Summer Reading for Kids

The number one rule for summer reading? Make it fun!

Whether you and the kids are trundling off to the beach, zooming away to distant lands or simply hanging out at home, why not while away those long summer days with a basket of books? Booksellers Lori Mitchell of Island Books (Mercer Island) and Christy McDanold of Secret Garden (Ballard) helped put together a list of surefire favorites.

Picture Books (ages 4 –

Summer shade, a cozy lap and a just-right book—do lazy days with little ones get any better than that?

• Good Night Sam and companion book Good Morning Sam, newly available in paperback, from Marie-Louise Gay’s delightful Stella and Sam series. Sam can’t sleep and big sister Stella is, as always, there to help him work things out. With soft, flowing water colors and tongue-in-cheek humor, Gay tells a story that is perfect for young siblings.
• Adelaide by Tomi Ungerer, reissued from 1959, a fun romp about a flying kangaroo whose curiosity takes her on adventures around the world.
• Hooray for Amanda & Her Alligator, by Mo Willems. Tender, surprising and funny, Amanda’s friendship with her stuffed alligator hits a bump when a surprising new friend enters the scene.
• Morning in Maine and Blueberries for Sal, two summertime classics by Robert McCloskey. A 1952 Caldecott honor book, Morning in Maine is a warm, well-told story about Sal, a character both boys and girls will relate to, who loses a tooth while mucking for clams on a summer vacation with her family.

Middle Grade (ages 8 to 12)

Summer is perfect for books that speak of quieter times.

• The Friendship Doll, by Seattle author Kirby Larson. Based on the Japanese ambassador dolls exchanged in the 1920’s to ease cultural tensions, Larson’s newest book tells the tale of four girls and the doll that changed their lives.
• The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting Boy. by Jeanne Birdsall. This National Book Award winner is a about the sweet, funny Penderwick sisters (ages 4 – 12), social misfits who spend the summer in a Berkshire cottage where they befriend Jeffrey, son of their pretentious landlady, and plot to save him from being sent to military school.
• Scorpia Rising: The Final Mission, is the ninth and final book in Anthony Horowitz’s NY Times bestselling action-packed series about Alex Rider, a teenage spy whose adventures often mirror real-world issues.
• The Throne of Fire, second in Rick Riordan’s latest series. Carter Kane and his sister, Sadie, use unusual powers to battle gods of Ancient Egypt released into our world. Perfect for fans of the wildly popular Percy Jackson books
• Gone-Away Lake by Elizabeth Enright. Cousins Portia and Julian share a magical summer adventure discovering an (almost) abandoned Victorian village. Published in 1957, this summertime classic has a timeless feel.

Young Adult (age 12 and up)

Perfect for the beach bag or camp locker.

• Honey Baby Sweetheart by Deb Caletti of Issaquah. It’s the summer of her junior year and quiet, shy Ruby McQueen falls for Travis who is rich, handsome and, as she discovers, dangerous. Teens will root for Ruby who makes some bad decisions while traveling down the road toward wisdom.
• Feed by M.T. Anderson. This brilliant first-person satire about consumerism and corporate power takes place in a world where teens are connected directly to information, media and one another via implanted computer chips—“Feeds.” A computer virus forces the main character, Titus, to see things differently.
• Matched by Ally Condie. Fans of Collins’ The Hunger Games and Lowry’s The Giver will be drawn to this romance set in a dystopian world where everything is perfect—or maybe it isn’t.
• The Dark City by Catherine Fisher. For fantasy fans, the first of four books to be released, one each month, until the end of summer. Here, in the mysterious, ancient world of Anara, sixteen-year old apprentice, Raffi, accompanied by a young woman named Carys, searches for a relic with power to potentially save a crumbling world.