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Read: Summer Reading 2024

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Your school libraries may be closed, but your library teachers still have great book ideas to share! This suggestions list pulls from your library teachers' favorite books of the year and the Massachusetts Teen Choice Book Award list. 

Looking for your assigned summer reading? Check Brown's website

Click a genre to browse suggested titles.

Click here for a printable list.

*Young Adult  ^MTCBA 

Click to browse Fantasy suggestions Click to browse realistic fiction suggestions Click to see book trailers and book talks on YouTube.
Click to browse historical fiction suggestions Click to browse science fiction suggestions
Click to browse horror and supernatural suggestions Click to browse sports fiction
Click to browse mystery and adventure suggestions Click to browse graphic novel suggestions
Click to browse nonfiction and biography suggestions Click to browse binge-worthy series Click to see summer reading challenges

Titles linked on this page are available to borrow in Sora.

Click to search for Vivid in Sora

Vivid

DANGER LURKS BEHIND EVERY COLOR Ava Locke dives into the mysteries of forbidden Yellow magic and discovers a dark path filled with secrets and injustice. When Ava Locke was five years old, she began a journey to join the Benefactors--the leaders of the magical continent of Magus. Twelve years later, she unwittingly started down the road to betray them. On Magus where colors fuel magical abilities, yellow is banned in an effort to protect people from its mind-controlling capabilities. When a rogue Yellow magic-user named Elm escapes imprisonment Ava becomes innocently fascinated with his story. Once this mysterious Elm shows up at her school, Ava pushes her interest to the next level by helping him evade the Benefactors. Ava grows increasingly conflicted as her intrigue leads her down a dark road of secrets about her world. As she learns more about Yellow magic's potential to control its victims, Ava now must question whether her rash decisions are all her own or if someone else is pulling the strings.

Click to search for Abeni's Song in Sora

Abeni's Song

IN DARKNESS, A SONG CAN LEAD THE WAY. BEWARE WHICH ONE YOU LISTEN TO. On the day of the Harvest Festival, the old woman who lives in the forest appears in Abeni's village with a terrible message: You ignored my warnings. It's too late to run. They are coming. Warriors with burning blades storm the village. A man with a cursed flute plays an impossibly alluring song. And everyone Abeni has ever known and loved is captured and marched toward far-off ghost ships set for even more distant lands. But not Abeni. Abeni is magically whisked away by the old woman. In the forest, Abeni begins her unwanted magical apprenticeship, her journey to escape the witch, and her impossible mission to bring her people home. 

Across So Many Seas

In 1492, during the Spanish Inquisition, Benvenida and her family are banished from Spain for being Jewish, and must flee the country or be killed. They journey by foot and by sea, eventually settling in Istanbul. Over four centuries later, in 1923, shortly after the Turkish war of independence, Reina's father disowns her for a small act of disobedience. He ships her away to live with an aunt in Cuba, to be wed in an arranged marriage when she turns fifteen. In 1961, Reina's daughter, Alegra, is proud to be a brigadista, teaching literacy in the countryside for Fidel Castro. But soon Castro's crackdowns force her to flee to Miami all alone, leaving her parents behind. Finally, in 2003, Alegra's daughter, Paloma, is fascinated by all the journeys that had to happen before she could be born. A keeper of memories, she's thrilled by the opportunity to learn more about her heritage on a family trip to Spain, where she makes a momentous discovery. Though many years and many seas separate these girls, they are united by a love of music and poetry, a desire to belong and to matter, a passion for learning, and their longing for a home where all are welcome. And each is lucky to stand on the shoulders of their courageous ancestors.

The Night War

 It's 1942. German Nazis occupy much of France. And twelve-year-old Miriam, who is Jewish, is not safe. With help and quick thinking, Miri is saved from the roundup that takes her entire Jewish neighborhood. She escapes Paris, landing in a small French village, where the spires of the famous Chateau de Chenonceau rise high into the sky, its bridge across the River Cher like a promise, a fairy tale.  But Miri's life is no fairy tale. Her parents are gone--maybe alive, maybe not. Taken in at the boarding school near the chateau, pretending to be Catholic to escape Nazi capture, Miri volunteers one night to undertake a deadly task, one that spans the castle grounds, its bridge, and the very border to freedom. Here is her chance to escape--hopefully to find her parents. But will she take it? One thing is certain: The person Miri meets that night will save her life. And the person Miri becomes that night could save the lives of many more. In her return to the era of The War that Saved My Life and The War I Finally Won, Kimberly Brubaker Bradley brings a new and different story, one with a mystical twist, that explores a little-known slice of World War II history, a highly unusual friendship, and the power of choosing courage even when--especially when--there are no good choices to be had. 

