The following titles are recommended by the Association for Library Service To Children, a Division of the American Library Association, to keep children engaged in reading throughout the summer.
Grades K – 2
Actual Size by Steve Jenkins
Big Red Lollipop by Rukhsana Khan, illustrated by Sophie Blackall
Boot and Shoe by Marla Frazee
Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin Jr. and John Archambault, illustrated by Lois Ehlert
Chirchir Is Singing by Kelly Cunnane, illustrated by Jude Daly
Chu’s Day by Neil Gaiman, illustrated by Adam Rex
Duck! Rabbit! by Amy Krouse Rosenthal, illustrated by Tom Lichtenheld
The Eagles Are Back by Jean Craighead George, illustrated by Wendell Minor
Interrupting Chicken by David Ezra Stein
It’s a Tiger! by David LaRochelle, illustrated by Jeremy Tankard
I Want My Hat Back by Jon Klassen
Ling & Ting: Not Exactly the Same! by Grace Lin
Luke on the Loose by Harry Bliss
Marisol McDonald Doesn’t Match/Marisol McDonald no combina by Monica Brown, illustrated by Sara Palacios
More Bears! by Kenn Nesbitt, illustrated by Troy Cummings
Nighttime Ninja by Barbara DaCosta, illustrated by Ed Young
Panda Kindergarten by Joanne Ryder, Photographs by Katherine Feng
Penny and Her Song by Kevin Henkes
Pete the Cat: I Love My White Shoes by Eric Litwin, illustrated by James Dean
Red-Eyed Tree Frog by Joy Cowley, Photographs by Nic Bishop
Scaredy Squirrel by Mélanie Watt
Shark vs. Train by Chris Barton, illustrated by Tom Lichtenheld
Ugly Fish by Kara LaReau, illustrated by Scott Magoon
The Watcher: Jane Goodall’s Life with the Chimps by Jeanette Winter
We Are in a Book! by Mo Willems
Grades 3 – 5
Big Nate: In a Class by Himself by Lincoln Peirce
The Birchbark House by Louise Erdrich
Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis
Clementine by Sara Pennypacker, illustrated by Marla Frazee Hyperion
Dork Diaries: Tales from a Not-So-Fabulous Life by Rachel Renée Russell
The Grand Plan to Fix Everything by Uma Krishnaswami, illustrated by Abigail Halpin
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J. K. Rowling, illustrated by Mary GrandPré
The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick
Kampung Boy by Lat
Knucklehead: Tall Tales and Mostly True Stories about Growing Up Scieszka by Jon Scieszka
The Maze of Bones (39 Clues, Book 1) by Rick Riordan
Meanwhile by Jason Shiga
The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart, illustrated by Carson Ellis
Nathan Hale’s Hazardous Tales: One Dead Spy by Nathan Hale
No Talking by Andrew Clements, illustrated by Mark Elliott
The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate, illustrated by Patricia Castelao
100 Most Dangerous Things on the Planet by Anna Claybourne
Out of My Mind by Sharon M. Draper
The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting Boy by Jeanne Birdsall
Savvy by Ingrid Law
Sidekicks by Dan Santat
The Strange Case of Origami Yoda by Tom Angleberger
To Dance: A Ballerina’s Graphic Novel by Siena Cherson Siegel, illustrated by Mark Siegel
Tuesdays at the Castle by Jessica Day George
Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin
Grades 6 – 8
Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel by Michael Scott
American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang
Axe Cop by Malachai Nicolle, illustrated by Ethan Nicolle
Better Nate than Ever by Tim Federle
Bomb: The Race to Build – and Steal – the World’s Most Dangerous Weapon by Steve Sheinkin
Bone: Out from Boneville by Jeff Smith
Close to Famous by Joan Bauer
Does My Head Look Big in This? by Randa Abdel-Fattah
Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card
Friends with Boys by Faith Erin Hicks
The Giver by Lois Lowry
The Grimm Legacy by Polly Shulman
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
Life as We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer The Lions of Little Rock by Kristin Levine
Middle School: The Worst Years of My Life by James Patterson and Chris Tebbetts, illustrated by Laura Park
The Mother-Daughter Book Club by Heather Vogel Frederick
One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia Amistad
The Red Pyramid by Rick Riordan
Smile by Raina Telgemeier
Stormbreaker by Anthony Horowitz
Titanic: Voices from the Disaster by Deborah Hopkinson
When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead The Wild Book by Margarita Engle
Wonder by R. J. Palacio