It’s time to start thinking about summer reading—an exciting time to ponder what to purchase, pre-order, or put on hold at the library. If you need reads for kids and teens, there are plenty of picks to peruse in our big summer book list—75 in all! This fiction list includes something for all ages and interests: classics and contemporary, folktales and fantasies, mysteries and magic, sci-fi and social justice. If you want to add some upcoming new releases to your list, May’s new books are here, and we have included a few that are due out in June and July. Stay tuned for our nonfiction list!
Picture Books
1. Not Quite Snow White
Ashley Franklin | Ebony Glenn | HarperCollins, 2019 | Amazon | IndieBound
2. The King of Kindergarten
Derrick Barnes | Vanessa Brantley-Newton | Nancy Paulsen, 2019 | Amazon | IndieBound
3. I Can Write the World
Joshunda Sanders | Charly Palmer | Six Foot Press, 2019 | Amazon | IndieBound
4. Going Down Home with Daddy
Kelly Starling Lyons | Daniel Minter | Peachtree Publishing, 2019 | Amazon | IndieBound
5. B is for Baby
Atinuke | Angela Brooksbank | Candlewick, March, 2019 | Amazon | IndieBound
6. Baby Says (Board Book Ed.)
John Steptoe| HarperFestival | December, 2018 | Amazon | IndieBound
7. Thank You, OMU!
Oge Mora | Little, Brown BYR, 2018 | Amazon | IndieBound
8. Auntie Luce’s Talking Painting
Francie Latour | Ken Daley | Groundwood, 2018 | Amazon | IndieBound
9. Sing to the Moon
Nansubuga Nagaddya Isdah | Sandra van Doorn | Lantana, 2018 | Amazon | IndieBound
10. What Is Light? (Board Book Only)
Markette Sheppard | Cathy Ann Johnson | Agate Bolden, 2018 | Amazon | IndieBound
11. Mommy’s Khimar
Jamilah Thompkins-Bigelow | Ebony Glenn | Salaam Reads / S & S, 2018 | Amazon | IndieBound
12. The Field
Baptiste Paul | Jacqueline Alcántara | NorthSouth Books, 2018 | Amazon | IndieBound
13. The Big Bed
Bunmi Laditan | Tom Knight | Farrar, Straus and Giroux BYR, 2018 | Amazon | IndieBound
14. Where’s Rodney?
Carmen Bogan | Floyd Cooper | Yosemite Conservancy, 2017 | Amazon | IndieBound
15. The Ring Bearer
Floyd Cooper | Philomel Books, 2017 | Amazon | IndieBound
16. Irene’s Wish
Jerdine Nolen | AG Ford | S & S/Paula Wiseman, 2014 | Amazon | IndieBound
17. God’s Dream
Desmond Tutu | Douglas C. Abrams | LeUyen Pham | Candlewick, 2008 | Amazon | IndieBound
18. Chugga Chugga Choo Choo
Kevin Lewis | Daniel Kirk | Hyperion, 1999 | Amazon | IndieBound
19. Raising Dragons
Jerdine Nolen | Elise Primavera | Silver Whistle, 1998 | Amazon | IndieBound
20. Shortcut
Donald Crews | Greenwillow, October, 1992 | Amazon | IndieBound
Chapter Books
21. Summer in Savannah (Ana & Andrew & Series)
Christine Platt | Sharon Sordo | North Star, 2019 | Amazon | IndieBound
22. The Garden (Confetti Kids Series)
Gwendolyn Hooks | Shirley Ng-Benitez | Lee & Low Books, 2018 | Amazon | IndieBound
23. Shai & Emmie Star in Break an Egg! (A Shai & Emmie Story)
Quvenzhané Wallis | Sharee Miller | Nancy Ohlin | Simon & Schuster BYR, 2017 | Amazon | IndieBound
24. Rock Star (Jada Jones Series)
Kelly Starling Lyons | Vanessa Brantley-Newton | Penguin Workshop, 2017 | Amazon | IndieBound
25. My New Team (Little Rhino Series)
Ryan Howard | Krystle Howard | Erwin Madrid | Scholastic, 2015 | Amazon | IndieBound
26. Go, Jade, Go! (Tony and Lauren Dungy Ready-to-Reads)
Tony Dungy | Lauren Dungy | Vanessa Brantley-Newton | Simon Spotlight, 2013 | Amazon | IndieBound
27. Dog Days (The Carver Chronicles)
Karen English | Laura Freeman | Clarion Books, 2013 | Amazon | IndieBound
28. The No. 1 Car Spotter (No. 1 Car Spotter Series)
Atinuke | Walker, 2010 | Amazon
29. Make Way for Dyamonde Daniel (Dyamonde Daniel Series)
Nikki Grimes | R. Gregory Christie | G.P. Putnam’s Sons BYR, 2009 | Amazon | IndieBound
30. Nikki and Deja (Nikki and Deja Series)
Karen English | Laura Freeman | Clarion Books, 2009 | Amazon | IndieBound
31. Plum Fantastic (Sugar Plum Ballerinas)
Whoopi Goldberg | Deborah Underwood | Maryn Roos | Jump at the Sun, 2008 | Amazon | IndieBound
32. Brand New School, Brave New Ruby (Ruby and The Booker Boys Series)
Derrick Barnes | Vanessa Brantley Newton | Scholastic, 2008 | Amazon | IndieBound
