The Seasonal Reading Challenge discussion
note: This topic has been closed to new comments.
FALL CHALLENGE 2023
>
Fall Challenge 2023: Task Ideas
date
newest »
newest »
1. the early 1950's saw the largest Polio epidemic in UKRead a book with all the letters of POLIO in the title /
2.many were treated in iron lungs an early negative pressure ventilator that was the precursor of modern day positive pressure ventilators
Positive and Negative are antonyms of each other read 2 books with words in the title / subtitle that are antonyms e.g under and over
Or one book with atonyms in the title / subtitle
3. the vaccine was developed in 1956 by Joseph Salk Read a book written by someone named Joseph or derivations of e.g Joe and Josephine
I've had this one in my back pocket for ages and keep forgetting about it: A Little Help From My Friends:
Read a book that is co-authored (but not an anthology or collected short stories by different authors--it should be a single cohesive story written by more than one author). Ex.: Dry by Neal Shusterman and Jarrod Shusterman or
State of Terror by Hillary Rodham Clinton and Louise Penny.
(some possible titles: https://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/...)
The Scott-Foresman reading series was used all over the US in the '50's. The most famous characters were Dick, Jane and Sally. But the Catholic school version featured the characters John, Judy and Jean. to reflect names of saints. A French version for Canada called the children Jeanne, Paul, and Lise.Read a book whose author has one of the first names above. (could have an option to use other forms of names such as Judith or Lisa.)
Robin P wrote: "The Scott-Foresman reading series was used all over the US in the '50's. The most famous characters were Dick, Jane and Sally. But the Catholic school version featured the characters John, Judy and..."If we want more names, others of us in the 1950s were learning to read from the Houghton Mifflin Company's series! The characters were:
humans: Jack, Janet, Penny
pets: Tip, Mitten
1952 Elizabeth II becomes the Queen of EnglandIdeas:
book featuring royalty
author or MC named Elizabeth
book set in England
*************************************************************8
1958 NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) is created.
- set in space, MPG space
*************************************************
1953
The Double Helix DNA Model is revealed by Francis Crick and James Watson.
- title containing the letters D N A
********************************************************
1953
Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay become the first people to successfully climb to the top of Mount Everest, the tallest mountain in the world.
- mountain on the cover
***************************************************
1956
Elvis Presley has his very first hit song, "Heartbreak Hotel."
- title with the word HEART, BREAK, or HOTEL
in 1954 the first TV Dinner was released - 2 book task - one where the letters of TV can be found in the title; the other where the letters of Dinner can be found in the author name1954 marked the Brown vs. Board of Education Surpreme Court Case - read a book set in or by an author from Kansas
1955 the first Disneyland open - read a book set in one of the places where there is a disneyland/world today
1953 marked Audrey Hepburn's movie debut - read a book that shares a word in the title (exact match) with one of her movies
1953 marked the first time Mount Everest was climbed - read a non-fiction book about mountain climbing (or similar extreme sports)
1959 marked the release of Barbie - read a book that features a profession that Barbie has had over the years
1855 - Walt Whitman published LEaves of Grass - read a book shelved as poetry
1853 marked the Gadsen Purchase - read a book set in New Mexico or Arizona
1851 - the first America's Cup Race was held - read a book with a boat on the cover
1851 - Moby Dick was published - read a "BIG" book
1853/4 - marked the opening up of Japan to the Western World - by Commodore Matthew Perry and then the signing of the Treaty of Kanagawa - read a book set in or translated from Japanese
Dee wrote: "in 1954 the first TV Dinner was released - 2 book task - one where the letters of TV can be found in the title; the other where the letters of Dinner can be found in the author name1954 marked th..."
Ooh, Barbie is big now. If it doesn't get into this section, maybe someone would like to have an individual task based on that subject. (I wasn't a huge fan myself but loved the movie.)
I also like the idea of including 1850's.
