Summer Reading Reccomendations

Doll Bones

by Holly Black Grades 5 - 9

Zach, Poppy, and Alice are best friends. For as long as they can remember, they’ve been playing “the game” -- an ongoing saga that takes place in an imaginary world where their toys are the characters. There are pirates, mermaids, knights, and witches, but ruling over them all is the Great Queen, a creepy antique china doll that Poppy’s mom has locked in a glass display cabinet. The Queen is ruthless, cunning, and vindictive, putting her curse of misfortune on those who displease her until they can somehow win their way back into her good graces. Her one weakness? She cannot escape the glass tower she’s locked in.

Then one day something terrible happens: Zach’s dad throws out all his action figures while he’s at school. Zach is too furious for words, so he quits the game and lies to Poppy and Alice about why, opening a rift in their friendship that he isn’t sure can be mended.

But when Poppy takes the Queen out of her glass cabinet hoping to lure Zach back with a new twist in the game, weird things start happening. Poppy claims that the ghost of a girl has been visiting her at night, telling Poppy that she cannot rest until her remains are buried in her own grave. And that if Poppy doesn’t help her, she’ll make her sorry.

Zach isn’t sure what to believe, but he and Alice agree to help Poppy, and the three friends set out on a quest worthy of their game’s main hero, William the Blade. But the further they get in their journey, the weirder things get. Eerie things start to happen. Is the Queen just a doll, or is there something paranormal at work?

Skyward

by Brandon Sanderson Grades 6 and up

Defeated, crushed, and driven almost to extinction, the remnants of the human race are trapped on a planet that is constantly attacked by mysterious alien starfighters. Spensa, a teenage girl living among them, longs to be a pilot. When she discovers the wreckage of an ancient ship, she realizes this dream might be possible—assuming she can repair the ship, navigate flight school, and (perhaps most importantly) persuade the strange machine to help her. Because this ship, uniquely, appears to have a soul.

Rain Reign

by Ann M. Martin Grades 4 - 7

Eleven-year-old Rose Howard has a highfunctioning form of autism known as Asperger’s syndrome. She lives in rural New York with her father, an impatient, unpredictable man. Her mother left when she was two, and her only other family is her father’s brother, Uncle Weldon, with whom she shares a special bond.

Rose is obsessed with rules, prime numbers, and above all, homonyms. Just like her own name (rose and rows). So when her dad comes home one stormy night with a stray dog, Rose decides to name her Rain, a triple homonym (rain, rein, reign), and the two soon become inseparable.

When the remnants of Hurricane Susan hit New York, her small town is devastated. Rivers are flooded, bridges are washed away, and the power is out everywhere. And then the unimaginable happens: Rain goes missing. Rose’s father let her out during the storm and she couldn’t find her way back. Rose depends on routine and certainty, and with Rain gone, on top of school being canceled and having no power, her sense of security is crumbling. And so she develops a plan to bring her beloved pet home.

From the author of the popular BabySitters Club series comes this heartwrenching, powerful story about a girl’s love for her dog, and how sometimes the right choice is the hardest choice of all.

Ship Breaker

by Paolo Bacigalupi Grades 7 and up

In a post-apocalyptic world, the melting polar ice caps have led to catastrophically higher sea levels, burying much of the U.S. coast under water. Fifteen-year-old Nailer lives with his abusive father who is high more often than not and prone to violence always. Nailer is a ship breaker in what remains of the Gulf Coast, where they break up ancient beached oil tankers and salvage whatever materials they can sell.

Right now Nailer works on the light crew, which means he’s responsible for stripping and removing all the wiring from the ships. Because his job involves crawling through air ducts, only small people, usually children, can work light crew, hence the name. Nailer has always been small, but at fifteen, he’s starting to notice that the ducts are feeling tighter. It’s dangerous, back-breaking work, but it’s all Nailer knows, and new jobs are practically impossible to come by. What will he do when he can no longer squeeze into the ducts? Too big for light crew, but too small for heavy crew, and a father who would sooner kill him than allow him to remain unemployed.

Then one day, after a particularly bad storm, Nailer and his friend Pima are scavenging the wreck of a fancy clipper ship when they find the body of a beautiful girl. But as it turns out, she might not be so dead after all…

Before he knows it, Nailer is catapulted into a rescue mission for a girl he barely knows, seeing places he never dreamed he’d see, and experiencing the thrill of a high-speed chase at sea. Award-winning author Paolo Bacigalupi weaves an actionpacked tale that will keep you on the edge of your seat until the end.