33. All Mixed Up! (Amy Hodgepodge Series)
Kim Wayans | Kevin Knotts Soo Jeong | Grosset & Dunlap, 2008 | Amazon | IndieBound
34. Donavan’s Word Jar
Monalisa Degross | Cheryl Hanna | Paw Prints, 2008 | Amazon
35. Willimena Rules!: How to Lose Your Class Pet (Willimena Rules! Series)
Valerie Wilson Wesley | Maryn Roos | Jump at the Sun, 2003 | Amazon
Middle-Grade Books
36. My Life as an Ice-Cream Sandwich
Ibi Zoboi | Dutton BYR, 2019 | Amazon | IndieBound
37. For Black Girls Like Me
Mariama J. Lockington | Farrar, Straus and Giroux BYR, 2019 | Amazon | IndieBound
38. A Good Kind of Trouble
Lisa Moore Ramée | Balzer + Bray, 2019 | Amazon | IndieBound
39. Trace
Pat Cummings | HarperCollins, 2019 | Amazon | IndieBound
40. New Kid
Jerry Craft | HarperCollins, 2019 | Amazon | IndieBound
41. The Last Last-Day-of-Summer
Lamar Giles | Dapo Adeola | Versify, 2019 | Amazon | IndieBound
42. Like Vanessa
Tami Charles | Charlesbridge, 2018 | Amazon | IndieBound
43. Hurricane Child
Kheryn Callender | Scholastic Press, 2018 | Amazon | IndieBound
44. Minecraft: The Crash: An Official Minecraft Novel
Tracey Baptiste | Del Rey, 2018 | Amazon | IndieBound
45. Courage
Barbara Binns | HarperCollins, 2018 | Amazon | IndieBound
46. So Done
Paula Chase | Greenwillow Books, 2018 | Amazon | IndieBound
47. Tight
Torrey Maldonado | Nancy Paulsen Books, 2018 | Amazon | IndieBound
48. Dragons in a Bag
Zetta Elliot | Random House BYR, 2018 | Amazon | IndieBound
49. The Season of Styx Malone
Kekla Magoon | Wendy Lamb Books, 2018 | Amazon | IndieBound
50. Love Like Sky
Leslie C. Youngblood | Disney-Hyperion, 2018 | Amazon | IndieBound
51. President of the Whole Sixth Grade: Girl Code (President Series)
Sherri Winston | Little, Brown BYR, 2018 | Amazon | IndieBound
52. One Shadow on the Wall
Leah Henderson | Atheneum BYR, 2017 | Amazon | IndieBound
53. Jake the Fake Keeps it Real (Jake the Fake Series)
Craig Robinson | Adam Mansbach | Keith Knight | Crown BYR, 2017 | Amazon | IndieBound
54. Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry: 40th Anniversary Special Edition
Mildred D. Taylor | Dial Books, 2016 | Amazon | IndieBound
55. The Watsons Go to Birmingham-1963
Christopher Paul Curtis | Delacorte BYR, 1995 | Amazon | IndieBound
YA Books
56. The Revolution of Birdie Randolph
Brandy Colbert | Little, Brown BYR, 2019 | Amazon | IndieBound
57. If It Makes You Happy
Claire Kann | Swoon Reads, 2019 | Amazon | IndieBound
58. I Wanna Be Where You Are
Kristina Forest | Roaring Brook Press, 2019 | Amazon | IndieBound
59. Genesis Begins Again
Alicia D. Williams | Atheneum/Caitlyn Dlouhy, 2019 | Amazon | IndieBound
60. Opposite of Always
Justin A. Reynolds | Katherine Tegen Books, 2019 | Amazon | IndieBound
61. The Weight of the Stars
K. Ancrum | Imprint, 2019 | Amazon | IndieBound
62. The Field Guide to the North American Teenager
Ben Philippe | Balzer + Bray, 2019 | Amazon | IndieBound
63. Dread Nation
Justina Ireland | Balzer + Bray, 2018 | Amazon | IndieBound
64. Learning to Breathe
Janice Lynn Mather | Simon & Schuster BYR, 2018 | Amazon | IndieBound
65. Temper
Nicky Drayden | Harper Voyager, 2018 | Amazon | IndieBound
66. Dream Country
Shannon Gibney | Dutton BYR, 2018 | Amazon | IndieBound
67. Buried Beneath the Baobab Tree
Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani | Viviana Mazza | Katherine Tegen Books, 2018 | Amazon | IndieBound
68. A Blade So Black
L.L. McKinney | Imprint, 2018 | Amazon | IndieBound
69. Home and Away
Candice Montgomery | Page Street Publishing, 2018 | Amazon | IndieBound
70. I Am Alfonso Jones
Tony Medina | Stacey Robinson | John Jennings | Tu Books, 2017 | Amazon | IndieBound
71. Under the Zaboca Tree
Glynis Guevara | Inanna Publications, 2017 | Amazon | IndieBound
72. Calling My Name
Liara Tamani | Greenwillow Books, 2017 | Amazon | IndieBound
73. Miles Morales: Spider-Man
Jason Reynolds | Marvel Press, 2017 | Amazon | IndieBound
74. Monster: A Graphic Novel
Walter Dean Myers | Guy A. Sims | Dawud Anyabwile |Amistad, 2015 | Amazon | IndieBound
75. Fake ID
Lamar Giles | Amistad, 2014 | Amazon | IndieBound
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