The Motherlode Book Club Chooses Summer Reading that Parents and Older Children Can Share. Is it even possible that summer is almost here? We're measuring what's left of school in weeks, if not days. Talking graduation. Layering on sunscreen and bug spray. Yes, summer must be almost here. For the Summer Reading round of the Motherlode Book Club, I've chosen two books with one goal: to find something that a parent and an older child can enjoy. Jodi Picoult wrote "Between the Lines" with her daughter Samantha Van Leer, who's still in high school. It's the story of a 15-year-old loner who falls for the prince in her favorite book, and he turns out to be far more than a one-dimensional character. It has elements of teenage romance, but it's gentle enough for younger readers (and visually intriguing, with pencil drawings and varying fonts for different voices). "Chomp," Carl Hiaasen's fourth novel for young readers, is the story of an animal wrangler and his son, who become entangled with the pampered star of a "survival" reality show. All of the trademark Hiaasen madness ensues - which means this is one I'm sure my rising sixth grader and I will both love. If you have children who would enjoy either book (or both), join the Motherlode Book Club in reading along with your son or daughter. I'll be looking for three parent-child panel teams to read each book, and then to send me thoughts on what it's like to read and talk about a book together. Even beyond that small panel, I hope many more of you will grab a copy and experiment with sharing a classic summer read. Motherlode is also teaming up with The Learning Network, The New York Times blog on teaching and learning with The Times, to create a larger conversation about summer reading. As my colleague Katherine Schulten writes, "Whatever you're planning, and whatever your thoughts on the notion of "summer reading" in general, we invite you to take to Twitter on June 7 and tell the world." What other books would be fun to read along with your child? What are you taking to the beach this summer? What's your best summer reading memory? We'll share with the hashtag #summerreading on June 7. If you're new to Twitter, Katherine has some helpful tips on how to join in in June. Meanwhile, if you - and your child - would like to join the panel for "Between the Lines" or "Chomp," tweet me, comment on this post on Facebook, or send me an e-mail, and tell me which book you'd like to read, and why. I'm sorry, I can't promise to reply to everyone, but I'll read them all. I'll send six panelists two copies of one of the books - so you can read together, and so that afterward, you'll have one for your shelf, and one to pass forward. Remember, not every family gets to do summer reading with books of their own - one reason First Book, which works with publishers to give new books to children in need, is one of many organizations that will be tweeting along with us in June. It's still not quite summer. But when it comes to summer reading, I'm ready to get a head start.