Some of the Best Summer Books for Older Kids

Reading in summer? I can hear that rise in voices screaming, "No! Not that!" In the face of total boredom, you can suggest some books that are in the mode of summer that middle school and high school kids might just pick up and read....for fun! (NOTE: These books were read by my own kids and all received a 'thumb's up' have read all these.) Middle Readers: Grade 4-6

Rules by Cynthia Lord. A 12-year-old girl creates rules for her younger, autistic brother, David, in an attempt to normalize his life and her own. The books heroine, Catherine, learns to use words to forge connections with David, her workaholic father, and a paraplegic friend.

The Summer of the Swans by Betsy Byars This is a wonderful book for both middle and high school aged readers. The heroine is Sara who lives with her Aunt Willie, sister Wanda and mentally challenged brother Charlie. One day,Charlie and Sara see swans and Charlie wants to see them again. He gets lost in the forest and Sara has to rescue him

Owls in the Family by Farley Mowat. The humorous story of how a family lives happily with 2 owls, especially one named Wol who loves to share!

Harriet The Spy by Louise Fitzhugh. This classic book was written back in 1964 and has endured through the ages. A film was even made of this book in 1996. Harriet is a rather precocious 11 years old who lives on the Upper East Side of New York City and wants to be a writer. What better training than to write down everything she thinks and encounters? Of course it does lead her into some adventures...

The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster. A bored boy named Milo comes home one day to find a strange purple tollbooth in his bedroom. He ends up in the Land of Wisdom and in an adventure that is somewhere between wordplay and a fairy tale. This is a classic that was written in 1961 and still holds up well today.

Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinielli