Summer Reading

Picture Books | Early Readers | Intermediate
Middle School | High School | Of Interest to Adults

Need suggestions for beach reading or books to bring to camp? We've hand-picked some favorite new titles, all published within the last year, that are ideal for the season.

Picture Books
Suggested grade level listed with each entry

Orangutan Tongs: Poems to Tangle Your Tongue written and illustrated by Jon Agee (Hyperion)
Ever-effervescent Agee fashions thirty-four comic tongue-twisting verses, each featuring daft characters and a succinct scenario. Grade level: 1–4. 48 pages.

The Pencil written by Allan Ahlberg, illustrated by Bruce Ingman (Candlewick)
After a pencil draws a world into existence, it’s threatened by a thuggish eraser run amok in this wry, madcap, loving story of the power of artistic expression. Grade level: K–3. 48 pages.

There’s a Wolf at the Door retold by Zoe B. Alley, illustrated by R. W. Alley (Porter/Roaring Brook)
Five interlinked and thoroughly retold tales, compiled in an oversized format and presented in engaging panel illustrations, all end with the wolf foiled. Grade level: 1–4. 40 pages.

Don’t Look Now! written and illustrated by Ed Briant (Porter/Roaring Brook)
When the ground opens up and swallows two squabbling brothers, depositing them in a jungle, the two must use their combined wiles to escape. Grade level: K–3. 32 pages.

Wolfsnail: A Backyard Predator written by Sarah C. Campbell, illustrated with photos by Sarah C. Campbell and Richard P. Campbell (Boyds Mills)
Close-up photography and spare text graphically convey a predatory wolfsnail’s single-minded pursuit of an unlucky garden snail; information on wolfsnail habits and life cycle is appended. Grade level: Preschool–2. 32 pages.

Redwoods written and illustrated by Jason Chin (Porter/Flash Point/Roaring Brook)
As a young boy on the subway reads about redwood trees, he becomes so engrossed that he finds himself in the middle of a redwood forest, learning all manner of things about them. Grade level: 2–5. 40 pages.

Carl’s Summer Vacation written and illustrated by Alexandra Day (Farrar)
At the family’s cabin, Rottweiler Carl and his charge Madeleine are supposed to be taking a nap; instead, they go canoeing, visit a playground, and surreptitiously feast on somebody else’s picnic. Grade level: Preschool. 32 pages.

Louise, the Adventures of a Chicken written by Kate DiCamillo, illustrated by Harry Bliss (Cotler/HarperCollins)
Longing for adventure, barnyard hen Louise leaves home and is subsequently captured by pirates, chased by a lion, and kidnapped at a bazaar before returning home to tell her tales. Grade level: 1–4. 56 pages.

Chicken Little written and illustrated by Rebecca Emberley and Ed Emberley (Porter/Roaring Brook)
The Emberleys’ irreverent re-visioning of the classic folktale plays up the bird-braininess of the participants in Chicken Little’s ill-informed sky-is-falling crusade. Grade level: Preschool–2. 32 pages.

Moonshot: The Flight of Apollo 11 written and illustrated by Brian Floca (Jackson/Atheneum)
Floca selects the exact details to transform science into relatable experience in this artistic history of the Apollo 11 moon landing. Grade level: 1–4. 48 pages.

The Nine Lives of Rotten Ralph written by Jack Gantos, illustrated by Nicole Rubel (Houghton)
Sarah’s incorrigible cat discovers that he has misbehaved his way through eight of his nine lives. Grade level: K–3. 32 pages.

Birds written by Kevin Henkes, illustrated by Laura Dronzek (Greenwillow)
A young child muses on birds, their colors and sizes, their movements and mysteries; Dronzek's acrylic paintings are an inviting accompaniment to Henkes's simple text. Grade level: Preschool. 32 pages.

Tacky Goes to Camp written by Helen Lester, illustrated by Lynn Munsinger (Houghton)
Tacky is a happy camper, but of course not a typical one, at the Nice Icy Land’s summer camp, where he manages to inadvertently save the day against a campsite-raiding bear. Grade level: K–3. 32 pages.

Bubble Trouble written by Margaret Mahy, illustrated by Polly Dunbar (Clarion)
When Mabel blows a bubble, it surrounds Baby and takes him on an adventure of amazing heights, causing no small amount of commotion. Grade level: Preschool–2.

