This is just the tip of the iceberg of summer reading delights awaiting young readers at independent bookstores. Here are some recent bookseller favorites for elementary and middle school students, but the shelves are stocked for a whole season of great reading. What is in your backpack or by your hammock this summer?
Lumberjanes Unicorn Power! by Mariko Tamaki
Lumberjanes are kind of like Girl Scouts– they earn badges, make s’mores, fight monsters, befriend mythical beasts, and ride unicorns! Based on the bestselling comic, this [chapter] book is sure to delight fans and new scouts alike with its mountain-climbing, unicorn-riding, friendship-to-the-max adventures!
–Emm, Elliott Bay Book Company, Seattle, WA
Fenway & Hattie by Victoria Coe
HILARIOUS! If you’ve ever had a dog, you will love Fenway the dog’s narration. His enthusiasm, his desperate love for his girl, and his fierce protection against squirrels made me laugh out loud. And his point of view changes how we see moving, making friends, and growing up, too. Books two and three of the series are available now, too.
–Tegan, Queen Anne Book Company, Seattle, WA
Frazzled: Everyday Disasters and Impending Doom by Booki Vivat
This fun, enjoyable, quick read (chapter book with graphic elements, a la Wimpy Kid) has plenty of visual appeal, humor, and heart. It speaks to kids’ fears without diminishing them. It shows disappointments and frustrations, and also how to overcome them. It would make a great discussion book– accessible but chock full of topics. The main character has a loving single-parent family. Abbie is starting middle school but worries that everyone else seems to have a Thing, something that they are very enthusiastic about/ talented at, but she doesn’t. If readers like it as much as I did, they can read the second book and look forward to book three in February.
–Tegan, Queen Anne Book Company, Seattle, WA
Front Desk by Kelly Yang
When Mia Tang’s parents get a job managing a motel, it seems like a dream come true: free rent, living in a motel with a pool, and all sorts of interesting people coming and going. But the motel owner won’t let Mia swim in the pool, and one of the family has to be on duty any hour of the day or night. And Mia’s parents start helping other Chinese immigrants by hiding them in vacant rooms– a kindness that could get them all kicked out of the motel. Big issues are balanced by Mia’s charming voice and the book’s sense of hope and community.
–Tegan, Queen Anne Book Company, Seattle, WA
Be Prepared by Vera Brosgol
This hilarious semi-autobiographical graphic novel is a summer must-read for fans of Raina Telgemeier. As a Russian girl in American suburbs, Vera thinks that maybe summer camp will be a place to really find her place. But her mom can only afford Russian camp, and social ostracization and outhouses aren’t the Edenic experiences Vera was hoping for. Whether kids have been to summer camp or not, they’ll enjoy Vera’s story.
–Tegan, Queen Anne Book Company, Seattle, WA
The Parker Inheritance by Varian Johnson
Candice discovers a mysterious letter with an appealing challenge in her late grandmother’s attic: someone created a treasure hunt with an agenda. If someone can explore the city and its history to solve the puzzles and meet the challenges can be met, the city of Lambert will be saved. But without understanding the history of injustice and righting some wrongs, the city will be doomed. The only thing Candice and her neighbor Brandon seem to have in common is a love of reading, but they come together in this quest to solve the generations-old mystery. “Goonies”-level empowerment and adventure with a deeper message about social justice.
–Tegan, Queen Anne Book Company, Seattle, WA
