Ellen’s Book Nook ~ Top Picks for Summer Reading

By Guest Blogger Ellen Lloyd

Year-end performances, school trips, graduation… all fun events that make for a very full month! Rest assured, summer is around the corner and days of laying around a pool or venturing out to the beach with a good book in your hand is in your near future.

I decided to change it up a bit for this month’s post and offer book recommendations for each age group for the entire summer. Click on each title to see the full description of the book. Enjoy!

Picture Books 

• Independence cake:  A Revolutionary Confection Inspired by Amelia Simmons, Whose True History is Unfortunately Unknown by Deborah Hopkinson, illustrated by Giselle Potter
• The Three Billy Goats Gruff by Jerry Pinkney
• Dragons Love Tacos 2: The Sequel by Adam Rubin, illustrated by Daniel Salmieri
• Goldfish Ghost by Lemony Snicket, illustrated by Lisa Brown
• She Persisted: 13 American Women Who Changed the World by Chelsea Clinton, illustrated by Alexandra Boiger
• Blue Sky White Stars by Sarvinder Naberhaus, illustrated by Nadir Nelson
• The Seashore Book by Charlotte Zolotow, illustrated by Wendell Minor
• Not Quite Narwhal by Jessie Sima
• A Perfect Day by Lane Smith
• You Can Read by Helene Becker, illustrated by Mark Hoffmann

Middle Grades 

• Real Friends by Shannon Hale, illustrated by LeUyen Pham
• York: The Shadow Cipher by Laura Ruby
• Beyond the Bright Sea by Lauren Wolk
• Funny Girl: Funniest. Stories. Ever. Edited by Betsy Bird
• Clayton Byrd Goes Underground by Rita Williams-Garcia
• Tumble and Blue by Cassie Beasley
• The Warden’s Daughter by Jerry Spinelli
• Short by Holly Goldberg Sloan
• Lemons by Melissa Savage
• The Dragon with a Chocolate Heart by Stephanie Burgis

Young Adult

• Once and for All by Sarah Dessen
• The Pearl Thief by Elizabeth Wein
• Thick as Thieves by Megan Whalen Turner
• Carve the Mark by Veronica Roth
• We are Okay by Nina LaCour
• Literally by Lucy Keating
• The Passion of Dolssa by Julie Berry
• The Names they Gave Us by Emery Lord
• Wintersong by S. Jae-Jones
• The Ship Beyond Time by Heidi Heilig

Moms 

• The Potlikker Papers:  A Food History of the Modern South by John T. Edge
• Of Mess and Moxie:  Wrangling Delight out of This Wild and Glorious Life by Jen Hatmaker
• The Summer Before the War by Helen Simonsson
• Miller’s Valley by Anna Quindlen
• The Curious Charms of Arthur Pepper by Phaedra Patrick
• The Girls in the Garden by Lisa Jewell
• Music for Wartime by Rebecca Makkai
• The Book of Speculation by Erika Swyler
• Etta and Otto and Russell and James by Emma Hooper
• Picnic in Provence:  A Memoir with Recipes by Elizabeth Bard
• Lost and Found by Brooke Davis
• Whiskey and Charlie by Annabel Smith

Each month we give away a free book with our Book Nook blog. Due to the long list of books this month and the possibility that some titles might not be available at this time, we are not giving away a book with this particular blog. Thank you for understanding and enjoy your summer reads! 

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Ellen Bryant Lloyd is the author of FRECKLES and FRECKLES and The Great Beach Rescue. Please visit www.funwithfreckles.com and www.facebook.com/funwithfreckles to learn more about Freckles. Ellen writes a blog about her perspectives on life and parenting at www.mindfulmom.wordpress.com and tweets at @EllenBLloyd. She lives in Greensboro with her husband and two children.