The Very Unfortunate Wish of Melony Yoshimura

In this magical and chilling Coraline-esque retelling of the Japanese folktale "The Melon Princess and the Amanjaku," one girl must save herself--and her loved ones--from a deceitful demon she befriended. Melony Yoshimura's parents have always been overprotective. They say it's because a demonic spirit called the Amanjaku once preyed upon kids back in Japan, but Melony suspects it's just a cautionary tale to keep her in line. So on her twelfth birthday, Melony takes a chance and wishes for the freedom and adventure her parents seem determined to keep her from. As if conjured by her wish, the Amanjaku appears. At first, Melony is wary. If this creature is real, are the stories about its destructive ways also real In no time, however, the Amanjaku woos Melony with its ability to shape-shift, grant wishes, and understand her desire for independence. But what Melony doesn't realize is that the Amanjaku's friendship has sinister consequences, and she quickly finds every aspect of her life controlled by the demon's trickery--including herself. Melony is determined to set things right, but will she be able to before the Amanjaku turns her life, her family, and her community upside down

The Tale of the Gravemother (are You Afraid of the Dark #1)

Everyone in Southridge knows about the legend of the Gravemother. They know how to leave offerings by the abandoned house she was supposedly murdered in to pacify her. They know better than to trespass on her property. But not everyone believes in the tale-especially not fourteen-year-old Rhett, who lives around the corner from the old mansion. Then it's announced that the Gravemother's place is one of several to be demolished to give way for new townhouses. When disaster strikes the construction site and strange sightings of a woman in white begin haunting the neighbors, Rhett must figure out how to put the ghost permanently to rest before it's too late.

Wrecker

Wrecker needs to deal with smugglers, grave robbers, and pooping iguanas--just as soon as he finishes Zoom school. Welcome to another wild adventure in Carl Hiaasen's Florida!
Valdez Jones VIII calls himself Wrecker because his great-great-great-great-great-grandfather salvaged shipwrecks for a living. So is it destiny, irony, or just bad luck when Wrecker comes across a speedboat that has run hard aground on a sand flat? The men in the boat don't want Wrecker to call for help--in fact, they'll pay him to forget he ever saw them.
Wrecker would be happy to forget, but he keeps seeing these men all over Key West--at the marina, in the cemetery, even right outside his own door. And now they want more than his silence--they want a lookout.
He'll have to dive deep into their shady dealings to figure out a way to escape this tangled net. . . .

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The Winterton Deception 1: Final Word

Hope Smith can't stand rich people-the dictionary magnate family the Wintertons most of all. Not since she and her twin brother, Gordon, learned that their dad was one. So when Gordon enters the family into the Winterton's charity spelling bee, Hope wants nothing to do with it. But with their mom losing her job and the family facing eviction from the motel where they live, they desperately need the money, and it looks like Hope doesn't have much of a choice.
After winning the preliminary round, the Smiths are whisked to Winterton Chalet to compete in the official Winterton Bee against their long-lost relatives. Hope wants to get in and out, beat the snobbish family at their own game, and never see them again. But deceased matriarch Jane Winterton had other plans for this final family showdown. Before her death, she set up a clue hunt throughout the manor-an alternate way for Hope and Gordon to get the money that could change their lives.
Still, others are on the trail, too. With tensions at an all-time high, a fortune at stake, and long-simmering family secrets about to boil to the surface, anything could happen.

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Simon Sort of Says

Simon O'Keeffe's biggest claim to fame should be the time his dad accidentally gave a squirrel a holy sacrament. Or maybe the alpaca disaster that went viral on YouTube. But the story the whole world wants to tell about Simon is the one he'd do anything to forget: the story in which he's the only kid in his class who survived a school shooting. Two years after the infamous event, twelve-year-old Simon and his family move to the National Quiet Zone - the only place in America where the internet is banned and where he'll finally have the chance to spin a new story for the world to tell.

