Books for Summertime
We LOVE a good book list here at Brave Writer! Check these fun books out from your local library, or head to the bookstore, and get your kiddos in the summery spirit.
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Summer Books for Kids
Caveat: We are familiar with a number of these titles but have not vetted them all (relying on trusted sources like Here Wee Read and others for some of the suggestions). So please remember that you’re the parent. Certain titles, especially for teens, may contain mature themes and strong language. If you have doubts about the content of a particular book, check the reviews of it or read it for yourself first.
Also, some of the titles have an accompanying Arrow or Boomerang, Brave Writer’s mechanics and literature programs, and we’ve linked to them in the lists below.
LITTLES
- Hide and Seek Harry at the Beach by Kenny Harrison
- Maisy Goes Camping: A Maisy First Experience Book by Lucy Cousins
- The Boy Who Didn’t Believe in Spring by Lucille Clifton
- All the Way to Havana by Margarita Engle
- Llama Llama Sand and Sun by Anna Dewdney
- Come on, Rain! by Karen Hesse
- Stormy Night by Salina Yoon
- Just Me and My Dad (Little Critter) by Mercer Mayer
- OLIVIA Goes Camping by Alex Harvey
- Yo Soy Muslim: A Father’s Letter to His Daughter by Mark Gonzales
- Beautiful by Stacy McAnulty
- Goodnight, Firefly by Gabriel Alborozo
- Grandfather’s Journey by Allen Say
- If Your Monster Won’t Go To Bed by Denise Vega
- The Night Before Summer Vacation by Natasha Wing
- Welcome to the Neighborwood by Shawn Sheehy
- Goldfish on Vacation by Sally Lloyd-Jones
- Bringing Asha Home by Uma Krishnaswami
- Up in the Garden and Down in the Dirt by Kate Messner
- Write! Write! Write! by Amy Ludwig Vanderwater
MIDDLERS
- Hello, Universe by Erin Entrada Kelly
- Clean Getaway by Nic Stone
- Dragon Pearl by Yoon Ha Lee
- One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia (Arrow)
- Nerd Camp by Elissa Brent Weissman
- Planet Omar: Accidental Trouble Magnet by Zanib Mian
- Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus by Dusti Bowling
- Summer of the Monkeys by Wilson Rawls
- Rise of the Jumbies by Tracey Baptiste
- Stella by Starlight by Sharon M. Draper (Arrow)
- Confessions of a Dork Lord by Mike Johnston
- Summer of the Woods by Steven K. Smith
- Finn and the Intergalactic Lunchbox by Michael Buckley
- Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis (Arrow)
- Once Upon a Space-Time! by Jeffrey Brown
- In the Footsteps of Crazy Horse by Joseph Marshall
- The Mystery of the Moon Tower by Francesco Sedita
- Elijah of Buxton by Christopher Paul Curtis (Arrow)
- Step Up to the Plate, Maria Singh by Uma Krishnaswami
- Clayton Byrd Goes Underground by Rita Williams-Garcia
TEENS
- The Crossover by Kwame Alexander (Boomerang)
- I Love You So Mochi by Sarah Kuhn
- Monster by Walter Dean Myers
- Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson (Boomerang)
- The Sun Is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon
- The Downstairs Girl by Stacey Lee
- Toning the Sweep by Angela Johnson
- Cinder by Marissa Meyer
- American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang (Boomerang)
- Queen’s Shadow by E.K. Johnston
- If I Ever Get Out of Here by Eric Gansworth
- The Arrival by Shaun Tan
- The Queen’s Assassin by Melissa de la Cruz
- The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
- I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou (Boomerang)
- Geekerella: A Fangirl Fairy Tale by Ashley Poston
- The Kingdom of Back by Marie Lu
- We are Not from Here by Jenny Torres Sanchez
- March by John Lewis and Andrew Aydin (Boomerang)
- Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win the Space Race by Margot Lee Shetterly
