OUR SUMMER READING LIST
It’s summer!!! I love all the seasons for different reasons. But we love taking a long summer break and I LOVE the extra time we have for summer reading! Do you like making a summer reading list for either yourself or your kids? I SO do!! Taking a peek at others’ summer reading lists is so much fun.
Here’s a peek at our summer reading list for this year! I’ve split it up into the books for my elementary kids, high schooler, and our family read alouds. (But I’m finding that I wish I could read all these this summer myself!!)
Summer Reading List for myย Elementary and Middle School Kids
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For my 10 year old, I chose some books for her that I knew would stretch her mind and also have a fun summer flair!
Strawberry Girl // First of all Lois Lenski is the cutest ever. Second, my daughter loves gardening and growing things. Strawberry Girl is about a little girl who has recently moved to Florida with her family. She’s becoming impatient with establishing a new garden when she’s left her thriving one behind.
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The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle // We love Avi over here and just finished reading Sophia’s War this year.ย ย
This historical fiction novel is about a girl who finds herself alone with a shady crew on a boat going from her school in England, back home to her family in Rhode Island.
The War that Saved My Life // This book is about a girl with a lame leg with an abusive mother. It’s set in the time of WWII and she is sent to the country after the war begins. The woman she’s sent to live with is kind to her and even through the terrible time of war, the girl finds happiness in a world she’s only known sadness and pain. A great read my older son really enjoyed. I really want to read this one myself!
The Borrowers // A fun book about a tiny family who lives beneath the floor of a family. Their home is furnished with little things “borrowed” from the family above. My dollhouse-loving little lady will love this one!
My middle schooler loves history and reading!! I can’t keep books in his hands fast enough! I chose a variety of books so he could try some different genres this summer.
Breaking Stalin’s Nose // This story is about a boy in Russia under Stalin’s rule. His father is arrested, he breaks a classmates glasses with a snowball and he also accidentally breaks a bust of Stalin. This is a story about a boy’s struggle in a difficult world and how he can prevail.
Echo // This is one of those stories that starts with a mystery and carries you through years of more mystery. It covers decades of the story of a mysterious harmonica and the people whose lives it touches.
The Westing Game // A Christie-like mystery where a millionaire has gathered 16 strangers to solve a code and inherit his fortune!
Bridge to Terabithia // One of my favorites as a middle-schooler. A story about two unlikely friends who create a hidden world in the woods near their homes. The two overcome many things together and then tragedy strikes. A great book for this age.
The Maze Runner // Jack just finished reading the Hunger Games series, so I think he might enjoy these too. This series starts with a boy who wakes up with no memories, in a giant ever-changing maze, who is surrounded by strangers.
Summer Reading List for my High Schooler
Navigating Early // My son enjoyed reading Vanderpool’s Moon over Manifest, so I hope this one is a hit as well. It’s about a boy sent to from his home in Kansas to Maine for boarding school. He meets a friend and they somehow end up on the Appalachian Trail! It’s an adventure for sure! Planning on reading this along with Noah.
The Book Thief // This is one of my all-time favorite books and I’ve been begging my high schooler to read it! As morbid as it sounds, it’s actually a super interesting slant that the book is narrated by Death! It’s set in Germany during WWII and follows the story of a little girl coping with the tumultuous world around her during that time.
York: The Shadow Cipher // This sounds like SUCH a great book! It’s set in the late 1700’s where two twins arrive in NYC and envision a bustling city with skyscrapers and more. They design and built what they’ve set out to do, but they’ve also left behind a secret cipher in the city for those brave enough to figure out. Can’t wait to read this one too!
Guts + Glory: The American Civil War // I’m really excited about this because we will be studying the Civil War in the fall. Jack read another book in this series and says that it was GREAT story telling and very funny too. This book is a non-fiction timeline-type story of the Civil War.
Our Family Summer Reading List
We are honestly not the best at reading aloud as a family in the summer time. My kids sleep later in the morning and our evenings are usually full of bike rides, ice cream runs, and baseball games. BUT we’ve stocked up on audiobooks and will hopefully read at least one book together around the living room.
The Penderwicks // We’re jumping on the bandwagon and cannot wait! A great summer read about the Penderwick sisters discovering the magic of the Arundel Estate. Magic gardens, treasure-filled attics, tame rabbits, and a cook that makes the best gingerbread in Massachusetts! Yes, please to all that!!
A Little Princess // We’ve been listening to this via audio and we’re just about finished. This classic is a favorite of mine. Such a beautiful story about finding the very best in any situation life throws at you.
The Little Prince // This is such a classic and I can’t wait to read it with my kids. (We received this when we did Beautiful Feet Book’s Character Study review) It’s about a pilot who crash lands and makes lots of discoveries as he tries to repair his aircraft.
The Green Ember // We haven’t read this yet! Can you believe it!? If you’re in the same group as us, it’s about a brave group of rabbits fighting evil!
I hope you’ve got some fun titles chosen for this summer! Let me know in the comments what you’re reading this summer!
What a great line up of books. We are reading a few of the same books as your family this summer during read aloud time. I am saving this to Pinterest, so I can add the others to our TBR pile. Thanks for sharing!