June 6, 2024 Comments Off on 2024 Summer Reading Guide: Elementary Readers (ages 7-12)
Welcome to the second of three installments of my Summer Reading Guide! This round-up includes a whopping seventeen brand new middle-grade books for a range of readers, from animal lovers to Dog Man aficionados, fantasy seekers to summer camp dreamers, mystery solvers to history buffs, and everything in between. There’s even a touch of elementary-appropriate romance! The list spans a mix of traditional novels and graphic novels, and I’ve included an example of an interior spread where illustration factors into the enjoyment of the story.
Nearly all of these have been published in just the past few weeks or months. THAT SAID, I must encourage you to take a look at my Spring Break Reading Round-Up from earlier in the year, with what will undoubtedly end up being some of my very favorite middle grade of the entire year. If your kiddos haven’t found their way into the likes of The Liars Society, Max in the House of Spies, The First State of Being, or Not Quite a Ghost, consider them musts. Likewise, Katherine Marsh’s Medusa, an action-packed, thought-provoking story about a group of kids descended from Greek Monsters, is being met with such enthusiasm by my readers at the shop (and me!) that I’ve chosen it for Old Town Book’s inaugural Camp Bookworm. If you’re local, encourage your kids to read the book, then join us in person to discuss and meet Katherine Marsh herself (!) on Tuesday, August 27, at 6pm at the bookshop.
Now, a quick word for my fantasy lovers. There are two fantasies on the below list, but there should be more. One of my colleagues with a deep love of fantasy and a great eye for kid lit read and loved two additional fantasies that made it onto our shop’s Summer Reading Guide but are not included here, simply because I haven’t had time to read them yet. They are: Julie Kagawa’s Lightningborn: Storm Dragons, a series starter about a boy who finds a wild baby dragon, believed to be extinct, and becomes the focus of an evil sky pirate’s vengeance; and Ryan Graudin’s The Girl Who Kept the Castle, another series starter about a girl who must save her home from destruction when a not-totally-dead wizard’s inheritance competition goes awry (think Nevermoor meets Howl’s Moving Castle). It should also be said that every single fantasy on last year’s Summer Reading Guide—and there were some fabulous ones—now have sequels out (hello, Greenwild!).
OK, let’s gooooo! As always, the list is organized in ascending order of target ages.
Your Pets’ Secret Lives: The Truth Behind Your Pets’ Wildest Behaviors
by Eleanor Spicer Rice, PhD; illus. Rob Wilson
Ages 7-11, 202 pages
Take heed, animal lovers! Ever wonder what your dog, cat, goldfish, rabbit, ferret, python, or tarantula’s strangest or most uncooperative behaviors are telling you? Bring on the aha moments in Your Pets’ Secret Lives: The Truth Behind Your Pets’ Wildest Behaviors, a comprehensive six-part collection of essays as funny as they are informative, as conversational as they are factual. The text is spruced up with full-color spot art and broken up with interviews with real animal scientists! (And, yes, the poop content delivers in spades.)
The ExPets (Graphic Novel)
by Mark Tatulli
Ages 7-12, 304 pages
Calling fans of Dog Man and The First Cat in Space Ate Pizza! Do not miss The Ex-Pets, a boldly illustrated, action-packed, downright hilarious—I laughed myself silly—new graphic novel series about a very stinky pet dog (we’re talking near supersonic farts) who gets recruited by a secret team of former pets-turned-superheroes. When a flying robot hijacks Bosco from his cushy domestic life, the latter isn’t so sure he wouldn’t rather stay with his indoor bed and toy kitty, but he eventually gets onboard with his new ragtag group of crime fighters, including a turtle mastermind, a laser-eyed kitty, Wonder-Guppy, and Ginormous Gerbil. Their first mission? Rescuing the world’s kittens, who have all gone mysteriously missing.
The Wishkeeper’s Apprentice
by Rachel Chivers Khoo; illus. Rachel Sanson
Ages 7-11, 222 pages
I’m getting more and more requests for short, illustrated fantasies: whimsical and quirky, with a touch of the sinister that has always drawn children to fairytale worlds, but without the heavy page count and complexity of most middle-grade fantasies. Bonus if they make great read alouds! Last year’s Summer Reading Guide pick, Elf Dog and Owl Head, fit that bill perfectly (and went on to earn a Newbery Honor!). This year, I’m excited to offer The Wishkeeper’s Apprentice, a debut by Rachel Chivers Kho, with gentle pen-and-ink illustrations on nearly every page. Rupus Beewinkle is a bumbling, mustachioed, invisible wizard, who has long fulfilled wishes from the town’s fountain (after careful risk assessment, as not all wishes can or should be fulfilled!). Lately, however, these wishes have been getting “snagged,” due to a monstrous wishsnatcher looking to snuff out human hope. When Rupus discovers that Felix, an earnest ten-year-old boy with sadness in his heart over his older sister’s increasing indifference, can see him, he recruits him to stop the wishsnatcher. But Rupus is guarding a secret about Felix’s origins, one that makes him uniquely suited for the job and at risk of losing what he loves most. (It’s hard to feel too uneasy over steaming mugs of a cinnamon custard drink called a snorlick, recipe included!)
