$17 for paperback summer reading book

[Deleted]

I've complained before about having to buy four summer reading books. This year we did a One School, One Book thing. Each of the core subjects nominated a book. The students then voted on the one of the four they would like to read. They selected Outliers, a nonfiction book about success.

I bought my copy (new) on Amazon for $8.75 with free shipping since I have Prime. But it is $17 (the listed price) at the school's bookfair, which is run by Barnes & Noble. The other two required books (one for AP and one for another program) are $17 and $15 each.

I was just stunned at the cost of paperbacks. The last one I bought new for full price was $9.99 at Barnes & Noble; it was a new release by Mary Higgins Clark.  I had a $5 gift certificate that a student had given me. I buy most of my books now for Kindle on sale or check them out of the library. But I wanted a hard copy of the summer reading book so that I could use the copier to isolate passages for close reading. 

I just wondered if you, as a parent, would be upset about the school requiring the students to read a book this expensive.  Or are they all this expensive?  Sure, the public library will have a few copies, and siblings can definitely share.   But there is an advantage to having your own copy.  I have the kids write about it.  That means they have to scrounge up a copy if they used the one from the library and returned it.

Also, does your school make the kids buy paperbacks?  We try to keep it at a minimum, and mine do buy one for $6.99.  I have accumulated a few donations over the years for those who can't afford to buy it (I merely ask that their parents shoot me an email saying that).  I don't think that's particularly bad.  But $17?

What's your take?

[debthaven]

Do you tell the students they have to buy the books at the book fair? That does seems very pricey for a paperback.

Here HS kids have to read 4-10 books over the summer (depending on which track they are in). But the school gives them a list, it doesn't tell them where to buy the books, or arrange a book fair. Some are set books, some are choices from a list.

So I buy the English ones on Amazon, and the French ones at the local bookstore (because I want it to stay in business). There are also bookstores that sell English books, but (like in your case) they are much more expensive than Amazon.  

Presumably your students could buy those books cheaper on Amazon too, just like you did?

[zibazinski]

Yup, we got a summer reading list, too. DD and DS usually read more than the required but I liked having a list. A lot of the reading doesn't appeal to some of the kids. With a list, you're bound to find something. There were always tons of copies in the library of most of the books. We never bought one.

[Deleted]

If they are mandatory reading, yes, I would be upset at $17 (more because my kids were close together in age, so would need more books)

If they were books that have been out on the market for a few years and I could find used copies, then I would not be so fussed. My DD did 80% of her college books/texts through Amazon Used & Half Price Books & other kids selling their used books from the prior semesters.
Her high school AP books we were also able to get used on line. 

If they picked a book per grade & stuck to it for that grade for a couple of years, then there would be plenty of used books for sale/trade (or they could donate into a school pool for kids that can't afford it).

[debthaven]

But there is an advantage to having your own copy. I have the kids write about it. That means they have to scrounge up a copy if they used the one from the library and returned it.

Same here. We have quite a few books from the older siblings so we never have to buy all of them. I have nothing against buying used books, on the contrary. But at least here, buying a book new from Amazon is 1 cent delivery, and buying used is 3 euros (over $3) delivery. So it usually ends up being the same price (and faster) to buy new from Amazon.

[kittensaver]

I just spent $17 for a paperback at B&N (brick and mortar purchase). It's for a long airplane ride I'm taking soon. Maybe it's time to get an electronic reader?

[saveinla]

My son's teachers used to buy them in bulk for the class and so they were much cheaper - I remember paying 5$ for each paperback that was required - it was only 2 books each in 3 English classes in high school. This was for the books that were required during the school year. The teachers got some free copies for students who could not afford them since they got a big order.

Summer reading was from a list of books and not all of them were required. We have 3 libraries in town and  each of them usually had 10-20 copies of the books. We bought some from Amazon,  borrowed a couple from the library and exchanged some with friends.

[ponomo]

We get the required list and I buy at the used book store or online, I would be very ticked if they made me purchase it for $17! 

