July Reader’s Choice: Youth-Recommended Reads
Celebrations – Ledyard Pie is for Sharing by Ledyard, Stephanie Parsley
Annotation: At a glorious Fourth of July picnic, a community shares everything from pie to their experiences. For preschool-grade 2.
Stories – Agee Terrific by Agee, Jon
Annotation: Eugene, a grumpy old man who mutters a sarcastic “terrific” to everything, is shipwrecked on an island. A talking parrot befriends him, helps him get off the island, and changes the way Eugene says his favorite word. For K-grade 3.
Our World – Greenstein Ice-Cream Cones for Sale! by Greenstein, Elaine
Annotation: Reveals who really invented the ice cream cone, even before the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair where five people claim they did so. For kindergarten-grade 3.
DB92330The Camp-Out Mystery by Warner, Gertrude C.
Annotation: While on a camping trip with their grandfather, the Alden children try to find out about the loud music and missing food that threatens to scare away other campers. For grades 3-6.
DB107338 The Ice Cream Machine by Rubin, Adam
Annotation: A collection of six short stories in a variety of genres and settings, all featuring the creamy frozen treat. In one tale, a girl and her sister compete in an ice cream eating contest–against an honest-to-goodness pig. For grades 3-6.
DB115991 The Curse on Spectacle Key by Acevedo, Chantel
Annotation: Frank Fernandez’s family never stays in one place for long. His parents renovate unusual buildings and turn them into homes, which means the family moves-a lot. This makes it hard for bookish Frank to make friends. So when his parents announce they’re moving to Spectacle Key, Florida, to live in a lighthouse-this time for good!-Frank is thrilled. But Spectacle Key isn’t the perfect forever home they’d imagined. The lighthouse is falling apart. There are knocks on the door-but no one is there-and mysterious sighs and sniffles from nowhere. There’s even a creepy doll that seems to move on its own. Could Spectacle Key be haunted? Then one day while exploring, Frank meets a girl in old-fashioned clothes, with no memory of who she is. What she does know, though, is that the island is under a curse-and she needs Frank’s help to figure out how to lift it. But what if learning the truth about Spectacle Key means losing the first real friend he’s ever had? For grades 4-7.
DB119444 Bumps in the Night by Howard, Amalie
Annotation: Sent to her grandmother’s estate in Trinidad, Rika meets a group of kids with elemental powers called Minders, who reveal that her long-lost mom is in danger, sending Rika on a magical adventure where she must learn to believe in herself to destroy evil. For grades 4-7.
DB110602 Ghostlight by Oppel, Kenneth
Annotation: Rebecca Strand was just sixteen when she and her father fell to their deaths from the top of the Gibraltar Point Lighthouse in 1839. Just how they fell–or were they pushed?–remains a mystery. And their ghosts haunt the lighthouse to this day. Gabe tells this story every day when he gives the ghost tour on Toronto Island. He tries to make it scary enough to satisfy the tourists, but he doesn’t actually believe in ghosts–until he finds himself face to face with Rebecca Strand. The true story of her death is far more terrifying than any ghost tale Gabe has told. Rebecca reveals that her father was a member of the Order, a secret society devoted to protecting the world from “the wakeful and wicked dead” malevolent spirits like Viker, the ghost responsible for their deaths. But the Order has disappeared, and Viker’s ghost is growing ever stronger. Now Gabe and his friends must find a way to stop Viker before they all become lost soulsFor grades 5-8.
DB93394 Bluecrowne by Milford, Kate
Annotation: Dreadfully bored, twelve-year-old Lucy Bluecrowne longs for a seafaring adventure with her father. But excitement arrives when two nefarious strangers identify her little brother as an important part of their evil plan. Commercial audiobook. For grades 5-8.
DB89578 The Incredible Magic of Being by Erskine, Kathryn
Annotation: Julian uses his “uni-sense,” his love of science and comets, and his mystical ways of seeing the world to have eternal optimism. After his family moves, things aren’t quite the same anymore for everyone, and he tries to do something incredible to unite them. For grades 5-8.
DB108621 YA BR Goo The Counselors by Goodman, Jessica
Annotation: After a traumatic school year, camp counselor Goldie Easton is excited to reunite with her two best friends at an elite summer camp, but when a local boy is found dead on the grounds, all three must reveal a dark secret to find the murderer. For young adult readers.
DB121253 Beach Cute by Reekles, Beth
Annotation: Luna, Rory and Jodie are strangers in need of a vacation… Luna has unexpectedly broken up with her boyfriend. Rory has to come up with a creative way to break it to her family that she wants to pursue her art passion. As for Jodie-she feels lost in both life and love. But these three strangers have one other thing in common…they are on their way to the same resort. As their lives collide in unexpected ways, will they have the summer they’ll never forget? For young adult readers.
