Hi, I'm Mimi from HarperStacks.
And today, I'm gona tell you some of my
top picks for Summer Reading For Kids.
[MUSIC]
So during the summer, you may be worried
about your students regression and
academic proficiency, due to the holiday.
There's a theory known as summer slide.
And while it's debated among educators,
it's always a great idea to have a list of
great books for kids of all ages
to read to keep engaging in those
reading skills that they've
acquired during the school year.
So for picture books, one of my top picks
is The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein.
It is a classic.
I'm sure you remember it from childhood.
I remember it from childhood.
And there are so many lessons on
social emotional learning, and
being compassionate, and
being generous, and being grateful.
This is a top pick for
teachers everywhere.
So it's definitely something
that your students and
patrons wanna read over the summer.
Also from Shel Silverstein, Falling Up.
So Shel Silverstein is known for
his poetry works.
And this is just one of my favorites, and
it is a great introduction to poetry for
really young readers.
It's funny, it's engaging, and it is
something that they will remember for
a long time.
So next up for emerging readers,
I'm so excited about this new line,
HarperChapters.
So HarperChapters is great for first,
second, third graders who are just
getting into reading on their own,
reading independently, and
are excited about chapter books.
So HarperChapters,
this one is Trouble at Table 5.
There will be two that have launched
in the first launch of this series.
We also have Sparkle 10,
which is about unicorns, and 13th Street,
which is a little bit spooky.
This one's a little more mystery themed.
But I'm gonna tell you about this
line of HarperChapters as a whole is
the progress bars you get at
the end of every chapter.
So this one says I've read two chapters,
so it's very encouraging.
And at the end of every book,
it will tell you congratulations,
you've read 12 chapters,
85 pages and 5,777 words.
So it's really encouraging
throughout the book.
And definitely at the end,
all of them have that message.
And it's just great for kids who
are suddenly reading on their own.
And there's so many of them that they can
just binge right through them all summer.
Next, I wanna move into graphic novels.
So graphic novels are a fantastic format
for developing a visual literacy.
We're such a media rich world, that kids
really need to be able to read pictures,
as well as prose.
So we're so excited to have HarperAlley,
which is our new graphic novel imprint,
and several of these books
are in that imprint.
So I wanna start off
with Action Presidents.
So if you've got history buffs in
your life, this is a great line.
We've got President George Washington.
We have President Teddy Roosevelt,
President Abe Lincoln, and JFK.
So all the history in these is real.
The jokes, not so much,
but it's very engaging,
full color illustrations throughout.
And these are great for
kids who love history.
Next step, I'm so
excited about the New Kid.
So New Kid by Jerry Kraft was the first
graphic novel to win the Newbery Medal
this year.
So we're very excited about that.
Jordan is a seventh grader in
Washington Heights in a neighborhood in
Upper Manhattan, and
he is about to move to a new school.
So being a new kid is really tough
sometimes, especially in middle school.
But it's also tough when you're one of
the few students of color at a brand
new school.
So he's navigating his identity, and
little microaggressions from teachers and
students.
And it's a fantastic, very real,
very timely book, and we're so
excited about it.
Also, be on the lookout for
Class Act coming this fall,
which is the follow-up to New Kid.
Next, I've got the full series of
Emmie & Friends from Terri Libenson.
So these are highly illustrated novels.
So while they're not full graphic novels,
they're not written in panels.
There is both a mix of prose and
illustrations.
So again, it's a great mix of
developing those literacy skills.
And these are great stories
about being in middle school,
and they're all female characters.
And they're just dealing with things that
all students do in that age bracket.
These are really, really fun.
And since there's four of them,
again, you can just binge read these.
So speaking of binge reading,
which, if you can't tell,
is one of my favorite things to do.
I've got some great series that
students can start from book one, and
work all the way through,
which should last the whole summer.
So first up, I wanna tell you about
The School for Good and Evil.
So if you love magical
schools as much as I do,
this is a great next series to pick up.
So in The School for Good and Evil,
ordinary kids go to the school to train
to become fairy tale heroes and villains.
There are six books in the series.
The final and
sixth book came out this summer,
and they do come in paperback as well.
So this is definitely a great
series to work your way through.
So speaking of schools,
who doesn't love Wayside School?
So this is the first one in decades.
They've been around
since I believe the 70s.
And we got a new one this March,
which is really exciting.
So Wayside School Beneath
the Cloud of Doom.
It's as funny, and zany,
and quirky as you remember.
This is the fourth book in the series.
