I hope you're all having a wonderful summer filled with stories, reading, and taking the time to keep those creative juices flowing! I'm sure you're finding plenty of time to have your pen traveling along the paper... or your fingers typing on your laptop or iPad!
I spent some time at a local bookstore the other day and wanted to share a few popular books on the Recommended Summer Reading List... in case you haven't begun your summer homework quite yet!
I spent some time at a local bookstore the other day and wanted to share a few popular books on the Recommended Summer Reading List... in case you haven't begun your summer homework quite yet!
REALISTIC FICTION
Mass, Wendy; A Mango-Shaped Space
Afraid that she is crazy, thirteen-year-old Mia, who sees a special color with every letter, number, and sound, keeps this a secret until she becomes overwhelmed by school, changing relationships, and the death of her beloved cat, Mango.
Schmidt, Gary D.; Okay for Now
Fourteen-year-old Doug Swieteck faces many challenges, including an abusive father, a brother traumatized by Vietnam, suspicious teachers and police officers, and isolation, but when he meets a girl known as Lil Spicer, he develops a close relationship with her and finds a safe place at the local library.
Weeks, Sarah; So B. It
Although she lives an unconventional lifestyle with her mentally disabled mother and their doting neighbor, Bernadette, Heidi has a lucky streak that has a way of pointing her in the right direction. When a mysterious word in her mother′s vocabulary begins to haunt her, Heidi′s thirst for the truth leads her on a cross-country journey in search of the secrets of her past.
Van Draanen,Wendelin; The Running Dream
When a school bus accident leaves sixteen-year-old Jessica an amputee, she returns to school with a prosthetic limb and her track team finds a wonderful way to help rekindle her dream of running again.
Mike Lupica; Million Dollar Throw
Eighth-grade star quarterback Nate Brodie's family is feeling the stress of the troubled economy, and Nate is frantic because his best friend Abby is going blind, so when he gets a chance to win a million dollars if he can complete a pass during the halftime of a New England Patriot's game, he is nearly overwhelmed by the pressure to succeed.
Mass, Wendy; A Mango-Shaped Space
Afraid that she is crazy, thirteen-year-old Mia, who sees a special color with every letter, number, and sound, keeps this a secret until she becomes overwhelmed by school, changing relationships, and the death of her beloved cat, Mango.
Schmidt, Gary D.; Okay for Now
Fourteen-year-old Doug Swieteck faces many challenges, including an abusive father, a brother traumatized by Vietnam, suspicious teachers and police officers, and isolation, but when he meets a girl known as Lil Spicer, he develops a close relationship with her and finds a safe place at the local library.
Weeks, Sarah; So B. It
Although she lives an unconventional lifestyle with her mentally disabled mother and their doting neighbor, Bernadette, Heidi has a lucky streak that has a way of pointing her in the right direction. When a mysterious word in her mother′s vocabulary begins to haunt her, Heidi′s thirst for the truth leads her on a cross-country journey in search of the secrets of her past.
Van Draanen,Wendelin; The Running Dream
When a school bus accident leaves sixteen-year-old Jessica an amputee, she returns to school with a prosthetic limb and her track team finds a wonderful way to help rekindle her dream of running again.
Mike Lupica; Million Dollar Throw
Eighth-grade star quarterback Nate Brodie's family is feeling the stress of the troubled economy, and Nate is frantic because his best friend Abby is going blind, so when he gets a chance to win a million dollars if he can complete a pass during the halftime of a New England Patriot's game, he is nearly overwhelmed by the pressure to succeed.
HISTORICAL FICTION
Bartoletti, Susan Campbell; The Boy Who Dared
In October 1942, seventeen-year-old Helmuth Hubener, imprisoned for distributing anti-Nazi leaflets, recalls his past life and how he came to dedicate himself to bring the truth about Hitler and the war to the German people.
Gratz, Alan; Prisoner B-3087
Survive. At any cost. Ten concentration camps. Ten different places where you are starved, tortured, and worked mercilessly. It's something no one could imagine surviving. But it is what Yanek Gruener has to face.
Klages, Ellen; The Green Glass Sea
In 1943, eleven-year-old Dewey Kerrigan lives with her scientist father in Los Alamos, New Mexico, as he works on a top secret government program and befriends an aspiring artist who is a misfit just like her.
Lai, Thanhha; Inside Out & Back Again
Inspired by the author's childhood experience of fleeing Vietnam after the Fall of Saigon and immigrating to Alabama, this coming-of-age debut novel told in verse has been celebrated for its touching child's-eye view of family and immigration
Bartoletti, Susan Campbell; The Boy Who Dared
In October 1942, seventeen-year-old Helmuth Hubener, imprisoned for distributing anti-Nazi leaflets, recalls his past life and how he came to dedicate himself to bring the truth about Hitler and the war to the German people.
Gratz, Alan; Prisoner B-3087
Survive. At any cost. Ten concentration camps. Ten different places where you are starved, tortured, and worked mercilessly. It's something no one could imagine surviving. But it is what Yanek Gruener has to face.
Klages, Ellen; The Green Glass Sea
In 1943, eleven-year-old Dewey Kerrigan lives with her scientist father in Los Alamos, New Mexico, as he works on a top secret government program and befriends an aspiring artist who is a misfit just like her.
Lai, Thanhha; Inside Out & Back Again
Inspired by the author's childhood experience of fleeing Vietnam after the Fall of Saigon and immigrating to Alabama, this coming-of-age debut novel told in verse has been celebrated for its touching child's-eye view of family and immigration
ADVENTURE/SCIENCE FICTION/FANTASY
Drago, Ty; The Undertakers
Will is one of only a few people who is able to see the growing number of corpses invading his town, and forced to join a ragtag army of teenage resistance fighters called the Undertakers, Will is suddenly in the middle of a war between the living and the dead.
