From barbecues to beach trips, nothing beats being with family. Thus summer is the perfect time for both children and parents to enjoy some light, easy reading.

As a society we celebrate reading to toddlers at bedtime. The stories are cute and time spent together is invaluable. Parents the world over hold those memories in the deepest corners of their hearts. There is no reason for that valuable family time to end just because the toddlers have turned into teenagers.

This summer I’m asking the adults to pick up a book and read it in places where children will see it. Kids, even if they are moody screenagers, notice what the adults in their lives do. More importantly than setting a good example, you will be fostering a lifelong love of learning.

In my decades of teaching SAT prep classes I have discovered that the best way for students to improve their verbal section is to read, read, read. It truly does not matter what they read, as long as they actually read on a regular basis. If you are interested in the novel which contains arguably the most SAT words, I suggest Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein.” The nice thing about “Frankenstein” is that most people know the basic story but few have read the original novel. Oftentimes it is easier to read a story when you already have a general idea about the subject matter.

Along those lines, may I suggest the whole family read “Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief”  by Rick Riordan. Not only is the story compelling (a young person coming of age in a world where he feels out of place), but it also has a critically acclaimed series on Disney+. After both reading and watching the series, have the family discuss the differences focusing on plot lines, casting decisions, tone, emotion, et cetera.

I am certain that the adults will be amazed at how insightful young people are, as I am every day in my classroom. Young people are always eager to know adults’ perspectives despite the fact that they will hide their curiosity (as they sometimes do in my classroom). Spoiler alert: the books are better than the movies. However it might be best for the kids to come to that conclusion on their own.

If you are looking for book suggestions for children in grades K-8, please visit the website for the library at BPS’s Curley school. tinyurl.com/curleybooks. For grades 7-12, may I suggest Boston Latin School’s reading list: libguides.bls.org/summerreading2024.  Of course there is always the Boston Public Library at bpl.org.

Reading is important, especially for teenagers, because it increases their writing abilities, improves their language skills, expands their vocabulary, and sharpens their imagination.  Charlotte Webber, a PhD student at the University of Edinburgh, recently wrote an article for the Scottish Book Trust in which she states, “While we often focus on attainment outcomes, reading also helps teens develop their self-understanding and understanding of others, and can support their emotional wellbeing at a particularly tumultuous period of life.”

Fiction allows the reader to consider different viewpoints, and can even put the reader into the mind of another character. Such a mental exercise not only “expands” the mind but it also builds empathy. Social media can’t do that and may actually do the reverse.

“We are in the middle of a national youth mental health crisis, and I am concerned that social media is an important driver of that crisis – one that we must urgently address,” says US Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy. Teens who stay up late doom scrolling get less rest, are often exposed to disturbing content (thanks to Big Tech’s algorithms designed to keep kids hooked), and are data-mined for the profit of advertisers. Whereas when teens read books late at night, they have a tendency either to fall asleep or to become so engrossed that they don’t even notice the time. At least with a book, the decision to keep going is the reader’s.

If you want free books, and lots of them, the Boston Teachers Union will host its annual Welcome Back to School Book Fair on Sept. 28 at the BTU Hall in Dorchester (180 Mt Vernon St.) We shall give away roughly 40,000 books that day, so bring the whole family.

(Michael Maguire teaches Latin and Ancient Greek at Boston Latin Academy and serves on the Executive Board of Boston Teachers Union. The views expressed here are his own.)