On the shelf: wrapping up the summer reading list

By Courtney Warren

Dare I say, this is the last On the Shelf of the summer. As we gear up to enjoy the month of July, it’s also time to prepare for those back to school lists, including summer reading. 

Summer reading can be so daunting, and I say that as a literature teacher myself who has her own summer reading (that is still sitting in my backpack, but if you’re my principal – don’t worry! I’ll read it!)

Anytime someone tells us we have to read something, we automatically don’t want to do so. However, reading is so incredibly important for our students - and also for ourselves. I could add an entire paragraph about the importance of reading; but, let’s be honest, this column is about book recommendations. So, with that in mind, here are some fun summer reads for you and for your younger readers. 

Picture Book: 
The President of the Jungle by André Rodrigues, Larissa Ribeiro, Paula Desgualdo and Pedro Markun
Lion may be King of the jungle, but lately he only seems to care about himself. His subjects are fed up, so they decide to try something new - hold an election! Once Owl explains the rules, the fun begins, and Snake, Sloth and Monkey all announce they will be candidates. But - oh no! - Lion is going to run, too! It’s a wild campaign season as the animals hold rallies, debate and even take a selfie or two, trying to prove why they’d make the best president of the jungle. 
This funny, non-partisan story features lively illustrations, a helpful glossary and colorful characters who have an infectious enthusiasm for the election process.

Chapter Book: 
Shiver by the Sea by Erin Dionne
Bella Gossi just moved from New York City to the Massachusetts beach town of Shiver-by-the-Sea to live with her Uncle Van. Bella’s excited about helping her mom fix up the old movie theater, but she’s already missing her old home and her old friends; and, just driving through downtown, it’s pretty clear that this place has seen better days.
After meeting Cooper and his adorable basset hound, Casper, things start looking up. But when mom tasks them with clearing out an old trunk from the theater and picking the first movie they’ll show, that’s when the trouble begins. Out of the trunk pops a bat! But not just any bat . . . a kid vampire. A very hungry, very scared kid vampire, who’s lost and doesn’t know how to get home to his family. 
Bella and Cooper are a little frightened at first, too, but soon they’re on a mission to help Bram find his way home, because that’s what real friends do.

Middle Grade: 
The Secret Library by Kekla Magoon
Since Grandpa died, Dally’s days are dull and restricted. She’s eleven-and-a-half years old, and her exacting single mother is already preparing her to take over the family business. Starved for adventure and release, Dally rescues a mysterious envelope from her mother’s clutches, an envelope Grandpa had earmarked for her. The map she finds inside leads straight to an ancient vault, a library of secrets where each book is a portal to a precise moment in time. 
As Dally “checks out” adventure after adventure—including an exhilarating outing with pirates—she begins to dive deep into her family’s hidden history. Soon she’s visiting every day to escape the demands of the present. But the library has secrets of its own, intentions that would shape her life as surely as her mother’s meticulous plans. What will Dally choose? Equal parts mystery and adventure—with a biracial child puzzling out her identity alongside the legacy of the past—this masterful middle-grade fantasy rivets with crackling prose, playful plot twists and timeless themes.

Young Adult: 
Cursed Cruise by Victoria Fulton and Faith McClaren
After their fateful stay at the Hearst Hotel, the Ghost Gang is back with more spooks and more subscribers. They’ve been invited to record onboard the RMS Queen Anne, a transatlantic luxury ocean liner with a colorful past of violent deaths of hundreds of passengers—souls that bought a one-way ticket to the afterlife (and never disembarked).
When Chrissy, Chase, Kiki and Emma board the ship, they have a funny feeling they’ve been sucked into a ghostly time warp—a theory that takes a frightening turn when Chrissy goes missing on the first night.
Unbeknownst to the rest of the group, Chrissy has been sucked into another time by a passenger who wants the Ghost Gang to know her untimely death was not an accident and the perpetrator is still alive—and on board this ship.