Summer is here, and many of you are seeking books to keep your kids occupied during the school break. Today I bring a summer reading guide with essential classics for kids and teens. THREAD:
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Yes. Also, read to your children. I was reading to my youngest into her teens. All four of my children are readers. Here is a picture of my 3 year old granddaughter.
jun 20, 2025, 12:40 pm • 3 2 • view
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jun 13, 2025, 11:17 pm • 0 0 • view
First: please make sure your kids read this summer. We’re in a crisis. The percentage of kids who read for pleasure has dipped from 35 percent (in 1984) to 27 percent (in 2012) to 13 percent (in 2023). As Faith Moore says, “Civilization literally depends” on kids reading. That said...
jun 13, 2025, 8:59 pm • 30 6 • view
The Westing Game, by Ellen Raskin. When paper mogul Samuel Westing dies, his sixteen surviving relatives learn that he’s leaving his entire 200 million-dollar fortune to the one who wins the Westing Game. There’s some great character work here and I cry, hard, at the end.
jun 13, 2025, 8:59 pm • 15 1 • view
The Mysterious Benedict Society, by Trenton Lee Stewart. Really delightful series narrating the peculiar adventures of Kate, Constance, Sticky and Reynie, who must solve a number of puzzles as they work to defeat a sinister organization.
jun 13, 2025, 8:59 pm • 16 0 • view
The Chronicles of Narnia, by C. S. Lewis. Essential reading for all children of a certain age. My eight-year-old nephew became obsessed with these books when we read them aloud together, standing atop his bed and blowing a toy horn whenever Susan’s horn was mentioned.
jun 13, 2025, 8:59 pm • 20 0 • view
The Midnight Folk and The Box of Delights, by John Masefield. Before Narnia, before the Pevensies, there was Kay Harker. This delirious brew of witches, talking foxes, Roman soldiers, time travel, Cockney baddies and sinister old ladies was much admired by Lewis.
jun 13, 2025, 8:59 pm • 10 0 • view
Nevermoor, by Jessica Townsend. My favorite middle-grade series of the past decade, centering on a girl named Morrigan Crow who’s rescued from death by the enigmatic Jupiter North (a loving homage to the Doctor) and taken to the London-esque Nevermoor.
jun 13, 2025, 8:59 pm • 10 0 • view
The Wind in the Willows, by Kenneth Grahame. Mole, Ratty and Badger undertake jaunts along the river, their rambles intersecting with the escapades of rambunctious friend Toad, who takes a keen joy in fast cars and mischief.
jun 13, 2025, 8:59 pm • 16 1 • view
The Count of Monte Cristo, by Alexander Dumas. After escaping from an island prison, Edmond Dantes finds a fabled treasure and seeks revenge on the friends who put him there. I can’t think of a single reader who doesn’t adore this book. Among the most beloved classics.
jun 13, 2025, 8:59 pm • 15 4 • view
King Arthur and His Knights of the Round Table, by Sir Roger Lancelyn Green. Green succeeds in adapting the Arthur stories because he understands that they’re defined by their mystery and weirdness. Outside of Malory, this is probably my favorite Arthur anthology.
jun 13, 2025, 8:59 pm • 15 1 • view
I still have my copy from when I was a kid — I love it!
aug 4, 2025, 2:43 pm • 0 0 • view
I had this book! I used to read it a lot.
jun 13, 2025, 9:11 pm • 0 0 • view
My favorites at that age were The Squire’s Tale series by Gerald Morris - also a retelling of Arthurian tales, very humorous and also moving
jun 13, 2025, 9:16 pm • 1 0 • view
Aru Shah and the End of Time, by Roshani Chokshi. Similar to the Percy Jackson books, but with Hindu mythology rather than Greek. After foolishly lighting a lamp on a dare at a museum, Aru Shah inadvertently releases a demon who seeks to awaken a god who could destroy time.
jun 13, 2025, 8:59 pm • 9 2 • view
Just make sure it has the Shepard illustrations...
jul 3, 2025, 8:48 pm • 0 0 • view
Already pre-ordered Book Four.
jun 20, 2025, 3:59 am • 0 0 • view
Never heard of it but will look it up.
jun 20, 2025, 3:59 am • 0 0 • view
One of my childhood favorites!
jun 20, 2025, 3:58 am • 0 0 • view
And I think you'll find the Manic Street Preachers opened their huge hit (in the UK anyway) 'Design For Life' with the line: 'Libraries give us power'
jul 3, 2025, 8:44 pm • 0 0 • view
I’m biased about books to read this summer because I’m the spouse of an author, Dr. Toni Bellon, EdD. Her novel is about a teenager growing up with an alcoholic parent: A fact 1 out of 5 teens deal with all year long! Her True Story nacoa.org.uk/learning-to-... YA Book Sample a.co/d/64sD4Ti
jun 14, 2025, 2:43 am • 3 0 • view
Just came back from a Sierra Club trip in Stehekin Valley. No cell service for nearly a week so I got a LOT of reading done. Lab Girl, Remarkably Bright Creatures, Men of Arms (Terry Pratchett) The Sun over Breda, The Raphael Affair, and Eaters of the Dead.
jun 20, 2025, 3:57 am • 1 0 • view
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jun 13, 2025, 9:10 pm • 0 0 • view