Summer Reading

All The Noise at Once / DeAndra Davis / 

A Black, autistic teen tries to figure out what happened the night his older brother was unjustly arrested in this “propulsive” (Jas Hammonds, award-winning author of We Deserve Monuments), moving story about brotherhood, identity, and social justice.

All Aiden has ever wanted to do was play football just like his star quarterback brother, Brandon. An overstimulation meltdown gets in the way of Aiden making the team during summer tryouts, but when the school year starts and a spot unexpectedly needs to be filled, he finally gets a chance to play the game he loves.

However, not every player is happy about the new addition to the team, wary of how Aiden’s autism will present itself on game day. Tensions rise. A fight breaks out. Cops are called.

Brandon interferes on behalf of his brother, but is arrested by the very same cops who, just hours earlier, were chanting his name from the bleachers. When he’s wrongly charged for felony assault on an officer, everything Brandon has worked for starts to slip away, and the brothers’ relationship is tested. As Brandon’s trial inches closer, Aiden is desperate to figure out what really happened that night. Can he clear his brother’s name in time?

Publisher description retrieved from Google Books.

The Best of Both Worlds/ Kenneth Oppel

When Xavier Oak, his father, and his pregnant stepmother, Nia (Haitian Canadian), wake up one morning, everything at their family lake cottage is as expected—except that it’s now in a completely unfamiliar location. 

Frightened and dumbfounded, the Oaks explore their now-rural surroundings and find that they are trapped within an invisible dome several miles in diameter. A nearby farm, complete with crops, goats, and chickens, becomes their source of food; any tools they need simply appear in the night. Assuming they’ve been abducted by aliens, their suspicion is confirmed when Nia delivers a boy, Noah, who is resuscitated by unseen visitors while Nia, Xavier, and Xavier’s father are unconscious. Reconciling themselves to their situation, the Oaks construct a peaceful, if lonely, life under the dome. Three years later, the Jackson family arrives. 

Xavier, now 16 years old, quickly falls for Mackenzie, who is his age, while Noah befriends younger sister Alyssa. The Jackson girls’ father, Riley, presents a challenge. Friendly on the surface, volatile Riley subscribes to bizarre conspiracy theories and believes the government is behind their abduction. He’s determined to build a hot air balloon so his family can escape via a portal in the “sky”… and Xavier is considering going with them. Crackling with tension, this speculative thriller has the potential to spark conversations about climate change, politics, and human nature. 

CCBC Choices 2022 © Cooperative Children's Book Center, Univ. of Wisconsin - Madison, 2022. Used with permission. 

Busted / Dan Gemeinhart

From the New York Times-bestselling author of The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise comes a new heartfelt and hilarious middle-grade joy ride full of friendship and adventure!

When 12-year-old Oscar Aberdeen decided he would do anything to save the only home he's ever known, he didn't realize that anything would include theft, trespassing, gambling, a broken nose, grand theft auto, a federal prison, and a police chase. He had no idea it would be so dangerous...or so fun.

Oscar Aberdeen is a bit of an oddball. He's an ace at playing bridge, loves Frank Sinatra, and attends a whole lot of funerals. He's also the youngest resident of Sunny Days retirement home by more than a half-century—and he wouldn't have it any other way. So when his grandpa's suddenly served an eviction notice that threatens their place at Sunny Days, he needs to find some cash. Fast.

Enter Jimmy Deluca, a shady elderly man with a reputation for being bad news, who makes Oscar an offer he can't refuse. He's got the drop on riches hidden away on the "outside" and he'll share the loot with Oscar on one condition: he busts him out of Sunny Days.

In this humdinger of an adventure, the ultimate odd couple, along with an uninvited stowaway, go from high-stakes escape to rollicking escapade as they search for the secret stash—and forge an unlikely friendship along the way. Will Oscar succeed in saving the only home he's ever known? Or will he have to fuggedaboutit and return a failure?

Publisher description retrieved from Google Books.

The Dead of Summer / Ryan La Sala

Two Days Before

Ollie Veltman is finally coming home to the quaint island of Anchor's Mercy  after a year away while his mom battled cancer. It should be a celebration -- his mom is cancer free, and she's determined to have the best summer ever -- but Ollie's (now ex) best friends think he abandoned them, and he's returning with a lot of questions. Because for a place that's perfect on the surface, a secret rots below the waves. A secret that could explain his mom's illness, and the illness of so many other locals.

