My First Summer Book Club

I have always been inspired by teachers who can keep their students reading in the summer months. Book clubs that meet in person or chat online, scheduled library visits, tweets about books....whatever it takes....I want to keep the reading conversations going and flowing when school isn't in session. WHAT my students read and THAT they read are very important to me, and I want to stay connected to their literacy lives for always.
Yesterday greeted the end of the wanting and waiting. We finally made it happen. I met a few students (okayyyyy two! But if I count the sibling and parent, that makes 4. Five including me! I'm optimistic!) at our local Subway to share this year's Young Hoosier Book nominees (20middle grade titles that include fiction, nonfiction, and 1 graphic novel). Together, we sipped soda, book browsed, took summary notes on our book lists, and fantasized about having enough time to read all of them. Each student left with a book (borrowed from me), and they've already tweeted their reading reflections! Who gets this lucky? I have arrived in teacher heaven.
My middlers' reading habits matter to me, even though the 2 students who came are no longer mine. We spent 180 days together last year growing our literacy appetites. It's really important to me that they begin 8th grade hungry for more!
Looking forward to doubling or tripling our book talk attendance at our August meeting!