What makes for a perfect summer read? Breezy, fast-paced, and fun are a few adjectives that come to mind. Books that take place at the beach or at camp make for escapist fare for young armchair travelers. But summer also offers kids free time to linger over a beloved book, drawing connections between the stories they read and their own lives. The following middle-grade titles are the ultimate summer reads: thought-provoking tales that will enthrall young people while also striking deep emotional chords.
In A Hero’s Guide to Summer Vacation by Pablo Cartaya (Kokila, May 6), a reclusive, curmudgeonly author and his 13-year-old grandson Gonzalo pile into Mathilde, a 1968 Oldsmobile with “325 horsepower and a lot of attitude,” for a trek across the U.S., ostensibly to promote the latest in the writer’s bestselling fantasy series. Like all the best road trips, however, this one is rife with detours. The book weaves in Abuelo’s memories of life in Revolution-era Cuba with interludes from an omniscient, self-aware narrator. The result is a rich work of metafiction that sees Gonzalo and his grandfather reflecting on past wounds and Gonzalo himself coming into his own as a visual artist.
What’s a summer night without a ghost story? Set in 1960, Charis Cotter’s The Mystery of the Haunted Dance Hall (Tundra Books, May 13) follows lonely Bee as she attends a bird-watching summer camp and attempts to answer several questions: Are a group of campers sneaking out of their cabin each night? If so, why? Lush prose, strong characterizations, and a foreboding tone combine for an immersive read that ramps up the chills as Bee uncovers bizarre truths.
Like a preteen Sebastian Flyte (of Evelyn Waugh’s Brideshead Revisited), Bea carts around a stuffed animal everywhere she goes, but Camp Chordata is a far more unforgiving place than Oxford University, and shy, guileless Bea is swiftly targeted by bullies. Liz Montague’s graphic novel Camp Frenemies (Random House Studio, May 13) starts off on an angsty note, but Bea soon realizes she’s not the only one struggling. A perceptive storyteller, Montague relies on simple cartoon artwork to chart the highs and lows of tweenhood.
Piper, a nonbinary sixth grader who uses the pronouns ze, zir, and zem, panics when ze learns that Mom’s new girlfriend is the mother of Piper’s nemesis, Colton. When the two families take a cruise together, Piper and Colton join forces to break their parents up. Cleverly riffing on the film The Parent Trap, Caroline Huntoon’s Going Overboard (Feiwel & Friends, May 27) blends wild antics with quieter moments of introspection as Piper questions zir assumptions about Colton, pursues a love of fashion, and grows in self-confidence.
With three overachieving older sisters, the protagonist of Wendy Wan-Long Shang’s The Best Worst Summer of Esme Sun (Scholastic, June 3) is used to feeling overlooked. When Esme flourishes on the swim team, she’s thrilled—until she discovers that seeking her demanding mother’s approval is a losing battle. Breathtakingly close races and poolside picnics make for a novel that’s pure summer fun, but Esme also comes to some profound truths: Those we love can be deeply flawed, and some things—like camaraderie—are far more important than winning.
Mahnaz Dar is a young readers’ editor.