Ollie's desperate search for the truth turns life-or-death when a storm descends upon the island. In its wake, a long-sunken horror rises . . .

Three Weeks After

Ollie is being held in isolation aboard a military hospital ship in the harbor. They say he's a survivor, but they only know half the story. The truth is more monstrous than Ollie ever believed, and he suspects his saviors aren't here to save anyone. Only Ollie can stop what's coming, but that means getting back to Anchor's Mercy before it vanishes, taking with it everyone he has ever loved.

Publisher description from Scholastic Books at scholastic.com. 

Death in the Jungle: Murder, Betrayal, and the Lost Dream of Jonestown / Candace Fleming

Opening with a description of the gruesome scene that confronted U.S. troops after the mass deaths of Jonestown residents in 1978, this account delves into the history of Jim Jones and his cult. 

As a child, Jones was enamored of persuasive orators like Adolf Hitler and Pentecostal preachers; he honed his own speaking skills as an itinerant preacher who performed fake healings before opening his own integrated church, the Peoples Temple. As Peoples Temple became more demanding and controlling of its members, Jones dropped the “church” façade to focus on socialism. 

Addicted to drugs, he began using sex, violence, and elaborate, staged “healings” to control people. Fearing defections and negative press, Jones sent his followers to Guyana to build Jonestown. While life in the commune had its joyful moments, fear and violent coercion roiled beneath the surface. When Congressman Leo Ryan traveled to Jonestown to investigate, he was assassinated at the nearby airstrip. 

The Peoples Temple came to an end with the mass murders and coerced suicides of more than 900 of its members, over 200 of them children. This well-researched account drawing on archival photographs, recordings, and survivors’ accounts does not sensationalize the tragedy but speaks of the deceased with dignity and respect, asserting that they were average human beings under the powerful influence of a charismatic criminal. Many of Jones’s followers were Black women; racial dynamics, such as Jones’s imitations of Black preachers and the way he used his privilege to manipulate Black members, are clearly illuminated. 

Book Summary from: CCBC Choices 2022 © Cooperative Children's Book Center, Univ. of Wisconsin - Madison, 2022. 

Diet Soda Club / Chaz Hayden

When their mom leaves, Reed must care for his sister who has a life-threatening condition—even if that means breaking the law. A tender and sparkling story about family, trust, and the lengths we will go to for the ones we love.​​

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Have you ever made all the wrong choices for all the right reasons?

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Reed Beckett’s little sister, Beatrice, has never been awakened by the smell of breakfast or a school-day alarm clock. Instead, she wakes to hospital beeps and poking doctors. Seventeen-year-old Reed has been there for Bea all along, especially since their dad died. But when their burned-out mom goes on an extended vacation with her new boyfriend, the siblings are left with only an empty pantry and each other. With no job prospects on the horizon, Reed begins making and selling fake IDs so he and Bea can survive. But the problems keep piling up, from an angry landlord demanding rent to looming medical bills. As Reed expands his business, taking increasingly bigger risks, the potential consequences for Reed’s future, Bea’s health, and Reed’s budding friendship with his classmate Helena become graver. But what choice does he have? The joy and complexity of both caregiving and sibling relationships are at the heart of this authentic and moving novel.

Book Summary from author website: https://www.chazhayden.com/diet-soda-club 

Needy Little Things / Channelle Desamours 

In this debut speculative YA mystery, a Black teen with premonition-like powers must solve her friend's disappearance before she finds herself in the same danger, perfect for fans of Ace of Spades.

Sariyah Lee Bryant can hear what people need—tangible things, like a pencil, a hair tie, a phone charger—an ability only her family and her best friend, Malcolm, know the truth about. But when she fulfills a need for her friend Deja who vanishes shortly after, Sariyah is left wondering if her ability is more curse than gift. This isn’t the first time one of her friends has landed on the missing persons list, and she’s determined not to let her become yet another forgotten Black girl.

Not trusting the police and media to do enough on their own, Sariyah and her friends work together to figure out what led to Deja’s disappearance. When Sariyah’s mother loses her job and her little brother faces complications with his sickle cell disease, managing her time, money, and emotions seems impossible. Desperate, Sariyah decides to hustle her need-sensing ability for cash—a choice that may not only lead her to Deja, but put her in the same danger Deja found herself in. 

Book Summary from MacMillan Publishers: https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250334817/needylittlethings/ 

The Rose Bargain / Sasha Peyton Smith 

Vying for the hand of one brother.

Falling in love with the other.

 A new Victorian-inspired romantasy, perfect for fans of Bridgerton, The Selection, and The Cruel Prince.

London, 1848—For four hundred years, England has been under the control of an immortal fae queen who tricked her way onto the throne. To maintain an illusion of benevolence, Queen Mor grants each of her subjects one opportunity to bargain for their deepest desire.

As Ivy Benton prepares to make her debut, she knows that not even a deal with the queen could fix what has gone wrong: Her family’s social standing is in shambles, her sister is a shadow of her former self, and Ivy’s marriage prospects are nonexistent. So when the queen announces a competition for Prince Bram’s hand, Ivy is the first to sign her name in blood. What a bargain can’t fix, a crown certainly could.

Ivy soon finds herself a surprising front-runner—with the help of an unexpected ally: Prince Bram’s brother, the rakish Prince Emmett, who promises to help Ivy win his brother’s heart…for a price. But as the season sweeps Ivy away, with glittering balls veiling the queen’s increasingly vicious trials, Ivy realizes there’s more at stake than just a wedding. Because all faerie bargains come with a cost, and Ivy may have discovered hers too late.

Book Summary from Harper Collins Publishing: https://www.harpercollins.com/products/the-rose-bargain-sasha-peyton-smith?variant=42325037023266 

The Unexpected Consequence of Bleeding on a Tuesday / Kelsey B. Toney

High school senior Delia Bridges has the most amazing mom and sister, a killer GPA–and periods that are so painful they make her scream, pass out, and throw up. Though she doesn’t know it yet, Delia has endometriosis, an affliction plaguing millions of people that is notoriously difficult to diagnose.

Pain makes everything harder, but Delia is just one semester away from graduating from Stockwood Prep and pursuing her dream of becoming the kind of doctor she’s never had: one who takes her symptoms seriously. But when she breaks a rule for the first time ever and is caught using marijuana at school to manage her pain, Delia is expelled.

Her expulsion jeopardizes her college acceptance, her planned mentorship, and everything she had carefully planned for years. Without her academic success and no closer to a diagnosis, is Delia anything more than her period? 

Book summary from Random House Books for Young Readers, 2025: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/745987/the-unexpected-consequence-of-bleeding-on-a-tuesday-by-kelsey-b-toney/ 

Under the Surface/ Diana Urban / Penguin Random House / 2025

Ruby is terrified to cave to her feelings for Sean and risk him crushing her heart. 

Sean is pumped to spend a week with Ruby in Paris on their senior class trip, and he’ll wait however long until she’s ready to take things further.

When Ruby’s best friend sneaks out the first night to meet a mysterious French boy, Ruby goes after them as they head to an exclusive party in the Paris catacombs, the intricate web of tunnels beneath the city, home to six million long-dead Parisians. Only they never reach the party. 

Underground, as something sinister chases them, they get lost in the endless maze of bones, uncovering dark secrets about the catacombs…..and each other. And if they can’t find a way out, they’ll die in the dark beneath the City of Light. 

Aboveground, Sean races to find the girl he loves. But can he find her before it’s too late? 

Book Summary from Penguin Random House: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/726578/under-the-surface-by-diana-urban/

When We Ride / Rex Ogle

Diego Benevides works hard. His single mother encourages him to stay focused on school, on getting into college, on getting out of their crumbling neighborhood. That’s why she gave him her car.

Diego’s best friend, Lawson, needs a ride—because Lawson is dealing. As long as Diego’s not carrying, not selling, it’s cool. It’s just weed.

But when Lawson starts carrying powder and pills and worse, their friendship is tested and their lives are threatened. As the lines between dealer and driver blur, everything Diego has worked for is jeopardized, and he faces a deadly reckoning with the choices he and his best friend have made.

Note: This book is written in verse (Poetry form). 

Book Summary from W.W. Norton Publishing: https://wwnorton.com/books/9781324052821