So it's another one for students to fall
in love with from the beginning, and
work their way through this one.
And there's so many memories from
teachers and librarians and parents.
So this is a great book to bond over.
Speaking of classics,
who doesn't love Narnia?
So The Lion, The Witch and
the Wardrobe is a classic.
It's been turned into a movie, and it is
just beloved through the generations.
So a little fun fact, Lion,
the Witch and the Wardrobe,
while it is the most probably well
known book in the Narnia series,
it was written first, it is not
technically the first in the series.
The first is The Magician's Nephew.
So if you wanna start from the beginning,
you can start with The Magician's Nephew,
and work your way through to
the seventh and final book.
But this is another great introduction
to the series as a whole.
And then you can go back and read
The Magician's Nephew if you really want.
Another great series that I loved from
childhood, A Series of Unfortunate Events.
So the first one is The Bad Beginning.
And the poor Baudelaire children
are suddenly orphaned mysteriously.
And their uncle, cousin,
we don't know what he is,
Count Olaf is a distant relative.
And he shows up out of nowhere, and
suddenly decides he's gonna
take care of these kids.
But really, he just wants the fortune
that their parents left them.
It is dark, and it's funny, and it's
a great introduction to satire for kids.
So there are 13 books on the series,
I believe.
And your kids can work
through them all summer.
And if they have kind of a dark
humor afterwards, I'm really sorry.
So next, I wanna tell you about some
really great middle grade standalones.
Next, I've got We Dream of Space by
Newbery medalist Erin Entrada Kelly.
This is her latest book, and
we are so excited about it.
So it's 1986, so
this does qualify as historical fiction.
And the nation is awaiting
the launch of NASA's Challenger.
Cut to the Nelson Thomas family, which
has three kids, Cash, Fitch and Bird.
And they are all going
through a lot right now.
They're in middle school,
so that's already a lot.
And then their parents
are constantly fighting at home.
And it's just they're all kind
of in their own little orbits,
even though they're all
under the same roof.
So dealing with family dynamics,
dealing with girls in STEM, and
dealing with just school and life,
and figuring out who you are.
This is classic Erin in the sense that
it's just well written middle graders,
and real middle graders.
It is heart wrenching.
It is beautiful.
It is Erin Entrada Kelly.
So definitely, definitely make
sure that this is on your list.
Next, from Newbery medalist
Katherine Applegate,
we have the follow-up to her
Newbery medal winning The One and
Only Ivan with the highly
anticipated The One and Only Bob.
So if you remember from The One and
Only Ivan,
gorilla Ivan's best friend is Bob,
the little scrappy mutt who we all love.
So this is Bob's story, and
it is about finding the meaning of family,
and stepping up and being brave,
even if it comes at a very small package.
It is classic Katherine.
It is well written.
It is amazing, and
everyone should be excited about this.
If you're a dog lover, if you're a gorilla
lover, if you're an animal lover,
if you're a book lover,
this is a great one to have.
And so moving away from middle grade,
these are two teen recs that are great for
junior high, upper middle school,
and teen readers as well.
Clap When You Land is the newest
from Elizabeth Acevedo.
Clap When You Land is written
in verse as The Poet X was.
And Clap When You Land tells the story of
two girls, one who lives in New York City,
one who lives in the Dominican Republic.
They have no idea that they are sisters.
Their father tragically dies in a plane
crash as he is flying from New York to
the Dominican Republic
to visit his homeland.
And they find out about each other,
they find the meaning of family and grief.
And it is stunning and beautiful,
and perfectly Elizabeth Acevedo.
So this is definitely one
everyone should check out.
Finally, I wanna talk to you about a book
that is slowly, but surely becoming
a classic, and is a must read for
everyone, The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas.
In this, we meet 16 year old Starr Carter,
who lives in a poor predominantly
African-American neighborhood
on one side of town,
but goes to a wealthy predominantly white
private school on the other side of town.
One day, Starr's riding home with
her friend Khalil from a party.
He gets pulled over by the cops, and
tragically ends up being shot by
the officer,
even though Khalil had no weapon on him.
This book explores police brutality,
racism in America, and black experience.
And it is heart wrenching and
inspiring, and
encourages people to use their
voices to fight for justice.
Now more than ever,
everyone should read The Hate U Give.
And I hope it inspires you as much as it
has inspired me and countless others.
Well, that's it from me.
Those are my top summer reading picks.
And I wish you nothing but endless
sunny days to get lost in a good book.
[MUSIC]