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Indigo & Ida

When eighth grader and aspiring journalist Indigo breaks an important story, exposing an unfair school policy, she's suddenly popular for the first time. The friends who've recently drifted away from her want to hang out again. Then Indigo notices that the school's disciplinary policies seem to be enforced especially harshly with students of color, like her. She wants to keep investigating, but her friends insist she's imagining things.Meanwhile, Indigo stumbles upon a book by Black journalist and activist Ida B. Wells--with private letters written by Ida tucked inside. As she reads about Ida's lifelong battle against racism, Indigo realizes she must choose between keeping quiet and fighting for justice.

The Girl Who Fell to Earth

Aria lives on a well-ordered planet whose people have eradicated illness and even death. Earth is their 'shadow planet' which they populated with humans centuries ago so they could study them and learn from their experiences. Now the experiment is coming to an end and Aria must go to Earth with her scientist father to set off a train of events which will destroy its people. Brought up to believe that humans are inferior, Aria is shocked to discover that she is herself half human, and amazed to find that Earth-dwellers live life to the full and feel love for each other, even though they are mortal. But once she understands this, how can she save them, and herself, from destruction?

Alebrijes

For 400 years, Earth has been a barren wasteland. The few humans that survive scrape together an existence in the cruel city of Pocatel - or go it alone in the wilderness beyond, filled with wandering spirits and wyrms.  13 year-old pickpocket Leandro and his sister Gabi do what they can to forge a life in Pocatel. The city does not take kindly to Cascabel like them - the descendants of those who worked the San Joaquin Valley for generations. When Gabi is caught stealing precious fruit from the Pocatelan elite, Leando takes the fall. But his exile proves more than he ever could have imagined -- far from a simple banishent, his consciousness is placed inside an ancient drone and left to fend on its own. But beyond the walls of Pocatel lie other alebrijes like Leandro who seek for a better world -- as well as mutant monsters, wasteland pirates, a hidden oasis, and the truth. 

Free Throws, Friendship, and Other Things We Fouled Up

Rory's dad just secured a new coaching gig at the University of Cincinnati, so it means yet another school and move for her, only this time to her dad's hometown. Rory's life revolves around basketball; she's never had a close friend outside of it. Could this be a chance for a fresh start? Abby has always lived in Cincinnati, where her dad grew up playing ball and now coaches at Xavier University. But Abby has recently retreated from basketball after a frustrating season that left her confidence in shambles. This year, she finds herself on the outside looking in when it comes to her former teammates, and she could seriously use a new friend.
The coaches' daughters connect over their shared love of the game when Abby chaperones Rory on her first day of school. But when Abby's dad practically forbids their friendship because of something that happened between him and Rory's dad when they were younger, Abby and Rory have no choice but to move their budding friendship underground.
Can the two of them get to the bottom of what went down between their dads in the 1990s before history repeats itself?

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Baseball Genius Series

Jalen DeLuca loves baseball. He's playing for his summer travel team and trying to win a regular spot in the rotation. But Jalen's got more than talent on the field. He's a baseball genius. He can analyze and predict almost exactly what a pitcher is going to do with his next pitch. He can't quite explain how he knows--he just knows.
Jalen's unique ability helps him save the career of the Yankees star baseman, James "JY" Yager, but it also brings him into conflict with the GM of the Yankees who'd like nothing more than to see JY off the team. Jalen works to help his new friend, but applying his skills to his own game might be the bigger challenge.
Will Jalen figure out how to use his baseball genius both on and off the field? This home run series includes: Baseball Genius, Double Play, and Grand Slam.

Dungeons and Dragons: Dungeon Club: Roll Call

From New York Times bestselling author Molly Knox Ostertag and critically acclaimed illustrator Xanthe Bouma comes an all-new Dungeons & Dragons graphic novel series! Middle school is a dungeon... At least, that's how Jess sees it. Luckily, she and her best friend Olivia know how to escape into the sprawling worlds of their own imaginations. The two friends have always loved making up stories, first with little kid games of make-believe, and more recently with the fantasy roleplaying game, Dungeons & Dragons. When they play, Olivia runs the game as Dungeon Master and Jess is the solo party member, playing a take-no-prisoners, lone-wolf fighter of her own design named Sir Corius. But when Olivia wants to add new players to their group, Jess finds herself struggling to share their game--and her best friend. Will their epic campaign withstand all this change, or has their adventure--and their friendship--finally come to an end?

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A First Time for Everything

Dan's always been a good kid. The kind of kid who listens to his teachers, helps his mom with grocery shopping, and stays out of trouble. But being a good kid doesn't stop him from being bullied and feeling like he's invisible, which is why Dan has low expectations when his parents send him on a class trip to Europe. At first, he's right. He's stuck with the same girls from his middle school who love to make fun of him, and he doesn't know why his teacher insisted he come on this trip. But as he travels through France, Germany, Switzerland, and England, a series of first experiences begin to change him--first Fanta, first fondue, first time stealing a bike from German punk rockers... and first love. 

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The Mona Lisa Vanishes

On a hot August day in Paris, just over a century ago, a desperate guard burst into the office of the director of the Louvre and shouted, La Joconde, c'est partie! The Mona Lisa, she's gone! No one knew who was behind the heist. Was it an international gang of thieves? Was it an art-hungry American millionaire? Was it the young Spanish painter Pablo Picasso, who was about to remake the very art of painting? Travel back to an extraordinary period of revolutionary change: turn-of-the-century Paris. Walk its backstreets. Meet the infamous thieves--and detectives--of the era. And then slip back further in time and follow Leonardo da Vinci, painter of the Mona Lisa, through his dazzling, wondrously weird life. Discover the secret at the heart of the Mona Lisa--the most famous painting in the world should never have existed at all. Here is a middle-grade nonfiction, with black-and-white illustrations by Brett Helquist throughout, written at the pace of a thriller, shot through with stories of crime and celebrity, genius and beauty.

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The Enigma Girls: How Ten Teenagers Broke Ciphers, Kept Secrets, and Helped Win World War II (Scholastic Focus)

"You are to report to Station X at Bletchley Park, Buckinghamshire, in four days time....That is all you need to know." This was the terse telegram hundreds of young women throughout the British Isles received in the spring of 1941, as World War II raged. As they arrived at Station X, a sprawling mansion in a state of disrepair surrounded by Spartan-looking huts with little chimneys coughing out thick smoke--these young people had no idea what kind of work they were stepping into. Who had recommended them? Why had they been chosen? Most would never learn all the answers to these questions. Bletchley Park was a well-kept secret during World War II, operating under the code name Station X. The critical work of code-cracking Nazi missives that went on behind its closed doors could determine a victory or loss against Hitler''s army. Amidst the brilliant cryptographers, flamboyant debutantes, and absent-minded professors working there, it was teenaged girls who kept Station X running. Some could do advanced math, while others spoke a second language. They ran the unwieldy bombe machines, made sense of wireless sound waves, and sorted the decoded messages. They were expected to excel in their fields and most importantly: know how to keep a secret. 

The Storm Runner

Zane would much rather explore the dormant volcano near his home in New Mexico than go to school with kids who bully him for his limp. But what Zane doesn't know is that the volcano is a gateway to another world, a world he's thrust into with his dog, Rosie, and the new girl at school, Brooks - kicking off an epic adventure full of surprising discoveries, dangerous secrets, and an all-out war between the gods. To survive, Zane will have to become the Storm Runner. But how can he run when he can't even walk well without a cane?

Benchwarmers Series

Andi Carillo may have been a soccer prodigy and a basketball superstar, but tennis is where she really shines--she's eleven years old and nationally ranked. For her, the sport is just for fun, but suddenly agents are crawling out of the woodwork to offer her deals. Her best friend, Jeff Michaels, is a pretty talented player himself, but he's been dropped into the number-two slot in spite of a perfect record--and he's getting a little jealous of Andi's star potential. These teammates will have to lean on each other more than ever if they're going to handle new emotions, face tough competition, and close out this challenging season with a win. Mixed Doubles is the exhilarating final volume of the popular middle-grade series, Benchwarmers (can be read as a stand-alone).

There are lots of great summer reading challenges out there. Whether you are a book worm or a reluctant reader, you can find something that is a good fit!

Summer Reading Challenges

Read, renew, and repeat with the
Newton Free Library's
Summer Reading Program

   

Ways to Access Summer Reading Titles:

 

 

Through the MLS Commonwealth eBook Collection, we have access to thousands of eBooks and audiobooks. You can access the collection via Sora.

 
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1. Access Sora through a browser or download the Sora App.

2. Click Find My School and select any school with the MLS Commonwealth eBook Collection heading.

3. Select Newton Public Schools from the school list.

4. Click Sign in Using Newton Public Schools.

5. Login with your LASID@newton.k12.ma.us and password.