Magnolia Wu Unfolds It All
by Chanel Miller
Ages 7-11, 147 pages
Calling young sleuths! I couldn’t be more excited to have another gem to recommend on the younger, softer side of middle grade, in the likes of Elana K. Arnold’s Just Harriet or Erin Entrada Kelly’s Maybe Maybe Marisol Rainey, spot-illustrated series as perfect for reading aloud as for newly confident independent readers. Authored by Chanel Miller, the talent behind the acclaimed adult memoir, Know My Name, Magnolia Wu Unfolds It All is a love letter to New York City, a sharply-observed story about a fiery ten-year-old protagonist—all the Dory Fantasmagory vibes here!—whose boring summer hanging around her parents’ laundromat takes a turn when a new friend convinces her to track down the offenders behind the shop’s pile of single, unclaimed socks. Come for the lighthearted mystery, stay for what it reveals about her family, friends, and community.
The Mighty Onion
by Mark Crilley
Ages 7-12, 233 pages
Calling Diary of a Wimpy Kid fans! If your kids are laser-focused on graphic novels but you wish they were getting more text consumption, I’m positively giddy to have Mark Crilley’s The Mighty Onion to recommend, a graphic novel series starter that explores the pitfalls and triumphs of creativity and collaboration through comic pages, journal entries, fan mail, and more. Eliot Quigly is sitting on the greatest superhero comic idea of all time—a kid who gains superpowers from radioactive onions!—only there’s one problem: he’s rubbish at drawing. His classmate, Pamela Jones, however, is an incredible artist. Can he convince her to do the art for his text? And, if she says yes and the comic goes viral, can he survive the collaboration, especially if she starts getting all the fan mail? (Asking for a friend.)
Gigi Shin is Not a Nerd
by Lyla Lee
Ages 8-12, 192 pages
If you have kids who love The Babysitters Club and might be open to trying a non-graphic novel with quick chapters, a slim page count, and a similar celebration of entrepreneurism, friendship, and big dreams, I urge you to introduce them to Gigi Shin is Not a Nerd, a new series starter delivered in punchy first-person narration. Ji-Young Shin—Gigi to her classmates—wants nothing more than to attend a prestigious art camp with her best friends, but even if her parents had the money, they’d rather see her spend time on science or coding, fields with more job potential. Determined to raise the money herself and prove to her parents that she’s a force to be reckoned with, she goes around their backs and starts an after-school tutoring club with three friends. The Ace Squad is born, though it’s anything but smooth sailing, as Gigi and her friends confront rambunctious clients, friendship tensions, mounting parental concerns, academic stress, group chat violations, and first crushes. Can Gigi get the club back on the rails while making things right with her parents?
Listen to This
by Jennifer Blecher
Ages 8-12, 210 pages
Camp Famous, Jennifer Blecher’s previous novel from a few years ago, ranks as one of my daughter’s favorite books of all time, and I can attest that Listen to This will be another hit for elementary kids staring down the middle school years. Blecher is unmatched at her ability to pinpoint what it feels like to be a tween, that feeling of being “stuck inside a maze with no idea how to get out.” The story, set in the weeks leading up to a middle school dance, alternates between the perspectives of two seventh graders, Lily and Will, as they navigate secrets, shifting friendships, gossip wars, social media, popularity, and overbearing parents, while simultaneously beginning to realize their romantic feelings for one another. The short, dialogue-driven chapters, presented with plenty of white space on the page, fly by, even while the characters themselves are impressively developed and demonstrate surprising and gratifying change.
The Mystery of Locked Rooms
by Lindsay Currie
Ages 8-12, 245 pages
Calling all mystery and puzzle lovers! This is the stuff that summer reading dreams are made of: a wild ride of an adventure, where kids are racing against a clock and outsmarting grown-ups at every turn! The three seventh-grade besties at the heart of The Mystery of Locked Rooms are used to spending their weekends beating the toughest escape rooms for sport, but when Sarah finds a foreclosure notice on her front door and realizes she’ll have to move away if her mom doesn’t get some money quickly, the friends decide to up their stakes. Following rumors that the abandoned house on the outskirts of town, once owned by mysterious triplets who allegedly left behind a hidden treasure, the three find their way into a fun house of animatronic clowns, secret passages, dangerous stunts, bookish riddles, and pitch-black puzzle rooms that will require the friends to work together as a team like never before…before the police show up and arrest them for trespassing.
