In anticipation of summer break, Middle States employees shared their top summer reading recommendations.
FOR THE BRAIN
“Born to Rise” by Deborah Kenny
“This book truly made me rethink and reorganize my teaching and approach towards students and education as a whole.” – Dan Rufo, Director of Accreditation
“A Short History of Nearly Everything” by Bill Bryson
“If you’re interested in science, but aren’t necessarily adept at science lingo, this book is for you! Every time I picked this book up I was reminded what an amazing planet we live on and just how improbable our existence is.” – Kristy Lamoureux, Assistant Director of Accreditation Maintenance
“The 50 State Border Crisis” by Howard Buffett
“The book discusses how the Mexican border fuels the drug epidemic across America. I am reading it because it is giving me another perspective on border security and drug cartels.” – Pat Impreveduto, Accreditation Officer
“The Power of Now” by Eckhart Tolle
“The book is powerful common sense. The past is past, the future does not exist yet, and the present is the NOW where you can act.” – Augusto Hernandez, Accreditation Officer
“Savage Inequalities: Children in America’s Schools” by Jonathan Kozol
“An interesting perspective on what we are doing and what we should be doing in public education.” – Irene Raatzs, Director of Volunteer Services
FOR THE BEACH
“What Alice Forgot” by Luanne Moriarty
“A woman falls and comes to 10 years older than what she remembered. An engaging and enjoyable read.” – Angela Rufo, Accreditation Officer
“Red Sparrow” by Jason Matthews
“The author is former CIA and his imagination apparently was not stretched. The book was great and the other two [in the trilogy] are equally as engaging.” – Priscilla Feir, Ph.D., Accreditation Officer
“Sleeping Giants (The Themis Files)” by Sylvain Neuvel
“A giant metal hand is found buried in South Dakota. What is it? Are there more pieces? What does it do? I don’t want to say anything more and ruin the story, but this is a great mystery/thriller.” – Audra Chin, Assistant Director of Marketing and New Membership
“Paper Towns” or “Looking for Alaska” by John Green
“Both coming of age stories and very easy reads.” – Emily Young, Assistant Manager of External Relations
“The Wrinkle in Time” (quintet) by Madeleine L’Engle
“I really only knew the first book, one of my top five favorites from youth. It was great to be with Meg Murray, Mrs. Which, Mrs. Who, and Mrs. Whatsit again. I then went on to read the other books in the quintet and fell in love again with the themes and messages of the entire series: the natures of courage and love, what is separate and what is part of ourselves, how our weakness can strengthen us.” – Jeanne Gallagher, Manager of Membership Billing
Visit our Facebook page to tell us what your brain and beach reads are for the summer!