Who Made This Cake? written by Chihiro Nakagawa, illustrated by Junji Koyose (Front Street)
Miniature workers use tiny construction vehicles to mix, bake, and decorate a giant cake, after which a (normal-size) boy’s mother carries it to the table. Grade level: Preschool. 40 pages.

Higher! Higher! written and illustrated by Leslie Patricelli (Candlewick)
Each time a smiling dad pushes a little girl on a swing, she goes successively higher, meeting a giraffe, a mountain climber, airplane passengers, and finally a little green alien at the apex of his own flying swing. Grade level: Preschool. 32 pages.

Button Up!: Wrinkled Rhymes written by Alice Schertle, illustrated by Petra Mathers (Harcourt)
Fifteen adroitly phrased rhymes, voiced by pieces of clothing, reflect children’s amiable relationship with these intimate possessions. Grade level: K–3. 40 pages.

Early Readers
Suggested grade level listed with each entry

Ivy and Bean Take Care of the Babysitter written by Annie Barrows, illustrated by Sophie Blackall (Chronicle)
Ivy and Bean Bound to Be Bad written by Annie Barrows, illustrated by Sophie Blackall (Chronicle)
In their fourth and fifth books, friends Ivy and Bean make the best of a bad situation when left in the care of Bean’s older sister, then resolve (and fail) to be so good that animals will flock to them a la Saint Francis of Assisi. Grade level: 1–3. 123 and 121 pages.

Paddington Here and Now written by Michael Bond, illustrated by R. W. Alley (HarperCollins)
Fans will be relieved to know that in this fiftieth-anniversary offering of new stories nothing has changed: Paddington gets into trouble, usually because of a misunderstanding, always ending in a glorious muddle. Grade level: 1–3. 170 pages.

Snake and Lizard written by Joy Cowley, illustrated by Gavin Bishop (Kane/Miller)
In fifteen episodes, Snake and Lizard meet, bicker, and form an unlikely friendship marked by comical repartee. Grade level: K-2. 85 pages.

Cowgirl Kate and Cocoa: Rain or Shine written by Erica Silverman, illustrated by Betsy Lewin (Harcourt)
Cowgirl Kate and cowhorse Cocoa return in four rainy-day adventures that highlight the close friendship between girl and horse. Grade level: 1–3. 44 pages.

Are You Ready to Play Outside? written and illustrated by Mo Willems (Hyperion)
Piggie is miserable when one drop of rain threatens his outside plans; Gerald, his elephant friend, tries to steady the mood; and two worms remind Piggie that rain doesn’t mean the end of play. Grade level: K–2. 57 pages.

Intermediate
Suggested grade level for each entry: 4–6

The Penderwicks on Gardam Street by Jeanne Birdsall (Knopf)
Life for the four Penderwick sisters is going along as it should…until their father contemplates dating, prompting his panicked daughters to concoct a “Save-Daddy Plan.” 308 pages.

Paleo Bugs: Survival of the Creepiest written and illustrated by Timothy J. Bradley (Chronicle)
Bradley uses crisp graphics to trace the evolution of anthropods from 530 million years ago to the present. 48 pages.

The Diamond of Darkhold by Jeanne Duprau (Random)
Lina and Doon (first introduced in The City of Ember) return to the underground city to retrieve supplies, but instead encounter hostile new inhabitants. 387 pages.

Dinothesaurus written and illustrated by Douglas Florian (Atheneum)
Beginning by defining “The Age of Dinosaurs” and ending with their demise, Florian rounds up the usual prehistoric suspects and presents them in poems characterized by wordplay, mixed-media illustrations, and a scientific fact or two. 48 pages.

Well Witched by Frances Hardinge (HarperCollins)
Three children fall under the power of an elemental divinity after stealing coins from a wishing well in this deliciously creepy tale. 390 pages.

Piper Reed: The Great Gypsy written by Kimberly Willis Holt, illustrated by Christine Davenier (Holt)
In her second book, Navy brat Piper’s optimistic outlook never flags, even with changes afoot. 152 pages.

Heart of a Shepherd by Rosanne Parry (Random)
With his four older brothers away at school or in the service and his Army-Reserve father serving an extended tour in Iraq, sixth-grader Ignatius is the only one left to help his grandparents run the family ranch. 165 pages.

The Swamps of Sleethe written by Jack Prelutsky, illustrated by Jimmy Pickering (Knopf)
With comically creepy illustrations and flawless meter, Prelutsky’s macabre poems introduce readers to planets they’ve never heard of and probably wouldn’t want to visit. 40 pages.