National Archive Hunters: Capitol Chase
by Matthew Landis
Ages 8-12, 292 pages
Hanker a career in the FBI? Have a proclivity for Revolutionary War history? Like a good art heist? How about the movie National Treasure? Live in the DC area? The appeal of Matthew Landis’ National Archive Hunters: Capitol Chase, the first in a twisty thriller series about twins who attempt to chase down the suspect of a series of artifact heists, is huuuuuuge. (Those of you who read Operation Final Notice from my Gift Guide a few years ago will know that Landis is especially gifted at propelling his stories through punchy dialogue.) Ten-year-old Ike Carter is an American History buff; his twin, Iris, prefers to shine on the athletic field and banter with her brother. When the two witness someone steal a miniature portrait of George Washington from their mother’s (fictional) museum in Washington DC, they’ll need to put their heads together, delve into primary research at the National Archives, and go up against the FBI’s Art Crime team if they’re going to figure out who the culprit is, what they’re planning to steal next, and how to keep themselves off the suspect list in the process.
Tryouts (Graphic Novel)
by Sarah Sax
Ages 8-12, 288 pages
Calling fans of graphic novels like Christina Soontornvat’s The Tryout and Matt Tavares’ Hoops! If you have a student athlete, you know that (good) middle-grade sports stories can be hard to come by, which is why I’m thrilled to have Sarah Sax’s graphic novel, Tryouts on this list, a standalone companion to last year’s Picture Day and a lively exploration of teamwork, sportsmanship, and gender stereotypes. When Alexandra becomes the first girl to play on her middle school’s historically boy baseball team with a nine-year championship title—softball has never been for her—her presence makes waves. Some of her teammates resent her coaching tips; others resent that the local press wants to spotlight Alexandra. But Alexandra’s passion and skill ultimately persevere to bring the team together and inspire change both on and off the field.
Camp Prodigy (Graphic Novel)
by Caroline Palmer
Ages 8-12, 256 pages
Attention musicians, instrumentalists, and summer camp lovers! Here’s what my daughter had to say about this graphic novel, celebrating the ups and downs of musical performance, which she chose for the guide: “Camp Prodigy is about two nonbinary kids finding their identities through a music camp. Eli loves to play the viola, but after a nervous breakdown, they struggle to get their confidence back. Tate can’t play the viola very well either, but only because they’re new to the instrument. Both kids decide to enroll in a competitive camp, where they realize they have more in common than they think. Together, they learn how to face people who think they are better than them, master challenging pieces, work through anxiety, and accept who they are. I loved this book because the characters and the struggles they had to go through seemed very real to me. Because I play the violin I know what it feels like to mess up a piece or not be able to master a part and that feeling was reflected perfectly here. I also automatically like any book that has a camp component to it and this book captures the best and most memorable moments of it all!”
The Cats of Silver Crescent
by Kaela Noel
Ages 8-12, 266 pages
Cat friends, listen up! You might think you know cats, but have you ever met ones who walk upright, wear old-fashioned clothing, and are bewitched to talk like humans? Kaela Noel’s The Cats of Silver Crescent is a deliciously cozy mystery with some dark magic, four unusual cats, and two girls tasked with performing an enchantment that would keep the former from turning back into regular cats. When Elsby MacBride arrives to stay with her great-aunt in Rhode Island, she anticipates a boring summer ahead. She never expects to get a nighttime visit from four humanlike cats living in the abandoned house next door, or to be drawn into the town’s lore of sorcerers and ghosts, all the more tantalizing when regaled to her by a gothic-clad new friend named Penelope. But will the spell they must learn come at too great a price?
The Underdogs of Upson Downs
by Craig Silvey
Ages 8-12, 307 pages
Where are my Barbara O’Connor fans—those who love feelgood underdog stories with a touch of old-fashioned charm? Craig Silvey’s The Underdogs of Upson Downs was named the Children’s Book Council of Australia’s 2023 Book of the Year for Young Readers, and now that it has made its way to the US, I can see why. When a greedy landowner takes advantage of an unprecedented draught to drive his neighbors out of business, including the farm that has been in Annie’s family for generations, Annie looks to her stray dog-turned-bestie, Runt, to help her save the day. Given Runt’s exceptional speed and agility, Annie sets her sights on winning the lucrative contest at the prestigious Krumpet’s Dog Show in London. But three enormous hurdles stand in her way: she must find money for the impressive entrance and transportation fee, at a time when everyone in her tiny Australian town is strapped; she must evade the sinister ploys of her biggest competition, one Fergus Fink; and—trickiest of all—she must get Runt to overcome his resistance to performing any of his tricks when anyone besides Annie is watching.
