Book Recommendations for Your Summer Reading

Summer is coming! Among other things, that means it’s time to take a blogging break for a while. I’ll pop in from time to time for a quick “What I’m Reading” post, but regular posts will be on hiatus until fall.

When I was growing up, one of the things I enjoyed about summer (besides being outside, riding my bike, playing with my cats, and having lots of time with friends) was having unlimited reading time. That’s still one of the joys of having time off.

There are a few books I’ve read lately that I want to tell you about, so that you can perhaps add them to your summer reading-for-fun list. Nearly all of them are middle grade novels. I’ve listed them alphabetically (I can’t seem to get away from alphabetizing things!) I’ll give you a couple of links so that you can read more, rather than writing a whole post about each. (The link on the title will take you to the author’s website.) (Note: a truncated version of this post has already appeared on my Starborn Revue website.)

Circus Mirandus by Cassie Beasley. I love the tag line on the back cover: “You have to believe it to see it.” Check out the Publishers Weekly review, the Kirkus review, and an interview with the author on BookPage.

The Distance to Home by Jenn Bishop. Here are the Publishers Weekly review, the Kirkus review, and an interview with Jenn Bishop on the Swanky Seventeens blog, the blog of a group of authors whose novels will debut this year.

Finding Wonders: Three Girls Who Changed Science by Jeannine Atkins. Learn more through the Publishers Weekly review, the Kirkus review, and an interview with Jeannine on the Poetry For Children website.

Hour of the Bees by Lindsay Eagar. See the Publishers Weekly review, a review on Twenty By Jenny, and an interview on the Swanky Seventeens website.

Someday Birds by Sally J. Pla. Read more about this book in Publishers Weekly, in the Kirkus review, and this interview on Literary Rambles.

Whittington by Alan Armstrong (published in 2005, so not as recent as the others). See the Kirkus review, and this review on BookPage.

Write This Down by Claudia Mills. Learn more at the Publishers Weekly review.

A powerful and important YA novel:

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas. For links for this one, please see my What I’m Reading post.

And a picture book to send you into the summer dreaming happily:

Happy Dreamer by Peter H. Reynolds. Peter H. Reynolds’ books have to be seen as well as read about, so here’s the book trailer. Also see the Publishers Weekly review and the Kirkus review.

Happy summertime reading! See you in the fall!

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