What incoming college students are reading this summer
The summer between graduating from high school and heading off to college can be a great time to relax with a good book before starting the next chapter. In fact, some colleges ask incoming students to do exactly that, assigning the same book across the entire university or within individual majors. Often known as common reading programs, these assigned works are regularly used in freshman-level classes and offer students a chance to come together for an in-depth discussion on a shared text. While some colleges mandate this reading, others merely provide suggestions for students.
All We Can Save
“All We Can Save: Truth, Courage, and Solutions for the Climate Crisis,” curated by Ayana Elizabeth Johnson and Katherine K. Wilkinson, is a collection of essays, poetry and art by diverse female artists that addresses climate change. Staking the claim that female voices are often not heard in the conversation, the book highlights dozens of those voices. It’s the book of choice for the common reading experience for first-year students at Binghamton University in New York for the 2023-2024 academic year.
Be Different
“Be Different: My Adventures with Asperger’s & My Advice for Fellow Aspergians, Misfits, Families and Teachers,” by New York Times bestselling author John Elder Robison, offers a vulnerable look at the author’s childhood and young adult years as someone navigating life with autism spectrum disorder. Robison shares his personal stories and lessons he’s learned as a way to advocate for neurodivergent and autistic individuals or anyone who feels different. “Be Different” is the common read for incoming students at Appalachian State University in North Carolina.
Braiding Sweetgrass
“Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teaching of Plants” is a collection of essays by Robin Wall Kimmerer that explores the theme of relationships within nature, coupling the author’s scientific understanding as a botanist with her outlook as an Indigenous woman. The New York Times bestseller is part of the common reading experience for incoming students at Washington State University for the 2023-2024 year. It was the first book to be used for two years in a row at WSU, and Wall Kimmerer gave a virtual lecture to students and faculty in February 2023. The book is also part of the common reading experience for students at Marist College in New York.
Brown Girls
“Brown Girls,” a debut novel by Daphne Palasi Andeades, follows the lives of several immigrant girls who grow up in Queens, New York, and attempt to make sense of the American culture that surrounds them. In this coming-of-age novel, the girls vow to remain friends for life, but as they get older and life pulls them in different directions, tensions form among them. The story depicts the transition from childhood to adulthood, and explores themes of female friendship and of women of color attempting to find where they fit in with society. All students participating in the first-year seminar at City University New York–Baruch College read “Brown Girls” as part of a common reading experience.
I Never Thought of It That Way
“I Never Thought of It That Way: How to Have Fearlessly Curious Conversations in Dangerously Divided Times,” by Mónica Guzmán, examines potential causes for increases in polarizing political discussions in recent years. A journalist and advocate for depolarization, Guzmán suggests using curiosity to learn and understand different perspectives rather than living in an echo chamber. With the hope of opening students to diverse perspectives and commentary on relevant social issues, Elon University in North Carolina assigned “I Never Thought of It That Way” to all first-year students for the 2023-2024 academic year.
Made in China
“Made in China: A Prisoner, an SOS Letter, and the Hidden Cost of America’s Cheap Goods,” a debut book by award-winning investigative journalist Amelia Pang, sheds light on the plight of the Uyghur people, a predominantly Muslim group living in Xinjiang that has been reportedly forced into “reeducation camps” and grueling labor conditions by the Chinese government. Of Uyghur and Chinese descent herself, Pang tells the story of one man, Sun Yi, a Chinese engineer who was forced into labor as punishment for seeking to join a forbidden meditation movement. Pang reveals through her reporting that many of these forced labor camps are fueling American consumerism. “Made in China” is the assigned common reading book for first-year students at Florida International University.
Now Is Not the Time to Panic
“Now Is Not the Time to Panic,” by New York Times bestselling author Kevin Wilson, follows two teenagers, Frankie Budge and Zeke, who bond over their creative interests and perceived social status as outcasts in Coalfield, Tennessee. The two anonymously create a poster together with a provocative phrase on it that gets reprinted and posted everywhere, sending the town into panic. Years later, Frankie gets a call from a journalist wanting to investigate the Coalfield Panic. This coming-of-age novel is the common read for all incoming students at Vanderbilt University in Tennessee for the 2023-2024 academic year.
Parable of the Sower
“Parable of the Sower” is a speculative fiction novel set in the early to mid-2020s that follows the life of Lauren Olamina, a 15-year-old California girl who suffers from hyperempathy, where she intensely feels the emotions of those around her. Often compared to other dystopian stories like “1984” and “The Handmaid’s Tale,” this 1993 novel by Octavia Butler has become particularly relevant in recent years. Water shortages in California, global climate change, economic crises and social chaos permeate the world within these pages, but those in Olamina’s wealthy gated community carry on unaware of the perils around them. A New York Times bestseller, the book has been assigned as the campus-wide common reading choice for students at the University of Kansas for the 2023-2024 academic year.
The Movement Made Us
Journalist David Dennis, Jr., wrote “The Movement Made Us: A Father, a Song, and the Legacy of a Freedom Ride” with contributions from his father, activist David Dennis, Sr. Told through the lens of both the 1960s Civil Rights Movement and the modern Black Lives Matter movement, this memoir offers insight into the experiences of those fighting on the front lines for civil rights. “The Movement Made Us” has been chosen for the common reading program at Davidson College in North Carolina.
The Nature Fix
“The Nature Fix: Why Nature Makes Us Happier, Healthier, and More Creative” by Florence Williams investigates the personal health benefits of spending time in nature. A contributing editor for Outside Magazine, Williams says she wrote the book to show how “being in nature actually makes us more human” and can inspire happiness and creativity. Surrounded by the Palouse, a picturesque geographic region in the northwestern part of the U.S., and mountains in the distance, the University of Idaho chose the book for its 2023-2024 universitywide common reading experience.
Summer reads for incoming college students
— “All We Can Save” by Ayana Elizabeth Johnson and Katherine K. Wilkinson
— “Be Different” by John Elder Robison
— “Braiding Sweetgrass” by Robin Wall Kimmerer
— “Brown Girls” by Daphne Palasi Andeades
— “I Never Thought of It That Way” by Monica Guzman
— “Made in China” by Amelia Pang
— “Now Is Not the Time to Panic” by Kevin Wilson
— “Parable of the Sower” by Octavia Butler
— “The Movement Made Us” by David Dennis, Jr.
— “The Nature Fix” by Florence Williams
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10 Books to Read Before College originally appeared on usnews.com
Update 07/19/23: The story was previously published at an earlier date and has been updated with new information.