---In 1955, Dr. Jonas Salk developed the vaccine for polio. Read a book about medical advances.Federal Highway Act was signed marking the beginning of the interstate highway system. Read a book with a cover illustrating a highway of more than two lanes.
In 1958 the Explorer I, the first U.S. satellite successfully orbited the earth. Read a book with an MPG of "space" or "space opera"
Alaska and Hawaii became the 49th and 50th states in the United States. Read a book whose setting is one or both of these states (any time period)
Two Olympic Games were held in the 1950's1952 - Helsinki, Finland
1956 - Melbourne, Australia
Read a book set in either of these 2 cities (any time)
or read a book set or written in either of these countries in the 1950's
The symbol of the Olympics is 5 intertwined rings.
Read a book with word 'ring' or number 5 in the title.
Read a book with a character who participates in one of the olympic sports, See list olympics.com/en/sports/. Not necessarily at that level, perhaps just as a hobby or for fitness.
1950 CS lewis published the Lion, The Witch and the wardroberead a book with lion witch or wardrobe in the title
1951 Two members of a Soviet spy ring Donald Maclean and Guy Burgess escaped to Moscow.
read a book with MPG spy /spies
first national park was created in UK across the world there are many national parks read a book set in a national park area
https://www.google.com/search?client=...
can I throw out there, while everyone knows Salk for his polio vaccine, Albert Sabin is equally important and for many of us, the vaccine in the sugar cube that we took growing is a derivative of Sabin's vaccine maybe a 2 book challenge - one with the letters Salk in the author name, and one with Sabin or something like that
Dee wrote: "can I throw out there, while everyone knows Salk for his polio vaccine, Albert Sabin is equally important and for many of us, the vaccine in the sugar cube that we took growing is a derivative of S..."i too thought of the sugar cube and thought maybe a title with the word sugar or sweet iin it
In 1955 Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to give up her seat on the bus. Her arrest started a 13 month long boycott of the city busesin Montgomery, Alabama
Read a book whose authors initials are in ROSA PARKS
Read a book whose page numbers include 2 of the following 1, 9, 3,5
Read a book that takes place in Alabama
Joanne wrote: "In 1955 Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to give up her seat on the bus. Her arrest started a 13 month long boycott of the city busesin Montgomery, Alabama
Read a book whose authors initials ..."
It looks like a couple typos sneaked into the bottom part (or autocorrect) - ROSA and 1,9,5,5 - so the page number could have 2 5's in it.
Susurrous: Full of whispering soundsIn honor of fall, read a book with all the letters of susurrous in the title.
Read a book with a cover depicting fall
Robin P wrote: "Joanne wrote: "In 1955 Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to give up her seat on the bus. Her arrest started a 13 month long boycott of the city busesin Montgomery, Alabama
Read a book whose au..."
Corrected Rosa, the #'s could have 2 5's and 2 1's if that is the way the challenge writer wanted to go
Another idea for a taskTop hits of the 1950s
Read a book whose author shares a name either first or surname with one of the performers listed.
Read a book where a word of at least 4 letters in title of book is the same as a word in title of song.
Some of the top hits from the 1950s are:
Here is one I came up with for 9, but maybe need a list of 20.
Maybellene by Chuck Berry
Tutti Frutti by Little Richard
Heartbreak Hotel by Elvis Presley
Rock Around The Clock by Bill Haley and his Comets
Please, Please, Please by James Brown
Don't Be Cruel by Elvis Presley
Chantilly Lace by The Big Bopper
Why Do Fools Fall In Love by The Teenagers Featuring Frankie Lymon
Peggy Sue by Buddy Holly
50/50 was a children’s game show in the Uk, where 50 students from 2 different schools were pitted against each other. Read two different books where each is set in a different school.
Read a book where the cover is exactly 50% one colour and 50% another colour
Marie (UK) wrote: "1. the early 1950's saw the largest Polio epidemic in UKRead a book with all the letters of POLIO in the title /
2.many were treated in iron lungs an early negative pressure ventilator that was ..."