Henry, April; Girl, Stolen
When an impulsive carjacking turns into a kidnapping, Griffin, a high school dropout, finds himself more in sympathy with his wealthy, blind victim, sixteen-year-old Cheyenne, than with his greedy father.
Lu, Marie; Legend (any book in the series)
In a dark future, when North America has split into two warring nations, fifteen-year-olds Day, a famous criminal, and prodigy June, the brilliant soldier hired to capture him, discover that they have a common enemy.
Mulligan, Andy; Trash
A group of fourteen-year-old boys, who make a living picking garbage from the outskirts of a large city, finds something special and mysterious that brings terrifying consequences.
Pfeffer, Marybeth; Life as We Knew It (any book in the series)
Through journal entries, sixteen-year-old Miranda describes her family's struggle to survive after a meteor hits the moon, causing worldwide tsunamis, earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions.
Cashore, Kristin; Graceling (or any in the Seven Kingdoms Trilogy)
Katsa has been able to kill a man with her bare hands since she was eight - she's a Graceling, one of the rare people in her land born with an extreme skill. As niece of the king, she should be able to live a life of privilege, but graced as she is with killing, she is forced to work as the king's thug. When she first meets Prince Po, Katsa has no hint of how her life is about to change. She never expects to learn a new truth about her own Grace or about a terrible secret that lies hidden far away.
Drago, Ty; The Undertakers
Will is one of only a few people who is able to see the growing number of corpses invading his town, and forced to join a ragtag army of teenage resistance fighters called the Undertakers, Will is suddenly in the middle of a war between the living and the dead.
Henry, April; Girl, Stolen
When an impulsive carjacking turns into a kidnapping, Griffin, a high school dropout, finds himself more in sympathy with his wealthy, blind victim, sixteen-year-old Cheyenne, than with his greedy father.
Lu, Marie; Legend (any book in the series)
In a dark future, when North America has split into two warring nations, fifteen-year-olds Day, a famous criminal, and prodigy June, the brilliant soldier hired to capture him, discover that they have a common enemy.
Mulligan, Andy; Trash
A group of fourteen-year-old boys, who make a living picking garbage from the outskirts of a large city, finds something special and mysterious that brings terrifying consequences.
Pfeffer, Marybeth; Life as We Knew It (any book in the series)
Through journal entries, sixteen-year-old Miranda describes her family's struggle to survive after a meteor hits the moon, causing worldwide tsunamis, earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions.
Cashore, Kristin; Graceling (or any in the Seven Kingdoms Trilogy)
Katsa has been able to kill a man with her bare hands since she was eight - she's a Graceling, one of the rare people in her land born with an extreme skill. As niece of the king, she should be able to live a life of privilege, but graced as she is with killing, she is forced to work as the king's thug. When she first meets Prince Po, Katsa has no hint of how her life is about to change. She never expects to learn a new truth about her own Grace or about a terrible secret that lies hidden far away.
NONFICTION
Schlosser, Eric; Chew on This
A look at fast food, what's in it, how it's made, and what it does to our bodies.
In the New York Times bestseller Chew on This, Eric Schlosser and Charles Wilson unwrap the fast-food industry to bring you a behind-the-scenes look at a business that both feeds and feeds off the young. Find out what really goes on at your favorite restaurants—and what lurks between those sesame seed buns.
Stone, Tanya Lee; Courage Has No Color
World War II is raging, and thousands of American soldiers are fighting overseas against the injustices brought on by Hitler. Back on the home front, discrimination against African Americans plays out as much on Main Street as in the military. Tanya Lee Stone examines the little-known history of the Triple Nickles, America's first black paratroopers, who fought in an attack on the American West by the Japanese.
Tougas, Shelly; Little Rock 1957
Nine African American students made history when they defied a governor and integrated an Arkansas high school in 1957, but it was the photo of a young girl being taunted, harassed and threatened by an angry mob that grabbed the world's attention.
CLASSICS
Louisa May Alcott; Little Women
Daniel Defoe; Robinson Crusoe
Betty Smith; A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
J.R.R. Tolkien; The Lord of the Rings (series)
Mark Twain; Adventures of Tom Sawyer
Schlosser, Eric; Chew on This
A look at fast food, what's in it, how it's made, and what it does to our bodies.
In the New York Times bestseller Chew on This, Eric Schlosser and Charles Wilson unwrap the fast-food industry to bring you a behind-the-scenes look at a business that both feeds and feeds off the young. Find out what really goes on at your favorite restaurants—and what lurks between those sesame seed buns.
Stone, Tanya Lee; Courage Has No Color
World War II is raging, and thousands of American soldiers are fighting overseas against the injustices brought on by Hitler. Back on the home front, discrimination against African Americans plays out as much on Main Street as in the military. Tanya Lee Stone examines the little-known history of the Triple Nickles, America's first black paratroopers, who fought in an attack on the American West by the Japanese.
Tougas, Shelly; Little Rock 1957
Nine African American students made history when they defied a governor and integrated an Arkansas high school in 1957, but it was the photo of a young girl being taunted, harassed and threatened by an angry mob that grabbed the world's attention.
CLASSICS
Louisa May Alcott; Little Women
Daniel Defoe; Robinson Crusoe
Betty Smith; A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
J.R.R. Tolkien; The Lord of the Rings (series)
Mark Twain; Adventures of Tom Sawyer