A school board in southeast Tennessee recently decided to remove the Pulitzer-prize winning Holocaust graphic novel "Maus" from its language arts curriculum, deeming its content unsuitable for eighth-grade students. Another local school district outside of Nashville decided to remove the book "Walk Two Moons" from its elementary curriculum following parental complaints about its content. These two decisions have received national attention, stirring controversy about what content is appropriate for students to read, when, why, and who is responsible for making those decisions.

While reading a good book might not be at the top of your teen's summer priorities, summer reading is nonetheless important for continued development of literacy skills, expanded vocabulary, creativity cultivation and success in the coming academic year. The key to encouraging your busy teen to read this summer is to find what interests them.