[Deleted]

We don't tell the kids they have to buy them at the book fair. The book fair offers them as a convenience to the parents and to raise money for the school library. I don't know if other teachers tell their kids they can buy them cheaper on Amazon or Half.com because I teach seniors.  I don't even take them to the book fair.   We also run a school bookstore that has texts like this, but they are always list price. 

Modern books are pricier than older books. I am not referring to used books here. Stuff like The Scarlet Letter and Frankenstein are out of copyright so you can get a brand-new copy for $2 or free on Kindle at Amazon. (Not all copies are free because the introductions may be copyrighted. But a basic no-frills copy of books out of copyright is usually free.) Newer books are more expensive.

[ponomo]

That makes sense, charging more for the convenience factor.  Our school offers school supply kits, takes care of all your shopping but they charge a good 15-20 dollars more than I spend on the stuff.

[teen persuasion]

My kids have not had to buy books for HS.  At the library we have multiple copies of the reading list books, at least for past years lists. Lately the school/teachers haven't bothered to give us the list, so whenever a student comes in with it looking for books we make a copy of their list.  It's hard to be prepared when we don't know what's going on.

We get a 40% discount from our usual publisher, so we could order multiple copies at discount if a teacher or students wanted to buy them.


ETA: I recently read "Outliers" and really liked it.  DH had read it first, and our discussions eventually involved  DS4, too.

[alabamagal]

Just getting them ready for college!

[ponomo]

May 1, 2015 19:21:53 GMT -5 alabamagal said:

Just getting them ready for college!

True that!  

[973beachbum]

That is expensive for a paperback but not totally out of line.  I bought a fiction paperback recently that was on sale for $12.99 so high but not out of the ball park either.

When my DD did the HS summer reading we did take them out of the library most years.  They had a small list to choose from but a couple of specific books were required also.  Maybe not having the actual book caused a problem for her later but she never mentioned it.

[sbcalimom]

My only school age daughter is a kindergartener so we only see super cheap books here. I ready voraciously though and switched to an Kindle a few years ago and will never go back. The selection is so much wider on the Kindle and so much cheaper. I use Amazon prime's Kindle program so I get unlimited qualifying books for $10/mo - not everything I read is there but I usually find at least 5-10 books each month that are so it's definitely worth it.

I think if it was just one book for the summer at $17 that wasn't available anywhere else for cheaper I would be fine with that. If it was more like 1 for each class at that price I'd probably start getting a bit annoyed. I remember buying a few books for AP classes that were in the $50-$100 range. We didn't have to buy them but it was strongly recommended so we could write in them. I actually still have one or two of them so they definitely earned their worth.

Maybe we should start saving for those high school books now  .

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

If I went into Amazon, and tallied up all the books and downloads to my kindle I have bought, it would not surprise me that it was pushing $500/year.  Granted, some are study guides/professional material, maybe about 40% of it, but I have always pent a lot of $$ on books.

I do also hit the library too...

[milee]

There's a bit of a disconnect between our local school and the expressed desire to teach STEM and use technology.

When my older son downloaded most of his reading list on Kindle (some were classics/free, others were regular price), he had several teachers reject his papers because his citations were of Kindle references, not page numbers. Sigh.  Although I understand they want references, the Kindle references should be acceptable IMHO, especially if we're encouraging use of tech.

[Deleted]

May 4, 2015 21:31:52 GMT -5 milee said:

There's a bit of a disconnect between our local school and the expressed desire to teach STEM and use technology.

When my older son downloaded most of his reading list on Kindle (some were classics/free, others were regular price), he had several teachers reject his papers because his citations were of Kindle references, not page numbers. Sigh.  Although I understand they want references, the Kindle references should be acceptable IMHO, especially if we're encouraging use of tech.

When I did my thesis back in the 1980s (pre-computers), Milee, I was encouraged to cite by chapter and not page numbers. The reasoning was that there were several publications of Wuthering Heights that were acceptable for scholarly use. So if another scholar was checking my work to argue with me, he/she would find it more useful to know the chapter number than the page number.  Of course, I cited my particular edition in the WC, but no page numbers in the text.

Maybe your son could ask his teachers if this might be an option.

[Phoenix84]

It's kind of pricy, I'd probably just buy it for my kids off amazon.