Enjoy a wide variety of summer adventures with the children in these books. We may be having quiet summers at home this year, but that doesn't mean our children can't enjoy reading about the doings of these literary characters. Readers can vicariously attend camp, visit grandparents, act in a play, have a first crush, solve a mystery, and more with these books.

As Brave As You by Jason Reynolds

When Genie and his older brother spend their summer in the country with their grandparents, he learns a secret about his grandfather and what it means to be brave.

 

 

 

 

 

Drum Roll, Please by Lisa Jenn Bigelow

Melly only joined the school band because her best friend, Olivia, begged her to. But to her surprise, quiet Melly loves playing the drums. It's the only time she doesn't feel like a mouse. Now she and Olivia are about to spend the next two weeks at camp Rockaway, jamming under the stars in the Michigan woods. But the summer brings a lot of big changes for Melly: her parents split up, her best friend ditches her, and Melly finds herself unexpectedly falling for another girl at camp.

 

 

Float by Laura Martin

Relegated to a summer camp for kids with uncontrollable supernatural abilities, Emerson, a boy who must wear weights to prevent himself from floating away, teams up with his fellow misfits when he discovers that a time-traveling camper is hiding a dangerous secret.

 

 

 

 

Harris and Me: A Summer Remembered by Gary Paulsen

A young boy spends his tenth summer on his aunt and uncle's farm, where he is constantly involved in crazy escapades with his cousin Harris. "On the Larson farm, readers will experience hearts as large as farmers appetites, humor as broad as the country landscape and adventures as wild as boyhood imaginations. All this adds up to a hearty helping of old-fashioned, rip roaring entertainment." 

 

 

 

Parker Inheritance by Varian Johnson

Twelve year old Candace Miller is spending the summer in Lambert South Carolina , in the house that belonged to her grandmother, who died after being dismissed as city manager for having the city tennis courts dug up looking for buried treasure. When she finds the letter that sent her grandmother on the treasure hunt, she becomes caught up in the mystery and, with the help of her new friend and fellow book-worm, Brandon, she sets out to find the inheritance, exonerate her grandmother, and expose an injustice once committed against an African American family in Lambert.

 

 

One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia

Delphine is like a mother to her two younger sisters, Vonetta, and Fern. She's had to be, ever since their mother, Cecilie, left them seven years ago for a radical new life in California. But when the sisters arrive from Brooklyn to spend the summer with their mother, Cecile is nothing like they imagined. While the girls hope to go to Disneyland and meet Tinker Bell, their mother sends them to a day camp run by the Black Panthers. Unexpectedly, Delphine, Vonetta, and Fern learn much about their family, their country, and themselves during one truly crazy summer.

 

 

Season of Styx Malone by Kekla Magoon

Longing for summertime adventures outside their small Indiana community, two boys are enthralled by a cool newcomer who enlists their help in a series of escalating trade cons that rapidly put them in over their heads.

 

 

 

 

Some Kind of Happiness by Claire Legrand

Sent to spend the summer with unfamiliar relatives when her parents' marriage becomes unstable, 12-year-old Finley, a girl who struggles with depression, discovers a magical make-believe world in the woods behind her grandparents' house that she must save in order to save herself.

Reality and fantasy collide in this heartfelt and mysterious novel of tragic family mysteries. For fans of Counting by 7s and A Bridge to Terabithia.

 

 

Summer According to Humphrey by Betty G. Birney

Fearing for his security when the school year ends, Humphrey the Class hamster is delighted when Ms. Mac and several of the children bring him to summer camp, where he and his friend Og the Frog adjust to cabin life and meet a friendly wild mouse.

 

 

 

 

Summer Ball by Mike Lupica

Having led his team to the national championship, Danny is given the opportunity to attend Right Way basketball camp, but knowing that he will be playing with the best in the country puts the pressure on and makes him realize that he will have to rise to the challenge in order to prove himself once again.

 

 

 

 

Summerlost: A Novel by Allyson Condie

At the beginning of the first summer since the devastating accident that killed her father and younger brother, Cedar and her surviving family members settle into a different home, where a new friendship and job introduce her to a local mystery involving the death of a young Hollywood actress.

 

 

 

 

---

Staff picks are chosen by NYPL staff members and are not intended to be comprehensive lists. We'd love to hear your ideas too, so leave a comment and tell us what you’d recommend. And check out our Staff Picks browse tool for more recommendations!

Summaries provided via NYPL’s catalog, which draws from multiple sources. Click through to each book’s title for more.