I got his first name wrong it is not Joseph but Jonas - that 3rd option may be too hard with Jonas
Singing in the Rain - released 1952Umbrella / rain on cover
Name of Main actors in author name
Many iconic TV shows began in the 1950sI Love Lucy
Gunsmoke
Leave It To Beaver
The Twilight Zone
The Micky Mouse Club
The Lone Ranger
Perry Mason
The Honeymooners.
These shows and characters could be used in a number of different ways for challenges.
The Beat Generation was a literary subculture movement started by a group of authors whose work explored and influenced American culture and politics in the post-war era.[1] The bulk of their work was published and popularized by Silent Generationers in the 1950s, better known as Beatniks
Read a books where a 4 letter word can be made and found in the title of your book using either The Beat Generation OR Silent Generationers as the target phrase
Robin P wrote: "Dee wrote: "in 1954 the first TV Dinner was released - 2 book task - one where the letters of TV can be found in the title; the other where the letters of Dinner can be found in the author name19..."
Barbie idea is awesome considering the hype right now would be great to see a brabie theme incorporated in the challenge somehow
Nov. 5, 1955 is the date that "Doc" invented time travel in "Back to the Future". Read a book with time travel as a main component in the story.
The Korean War and Vietnam War started in the 1950s, maybe we could set a book set in Korea, Vietnam or Cambodia? (The Vietnam war spilled over the borders into Cambodia.)I think someone has already mentioned Rosa Parks and the Montgomery bus boycotts, but that would make for a good prompt too.
The Soviet Union launched the first artificial satellite (Sputnik) in 1957, although we've had a few space / sci-fi prompts in the last couple of seasons so I guess we might want something different.
A prompt about Rock and Roll, Elvis Presley, jukeboxes etc would be a good fit for the 50s. Maybe pick an Elvis song and find a book with a word in the title that can be found in the song?
Fashion was a huge thing in the 50s; think halter-neck dresses and the rockability sub-culture, as well as teddy boys in their faux-Edwardian suits. Designers like Coco Chanel and Christian Dior started their clothing lines in the 50s.
In 1950-51 Tibet is invaded by the chinese army. The promise of self-government the tibetans are given doesn't happen, many chinese flock into and settle in Tibet and eventually the dalai lama has to flee into India. -- Read a book set in Tibet or India.OR: read a book by an author with their first and last initials in TIBET
The fifties were a decade of decolonization. Suriname and the Antilles get their own governments, and get their autonomy written into the Statutes of the Kingdom in the Netherlands in 1954. Maroc, Tunesia, Libya, Sudan, Ghana and Guinea become independent too.
--- Read a book set in one of these countries, the Netherlands excluded.
In 1956 the seatbelt is introduced by Ford, followed by Volvo who enhances it into the three-point seatbelt we know today.
--- We're going for comfort-reading to celebrate this comfy extra safety. Read a book from this list or re-read one of the books in your "Favourites" bookshelf.
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...
This topic has been frozen by the moderator. No new comments can be posted.
The Seasonal Reading Challenge
Books mentioned in this topic
Dry (other topics)State of Terror (other topics)
Authors mentioned in this topic
Neal Shusterman (other topics)Jarrod Shusterman (other topics)
Hillary Rodham Clinton (other topics)
Louise Penny (other topics)
The bonus theme is Decades: 50s
As in past challenges some tasks may revolve around the seasonal theme of fall. Others may reflect the bonus theme. Other tasks may have nothing to do with either of those themes, they’re just fun or unique ideas to stimulate your reading.
Feel free to post as many ideas as you can come up with. Don’t worry about repeating what someone else has might have already suggested. The more ideas, the better!
The moderators will draw from these ideas as well as their own to create the 5, 10 and 15 point tasks. This thread will be open for ideas until August 13. Fall tasks will begin to be posted on August 15. We look forward to seeing what you come up with!