My son is one of many students that dread seeing his school's summer reading list.  The dread doesn't necessary come from the selection offered to him to read as much as the idea that he has to read over the summer.  This year I am trying something different with him and it seems to be working.  I preloaded information about his assigned book, The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom.    In other words I gave him information about the author, the historical details surrounding the book and the geographical location of the story and sent all the links via his email address.  Also, I asked him to read the links before starting the book.  

 The following morning, when I went into my son's bedroom, I was pleased, and to say the least, astonished that he was in the bed reading.  Later that morning, I asked my son what motivated him to start reading The Hiding Place.   He told me that after reading the links that I sent to him, he was curious about the book.  

My first strategy to get him to pick up the book worked.  Stay tune as me and my son continue our summer reading journey. The next two challenges are to keep him interested in the book and become engaged in the writing assignment for the book.