King George: What Was His Problem? written by Steve Sheinkin, illustrated by Tim Robinson (Flash Point/Roaring Brook)
Two Miserable Presidents written by Steve Sheinkin, illustrated by Tim Robinson (Flash Point/Roaring Brook)
Sheinkin’s entertaining histories cover the Revolutionary and Civil wars and include personal, frequently irreverent, accounts of the participants. 195 and 220 pages.

Zorgamazoo written and illustrated by Robert Paul Weston (Razorbill/Penguin)
Human Katrina and zorgle Morty journey to the planet Graybalon-4 and back in search of the missing zorgles of Zorgamazoo in this whimsical, well-constructed story told entirely in rhymed anapestic tetrameter. 284 pages.

Best Friends written by Jacqueline Wilson, illustrated by Nick Sharratt (Roaring Brook)
When Gemma’s friend Alice moves to Scotland, both girls must find ways to deal with the change and remain “best friends forever” despite the distance. 229 pages.

Middle School
Suggested grade level for each entry: 6–8

3 Willows: The Sisterhood Grows by Ann Brashares (Delacorte)
Ama, Polly, and Jo, who sealed their friendship in third grade by planting trees, begin to reconnect during a challenging summer after drifting apart during middle school. 319 pages.

The Girl Who Threw Butterflies by Mick Cochrane (Knopf)
Six months after her father’s death in a car accident, Molly decides to try out for the boys’ baseball team, a decision she knows her father, who taught her to throw a knuckleball, would have approved of. 177 pages.

The Graveyard Book written by Neil Gaiman, illustrated by Dave McKean (HarperCollins)
After his family is killed by a sinister man named Jack, young Bod is raised in a graveyard, with ghosts as his surrogate parents, and taught otherworldly secrets. 309 pages.

Rapunzel’s Revenge written by Shannon Hale and Dean Hale, illustrated by Nathan Hale (Bloomsbury)
In this graphic novel, Rapunzel escapes from her fabled tower by becoming a gutsy, hair-whip-toting cowgirl, then joins with goose-stealing rapscallion Jack to end her stepmother’s reign of terror. 144 pages.

Phenomena: Secrets of the Senses by Donna M. Jackson (Little)
In this engaging work of nonfiction, Jackson moves beyond the basics of sensory perception to explore its alluring edges — the place where our fascination with the unseen and the unexplained meets the limits of scientific explanation. 175 pages.

One Small Step by P. B. Kerr (McElderry)
NASA asks thirteen-year-old Scott, son of an Air Force flight instructor, to man a pre–Apollo 11, top-secret spaceflight to the moon with a crew of chimponauts. 309 pages.

The Big Game of Everything by Chris Lynch (HarperTeen)
Jock has a sweet summer ahead working at his grandfather’s golf course — as long as he can deal with his surly younger brother Egon, his “irregular” parents, and his grandfather’s growing senility. 275 pages.

Every Soul a Star by Wendy Mass (Little)
In this moving story, three middle-schoolers’ lives intersect at a campground during an eclipse. 326 pages.

Hannah’s Winter by Kierin Meehan (Kane/Miller)
Staying with the Maekawa family after she’s dragged to Japan by her mother, twelve-year-old Hannah discovers a ghost — a young boy who needs her help. 212 pages.

Nation by Terry Pratchett (HarperCollins)
In an alternative nineteenth century, a tsunami shipwrecks Ermintrude on a tropical island, where she meets Mau, the only survivor of the island’s nation, and the two forge a poignant friendship. 370 pages.

Into the Volcano written and illustrated by Don Wood (Blue Sky/Scholastic)
In this graphic novel, two brothers embark on a seemingly harmless camping/hiking trip on a remote island that quickly turns into a dangerous game of treachery, kidnapping, double-crosses, and spectacular natural perils. 175 pages.

High School
Suggested grade level for each entry: 8 and up

Black Rabbit Summer by Kevin Brooks (Chicken House/Scholastic)
Two teenagers — one a local celebrity, the other Pete’s best friend — go missing from Pete’s small English town in this dense, hallucinogenic, two-pronged mystery. 490 pages.

Graceling by Kristin Cashore (Harcourt)
Katsa’s hyper-developed talent, or Grace, makes her feared throughout the Seven Kingdoms, but a wicked cute, super-sensitive prince helps her harness it as they solve a mysterious kidnapping together. 472 pages.

