Summer Reading 2023

Written By Connections Academics

We always kick off the summer with a family trip to the library, filling our library bag so full it takes a team effort to haul it to the car. I love knowing there will be extra time to read—on lazy mornings, at the pool, in the backyard, on road trips, and late into the night when you just want to read one more page. Bring on the summer reading!

Here are a few recommendations to get you started!

Picture Books:

Come Home Already! is the delightful story of Duck and Bear and a camping trip gone all wrong. Their witty dialogue reminds me Elephant and Piggie books. We laugh out loud each time we read this one.

I Am Not A Penguin: A Pangolin’s Lament has been read in our home dozens of times since we found it at the library. All the animals keep confusing the pangolin for a snake or a frog or an armadillo, or of course, a penguin. Doesn’t anyone care about the pangolin?

Early Chapter Books

The beloved Magic Tree House series is now a graphic novel! The stories are the same, but the graphic novel format is filled with amazing art work and can feel less intimating for many young readers.

The Diary of A Pug series features Bubbles, better known as Bubs, an adorable pug who loves peanut butter and hates baths. These diary style books are told from the pug’s point of view as he navigates dog life with his human, Bella.

Upper Elemntary

My daughter couldn’t stop talking about The Lion of Mars as her 4th grade teacher read it aloud to the class. Her kind teacher sent it home for me to read when they were finished, and I definitely understand the hype. Kids growing up on Mars? Enough said.

Squished is a graphic novel about eleven-year-old Avery Lee. Avery knows she has little to complain about in life, but she is really tired of getting lost in the noise and chaos of a big family. All she really wants is her own room, and just when she hatches a plan to make that possible, things get more complicated.

Middle & High School

Love graphic novels? Love basketball? This is your jam. Don’t like graphic novels? Not really a basketball fan? This is still your jam. Dragon Hoops touches on important topics and themes and is all around great storytelling.

Suspense. Action. Survival. Adventure. 96 Miles is a book that will keep you up late into the night. The Lockwood brothers are ready to survive anything, but their survival skills are tested when they are forced to rely on each other during a 96 mile hike to safety.

And Something for the grown ups, too!

I read Finlay Donovan Is Killing It for book club last year, and it was such an entertaining page-turner! I tend to scare easily, so I don't normally pick up mystery, but this was more of a comical suspense, and I snagged up the second and third books right away.

The title really says it all. Every Summer After is a fun and easy summer read. The story alternates from past to present as you follow best friends, Percy and Sam. If you’re a sucker for a second chance romance story, this will be just what your summer vacation needs.

Connections Academics
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