Hot Summer Reading

Enjoyable reading that’s substantial and well-written (“good for you”)

ADVENTURE – The Lightening Thief by Rick Riordan – Thirteen-year-old can’t seem to help himself from causing trouble in class and mysterious accidents happen when he goes on field trips. Then, he learns he’s the half-blood son of an unidentified Greek god, and monsters start trying to kill him. (gr 5 – 8)

CHICK LIT - 13 Little Blue Envelopes by Maureen Johnson – Open-ended treasure hunt that takes Ginny through Europe when she gets a package of blue envelopes from her late artistic aunt. (gr 8-11)

HORROR – Peeps by Scott Westerfeld – College freshman spends the night with a beautiful girl and gets infected with a low-grade version of a parasitic disease. (gr 8 up)

TEARJERKERS – Elsewhere by Gabrielle Zevin – Liz died when she was only 15 and ended up in the afterworld of Elsewhere where she spends hours watching her family and beloved dog who are still alive back on earth. (gr 7 up)

HUMOR – Absolutely, Positively Not – Coming-out story with appeal to gay and straight teens alike. (gr 7 – 10)

SCIENCE FICTION – Uglies by Scott Westerfeld –Futuristic world in which everyone gets a government-sanctioned operation to change from “uglies,” actually just normal looking human beings, into “pretties” whose features conform to a societally conditioned standard of beauty. (gr 6 – 10)

FANTASY – The Ruins of Gorlan by John Flanagan – Orphan who wants to become a knight instead begins training as a government spy. (gr 5-8)

WAR BOOKS –Code Talker by Joseph Bruchac – Sixteen-year-old Marine serves in World War II encoding and decoding messages in a top-secret code based on his native Navajo language. (gr 8 – 11)