The Secret Language of Birds
by Lynne Kelly
Ages 8-12, 240 pages
Summer camp, friendships, mystery, citizen science, secrets, and the human-animal bond intersect majestically in The Secret Language of Birds, a standalone companion to Lynne Kelly’s award-winning Song for a Whale (a favorite of my daughter!). While Iris, the deaf protagonist of the first book, plays a supporting role in this one, the new book centers her classmate Nina. Here, Nina gets a chance to redeem herself from her previous falling out with Iris, exposing her own vulnerabilities around a desire to be seen and accepted, as she discovers a pair of endangered whooping cranes about to lay eggs in the supposedly haunted marshes of her Texas summer camp. With the support of new friends, daily logs and sound technology, and a team of remote scientists who may or may not realize she is sneaking around with nary an adult the wiser, Nina hatches a covert plan to help the birds. As much a deeply satisfying coming-of-age story about a girl reckoning with choices, past and present, the story is an inspiring window into the diligence and rewards of animal advocacy.
Sona and the Golden Beasts
by Rajani LaRocca
Ages 8-12, 402 pages
For those who like their otherworldly fantasies beautifully penned, thought-provoking, and with a side of magical animals, I give you Sona and the Golden Beasts, a South-Asian inspired tale of a girl with a rare gift, a golden-eared wolf pup, and their epic quest to save her homeland, while exploring themes of colonialism, greed, and bias in storytelling. Sona hears music everywhere, even though it has long been outlawed in the land of Devia. She may be a descendant of the Malechs, foreigners who took over Devia centuries ago to exploit the land for its precious gems, but she doesn’t share the Malechs’ disdain for the indigenous people, including their magical animals. When Sona discovers an orphaned wolf pup on her farm and realizes it may be related to one of the five sacred beasts of Devia, she risks a perilous journey with a mysterious companion to keep it safe from the deadly Hunter and, in the process, uncovers shocking truths about her own heritage. Rajani LaRocca isn’t a Newbery Honoree for nothing, and I especially love the way she incorporates letters, newspaper articles, and song lyrics to further the storytelling, while demonstrating how biases can be perpetuated by the media that we engage with.
Lunar Boy
by Jes & Cin Wibowo
Ages 9-13, 240 pages
From debut twin creators, Lunar Boy is hands down the most original and stunning graphic novel of the year: a poignant, coming-of-age sci-fi set in Indonesia, about a transmasculine child from the moon who explores questions of identity and belonging on Earth. But don’t take it from me; listen to what my starry-eyed daughter says: “Lunar Boy is my most favorite graphic novel I have read this year. It is about an alien boy named Indu, who gets rescued and adopted by a woman in space, but just when he feels like his life is perfect his mom tells him they are going down to Earth because she is getting married. Down on Earth, his troubles only keep coming. He doesn’t know the language and his new siblings want nothing to do with him. But as he struggles through school, he meets people who are like him and befriends a new pen pal who he thinks he might have feelings for. He learns about his older brother’s secret life and why he is ignoring him. He must make an important decision: return to the moon where there are no troubles or stay on Earth. I loved the amazing art, stories, and the ways the author explores emotion. The characters are very lovable and the story leaves nothing out. It explores friendships, family, culture, and an amazing community. This is the kind of book that I would want to live in!”
The New Girl
by Cassandra Calin
Ages 9-13, 240 pages
Now, you knew I wouldn’t leave you hanging for a Raina Telgemeier or Kayla Miller comp, right? I adore The New Girl, about a girl in the throes of adolescence, who moves to Montreal from Romania and is forced to navigate a myriad of new—new city, new languages (English and French), new friendships, new clubs—all while trying to manage heavy, painful monthly periods. (The period rep in this is stellar!) Lia’s saving grace is threefold: the handful of classmates who also hail from other countries; her mad artistic skills, which land her on the school’s magazine; and a blossoming first crush on another girl, even if the feeling may not be mutual. Amidst authentic dialogue, comic misunderstandings, Lia’s relatable struggles, and author Cassandra Calin’s gorgeous, manga-like art, this read is an absolute delight. (Fair warning: this series starter essentially ends in the middle of a scene, so kids will be clamoring for the next, which isn’t due out until next year.)
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