Getting students to read over the summer is challenging even for parents of readers.  There are many Summer Reading Programs, but my friend Angie, just sent me this Summer Book Challenge that is completely new to me.

Students grades 3-12 read a book from the reading list provided by Summer Book Challenge, create a book report (requirements), mail book report along with a copy of the last student report card.  In return for the book report, students are sent a CHECK.  Funded by both private and public donations, Summer Book Challenge is the work of Joel Leavens, with the goal to challenge students through reading but also to encourage them that hard work pays off.

I adore this reading list!  Sprinkled with the old stand by classics with a heavy emphasis on African American books for students.

The Summer Book Challenge is only located on Facebook.  I had to scroll through months of posts to locate the necessary information which is copied and pasted below.  Link to information

THE BOOK LIST IS HERE!!!!!!!!!!!!

Please help us get the children in our lives reading this summer and earn money while doing it! Parents and adults don’t have to do anything but encourage the kids in your lives to join the challenge and provide them with a stamp to mail the book report. We have raised almost $1000 in cash for prizes. Now we only need readers! We can now accept book reports and report cards via e-mail at SUMMERBOOKCHALLENGE@YAHOO.COM.

You can also e-mail any questions you may have about the challenge to that e-mail address. Please see the book list below! The book list is broken up into three categories (3rd-5th grade, 6th-8th grade, 9th-12th grade) and each category is broken up into three levels (Level 1, Level 2, and Level 3). Pay attention to the different prizes at each category and level. Please e-mail us with any questions!

LET THE CHALLENGE BEGIN!

3-5th grade

• Level 1=0-100 pages $20 Each book read and book report submitted.
• Level 2=100-200 pages $30 Each book read and book report submitted.
• Level 3=201 and above $40 Each book read and book report submitted.

LEVEL 1

1. Summer Reading is Killing Me by Jon Sciezka
2. 2030 by Amy Zuckerman
3. The Listeners by Gloria Whelan
4. The Real Slam Dunk by Charisse Richardson
5. When the Beat was Born by Laban Hill
6. More than Anything Else by Marie Bradby
7. I Got Bank!: What My Granddad Taught Me About Money by Teri Williams

LEVEL 2

1. The Lion, Witch, and the Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis
2. Charlotte’s Web by E. B. White
3. Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Patterson
4. Sounder by William H. Strong
5. Circle of Gold by Candy Dawson Boyd
6. Safe at Home by Sharon Robinson
7. Mightier Than the Sword by Jane Yoler

LEVEL 3

1. Sugar by Jewell Parker Rhodes
2. One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia
3. Elijah of Buxton by Christopher P Curtis
4. Half Magic by Edward Eager
5. Gilda Joyce, Psychic Investigator by Jennifer Allison
6. The Golden Dream of Carlo Chuchio by Lloyd Alexander
7. Loser by Jerry Spinelli

6-8th grade

• Level 1=0-150 pages $20 Each book read and book report submitted
• Level 2=150-250 pages $30 Each book read and book report submitted
• Level 3=250 and above $40 Each book read and book report submitted

LEVEL 1

1. Night by Elie Wiesel
2. Miracle’s Boys by Jacqueline Woodson
3. Twelve Rounds to Glory: The Story of Muhammad Ali by Charles Smith Jr.
4. Nightjohn by Gary Paulsen
5. Toning the Sweep by Angela Johnson
6. The Way a Door Closes by Hope Anita Smith
7. I Got Bank!: What My Granddad Taught Me About Money by Teri Williams

LEVEL 2

1. Stand Tall by Joan Bauer
2. The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton
3. The Winter People by Joseph Bruchac
4. The Skin I’m In by Sharon Flake
5. The Watson’s Go to Birmingham by Christopher Paul Curtis

LEVEL 3

1. Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred Taylor
2. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
3. Bud Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis
4. Chasing Vermeer by Blue Balliett
5. The Ear, The Eye, The Army by Nancy Farmer
6. Gregor the Overlander by Suzanne Collins
7. The Birchbark House by Louise Erdich

9-12th grade

• Level 1=0-200 pages $25 Each book read and book report submitted
• Level 2=200-300 pages $40 Each book read and book report submitted
• Level 3=300 and above $50 Each book read and book report submitted

LEVEL 1

1. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
2. The Giver by Lois Lowry
3. Lord of the Flies by William Golding
4. The Mis-education of the Negro by Carter G. Woodson
5. The Science of Getting Rich by Wallace Wattles

LEVEL 2

1. House Made of Dawn by N. Scott Momaday
2. Let the Lion Eat Straw by Ellease Southerland
3. The Measure of a Man by Sidney Poitier
4. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bardbury
5. Monster by Walter Dean Myers
6. We Beat the Street: How a Friendship Led to Success by Sampson Davis
7. The Souls of Black Folk” by W.E.B Du Bois

LEVEL 3

1. The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing-Traitor to the Nation by M. T. Anderson
2. Crow by Barbara Wright
3. Mama Day by Gloria Naylor
4. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens by Sean Covey
5. Makes Me Wanna Holla by Nathan McCall
6. Feed by M.T. Anderson
7. The Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison
8. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
9. The Autobiography of Malcom X by Malcolm X

Summer Book Challenge is seeking to raise $50K to fund this worthwhile campaign for students nationwide through GoFundMe.

Ends Sept 5, 2015

Details here