If you’re looking for some great books for summer for ages 9 and older, look no further. I’ve put together a list of books that would be great reading during these hot summer days or nights. My list includes historical fiction, mystery, science fiction, realistic fiction, fantasy and humor.
The Vine Basket, by Josanne La Valley, is a look inside East Turkestan that has recently been taken over by Chinese rule. This historical fiction has a young Uyghur girl dealing with the oppression that is taking over the land and her family fears they may lose their farm. She sets out to go to the market where she hopes to sell enough peaches to help her family, but a tourist sees her unusual vine basket she had hung by her booth. And this occurrence opens a way to possibly avoid the rugged Chinese factories where she will most likely be sent. The story is written so well that you are constantly pulling and hoping for the best for this girl – and her people!
What Came From the Stars, by one of my favorite authors, Gary D. Schmidt, is a mixture of science fiction, fantasy and realistic fiction. This is a very unusual book and the first chapter will not draw you in. That’s because there are italicized chapters sprinkled throughout that take place on another planet. This planet is fighting the evil forces and in an attempt to save their most valuable possession, a glowing necklace, they throw it into space. The next chapter is what will grab you and keep you going to the very end! This magical chain lands in sixth-grader Tommy’s lunchbox. He proceeds to put it on and that’s when amazing things begin to happen. For instance, when he begins to draw a picturesque scene of a river, the water actually flows. He finds that he has new knowledge about another planet including words that are completely foreign to him. But now a big problem exists for him: the evil forces have come to earth to reclaim this necklace. It is difficult to navigate through the short chapters from the other planet. But the story is so good, you can fast-forward over them. My favorite other books from this author are the Newbery winning book, “The Wednesday Wars” and “Okay for Now”.
Zebra Forest, by Adina Rishe Gewirtz, is a realistic fiction book that takes place in a rural setting where a remote old house is adjacent to a wooded forest with trees that have dark and light trunks emitting the images of a zebra. That’s how two siblings, Annie and Rew, label their woods where they live with their elderly Granny. Annie and her little brother have always been told that their father died in a fight and the man who fought with him is in prison. They love their forest and make up tales about whom their father really was even though they have no memory of him. But everything is about to change when someone breaks into their home and everyone in that house is about to learn something they never knew. The story has language that seems to drip with eloquence off the pages and the action is non-stop!