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (Scholastic)
Katniss is drawn to her district’s other representative in the Hunger Games, a compulsory, government-sponsored reality-TV show from which only one of twenty-four teenage contestants will emerge alive. 374 pages.

If the Witness Lied by Caroline B. Cooney (Delacorte)
In this tense domestic thriller, three teen siblings learn that their guardian plans to sell them out to reality television and that their father’s death — allegedly an accident caused by their baby brother — might have been a murder. 213 pages.

Along for the Ride by Sarah Dessen (Viking)
Spending the summer with her father, terminally perky stepmother, and newborn half-sister, studious Auden expands her horizons. 382 pages.

Little Brother by Cory Doctorow (Tor)
Following a major terrorist attack on San Francisco, Marcus (unjustly apprehended by Homeland Security in the aftermath) applies his formidable technological savvy to thwarting efforts to restrict personal liberty after he is released from detainment and interrogation. 365 pages.

The Reformed Vampire Support Group by Catherine Jinks (Harcourt)
An ill-assorted, amusingly pathetic group of vampires committed to not “fanging” humans investigates the slaying of one of their number in this offbeat Australian novel. 360 pages.

Suite Scarlett by Maureen Johnson (Scholastic Point)
Drama queen Mrs. Amberson moves into Scarlett’s family’s occupancy-challenged Manhattan hotel and proceeds to hatch schemes to save the hotel and resolve Scarlett’s love life in this over-the-top comedy presented with wry New York aplomb. 353 pages.

How to Ditch Your Fairy by Justine Larbalestier (Bloomsbury)
Fourteen-year-old Charlotte, whose invisible fairy (everyone in her world has one) gives her good parking spots, attempts to swap her fairy out for a more useful one in this fresh take on the old adage “be careful what you wish for.” 307 pages.

The Carbon Diaries 2015 by Saci Lloyd (Holiday)
In this brilliantly conceived speculative drama, South London teen Laura chronicles in biting journal entries the first year of Britain’s new, stringent carbon rationing system — the small indignities, extreme lifestyle changes, and growing civil unrest. 330 pages.

The Way We Work: Getting to Know the Amazing Human Body written by David Macaulay with Richard Walker, illustrated by David Macaulay (Lorraine/Houghton)
Macaulay turns his prodigious curiosity and formidable talents to anatomy and physiology, introducing basic concepts of cellular biology and chemistry before taking the readers on a guided tour of the body’s systems. 336 pages.

The Knife of Never Letting Go: Chaos Walking, Book One by Patrick Ness (Candlewick)
On a planet where a “Noise” germ makes all thoughts audible, Todd escapes the regimented, brutal all-male village of Prentisstown and, pursued by its leaders, joins forces with a mysterious girl whose thoughts are inexplicably silent. Sequel(s) to come. 479 pages.

Almost Astronauts: 13 Women Who Dared to Dream by Tanya Lee Stone (Candlewick)
The story of the ultimately unsuccessful effort to get women into NASA’s Mercury astronaut training program is meticulously researched and thrillingly told by Stone using first- and second-hand sources, including interviews with many of the women and outstanding historical photographs. 134 pages.

Marcelo in the Real World by Francisco X. Stork (Levine/Scholastic)
Seventeen-year-old Marcelo, who is on the high-functioning end of the autism spectrum, finds his coping and social skills, moral compass, and loyalty tested by a summer job in the mailroom at his father’s law firm. 316 pages.

Heroes of the Valley by Jonathan Stroud (Hyperion)
Aspiring hero Halli seeks to avenge a murdered uncle; his actions, clever and well-meaning though they are, have unintended consequences, causing commotion and propelling the plot. 483 pages.

Impossible by Nancy Werlin (Dial)
A generations-old family curse renders seventeen-year-old Lucy pregnant and destined for insanity upon her daughter’s birth unless she completes the three seemingly impossible tasks outlined in the folk song “Scarborough Fair.” 373 pages.

The Uninvited by Tim Wynne-Jones
After Mimi flees to her father’s cabin and meets her previously unheard-of half-brother, the two discover a disturbing problem: someone has been watching the house and repeatedly breaking in. 353 pages.

Of Interest to Adults

The Rights of the Reader written by Daniel Pennac, illustrated by Quentin Blake, translated from the French by Sarah Adams (Candlewick)
Ironic, epigrammatic, and very French, Pennac’s celebration of the joys, freedoms, and rights of reading inspires us all to go forth and do so post haste. 166 pages.

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