Summer reading please HELP!

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So...... I have to read two books , one fiction and one non fiction, and Its due next friday. i would just not do it or use short books but I realized that I want to make a good impression on my new teacher. How do I do this? I know I was very irresponsible.

a very good short fiction novel is " to kill a mocking bird."

The Notes from the Underground is a very short novel by Dostoyevsky.

I can think of any short non-fiction works right now.

Are you asking for book recommendations or how to get through them?

If you are not able to read fast enough I don't know if this would be cheating, but maybe you could get CDs or download from the library and listen.

By next friday two 'not short' books will be difficult unless you can read fast and retain the information.

Non-fiction I'd suggest Joseph Campbell's 'The Hero with a Thousand Faces' . Its a sociology/anthropology book about how all the myths and legends and stories all follow a similar set of patterns no matter the culture or era. Its quite fascinating.

Fiction ...well, you could try : 'His Majesty's Dragon' by Naomi Novik. Its a fiction novel set in the age of sail where dragons are basically used like sailing wooden warships of the air. I think the author did a good job researching the cultural norms and 'tech' of the era for her novel (given its a light fiction novel).

I'm thinking two books for the summer sounds like it could be middle school
Or high school. For middle school maybe something lighter? Maybe give us an idea your interests we could suggest better. A lot of girls like Patricia Wrede for fiction, maybe not the most impressive but it would be nice if you like what you're reading. Maybe I am Malala is nonfiction about a girl who is shot and survives, trying to get an education.

How old are you?

I'm in middle school but I was looking for suggestions on how to get it all read. I do appreciate the book recomendations. Thanks everyone!

If you're still looking for book recommendations, there is a good non-fiction novel called "The Psychopath Test" but Jon Ronson. It is very readable, funny and enlightening, I recently read it in under a day.
I have more recommendations but the other people here have supplied enough.

Short fiction: Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton... great for middle school. Or The Old Man and the Sea by Hemingway. Both quite short.

My friend recommends Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson.

For nonfiction I suggest going to your school library because it will have nonfiction books targeted to middle schoolers in length and reading level.

Divide the number of pages in each book by the number of days you have to finish them. Read at least that many pages each day. If one book engages you more than the other it's okay to go ahead and finish that one early, just make sure you read AT LEAST the minimum number of pages that will get you through both in time.

^ that's a good way to pace yourself.

If the pages are too many per day then go for a short book and do the above suggestion. Teachers are more impressed about what you write and what you get out of a book more than how big the book is.

A good, short fiction novel is Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Grey. Sherlock Holmes is also good: his novels (also relatively short) include: The Sign of Four, The Hound of the Baskervilles, The Valley of fear, and A Study in Scarlet. My favourite was the Hound of The Baskervilles. I don't think listening to audio books constitutes cheating because you're still taking in the novel: my sister has Dyslexia and that's how she's doing her summer reading right now.

As for nonfiction, I enjoyed Temple Grandin's Emergence, a memoir about her childhood. It would be a good way to introduce your teacher and/or peers to ASDs if you have any projects due for the books you're reading.

Regarding completing the work: InTheDeepEnd's suggestion is a good one: it's how I got my reading for my college literature class done. Another suggestion (not that I would condone this) is to read as much as you can, then in the last two or three days, use SparkNotes or CliffNotes to get the gist of the remaining chapters until you have time to finish them.

I really think the best thing is a book you enjoy. You should be able to get through the two books if you like them unless you have reading problems. Are you dyslexic?

Getting two books in by next Friday is something that can be done. I believe that short books would be especially easier to read; it's just that to focus on your reading -- reading with no distractions -- will help you finish them. For me, I would say a short book is no more than about 200 -250 pages (sometimes 300 pages if I really have nothing to do).

But anyways, I would advise picking something you'll be interested in or like to learn more about. THat's how to go for non-ficton. Books -- since you're in middle school -- should also be easy for you to read; you're most likely not at that level for scholary or primary documents like De Anima by Aristotle or The Undiscovered Self by Carl Jung. These works are more advanced for most people your age. Instead, f you're interested in something like psychology or philosophy, I might get an introduction to it with a reading level mostly matching your abilities.

As for fiction, I would advise something that has a particular bent on what you are after. When I was in high school all the girls read the Twilight Saga because that was what they were interested in at the time, just like in elementary and middle school everyone was bent on the Harry Potter saga. If those are not your bent, then pick something you'll be interested in. For this I would say use every source of knowledge to your advantage. THe library has plenty of books out there for free, buare mostly old. Bookstores have much newer books and are a bit more versatile than libraries if you're looking for up-to-date information; however, even with the versatility of a bookstore, they can be a bit pricey. But if you have an e-reader or tablet, you can get multitude of books for you to read at a cheaper price, but like I said, the only bad thing is getting a tablet or e-reader and also a credit card to purchase books. Sometimes you can go to the Gutenburg Press. THey have all sorts of classics you can download for free.

That's all I have to say for now. Hope you pass on your reading.