 20th, students will need to be prepared to demonstrate their understanding of their chosen works.

Below, we also have a list of student-generated recommendations. We encourage you to read as a family, draw upon common interests, and have conversations that create deep and lasting connections with literature. We also recommend that you preview the book to ensure it is appropriate for you and your family. One resource to help with this is Common Sense Media.

We wish you a healthy and happy summer!

If you have any questions about the summer reading, please feel free to call Carmen Lacherza, English Language Arts Supervisor, at 201-785-2300 Extension 21572 or email clacherza@ramsey.k12.nj.us.