Teen Summer Reading 2018 Booklist

No matter what you spend your time doing this summer, check out one of these great teen reads at your local library!

While these lists are curated for summer reading, they also make for great reads all year long. 

Addie Bell's Shortcut to Growing Up

Seventh grader Addie Bell can’t wait to grow up. Her parents won’t let her have her own phone, she doesn’t have any curves, and her best friend, Grace, isn’t at all interested in makeup or boys. Then, on the night of her twelfth birthday, Addie makes a wish on a magic jewelry box to be sixteen … and wakes up to find her entire life has been fast-forwarded four years!


Blackbird Fly

Bullied at school, eighth-grader Apple, a Filipino American who loves the music of the Beatles, decides to change her life by learning how to play the guitar.



Brave

In his daydreams, Jensen is the biggest hero that ever was, but his middle school reality is very different. When he gets drawn into the whirlwind of school news, social experiment projects, and behind-the-scenes club drama, the difficulty setting is suddenly cranked up.


Clayton Byrd Goes Underground

Feeling most alive when he’s playing the blues with his grandfather, Clayton is devastated when his grandfather dies and his mother forbids him from playing music, losses that compel him to run away and join bluesmen on the road.


Dear Martin

Teen Justyce McAllister struggles with trying to live life through the lens of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s teachings, writings and philosophy and grapples with Dr. King’s stand on race relations and his 21st century existence. You can also check out this title as eAudio on OverDrive/Libby or as eBook on OverDrive/Libby.


The First Rule of Punk

A twelve-year-old Mexican American girl who has recently moved to Chicago starts a punk rock band with a group of like-minded misfits.


Haikyu!!

Ever since he saw the legendary player known as “The Little Giant” compete at the national volleyball finals, Shoyo Hinata has been aiming to be the best volleyball player ever! Who says you need to be tall to play volleyball when you can jump higher than anyone else?



Love, Hate & Other Filters

Seventeen-year-old Maya Aziz is torn between her parents’ wish for her to go to a nearby college and marry a suitable Muslim boy and her own desire to go to film school in New York.



Mask of Shadows

The gender fluid thief Sal Leon enters a competition to become a replacement member of the Left Hand – a quartet of the Queen’s personal assassins – but must first survive the training and the contests while putting the reason for auditioning into motion – revenge.


Miles Morales: Spider-Man

In addition to being just your average teenager, Miles Morales is also Spider Man. But lately, Miles’s spidey-sense has been on the fritz, especially in his history class, where his teacher lectures on the historical “benefits” of slavery and the importance of the modern-day prison system. When a misunderstanding leads to his suspension from school, Miles begins to question his abilities and wonders if a kid like him is even meant to be a superhero. But then he uncovers a chilling plot, one that puts his friends, his neighborhood, and himself at risk. Looks like Miles will have to suit up!


Not Your Sidekick

Despite her heroic lineage, Jessica is resigned to a life without superpowers and is merely looking to beef-up her college applications when she stumbles upon the perfect internship–only it turns out to be for the town’s most heinous supervillain. On the upside, she gets to work with her longtime secret crush, who Jess thinks may have a secret of her own.


Not Now, Not Ever

Elliot is very clear on what she isn’t going to do this summer: She isn’t going to stay home in Sacramento. She isn’t going to mock trial camp at UCLA. And she certainly isn’t going to the Air Force summer program. What she IS going to do is pack up her favorite Octavia Butler novels, and her Jordans, and run away to summer camp. Specifically, an academic-decathlon-like competition for a full scholarship to Rayevich College–the only college with a Science Fiction Literature program.


One of Us is Lying

When the creator of a high school gossip app mysteriously dies in front of four high-profile students, all four become suspects. It’s up to them to solve the case.


Pashmina

Indian-American teen, Priyanka “Pri” Das, attempts to reconnect with her mother’s homeland through a magical pashmina shawl.


P.S. I Like You

Every day in chemistry class, high school student and aspiring songwriter Lily Abbott is finding notes left to her by a mystery boy, love letters really, and she hopes they’re from Lucas, a boy she’s attracted to, so when she finds out they’re really from Cade Jennings, an arrogant student whom she has previously despised, she’s shocked and unsure about how to respond.


Real Friends

When her best friend Adrienne starts hanging out with the most popular girl in class, Shannon questions with whether she and Adrienne will stay friends, and if she is part of the clique.


Spirit Hunters

Harper doesn’t trust her new home from the moment she steps inside, and the rumors are that the Raine family’s new house is haunted. Harper isn’t sure she believes those rumors, until her younger brother, Michael, starts acting strangely. 

This title is also available for checkout as an eBook on Libby, in eAudio on Libby, as an eBook on Hoopla, and in eAudio on Hoopla. 


The Witch Boy

In thirteen-year-old Aster’s family, all the girls are raised to be witches while boys grow up to be shapeshifters, and anyone who dares cross those lines is exiled. Unfortunately for Aster, he still hasn’t shifted–and he’s fascinated by witchery, no matter how forbidden it might be. You can also check out this title as eBook on OverDrive/Libby and eBook on Hoopla.


The 57 Bus

Sasha, a high school senior from Oakland, CA, was napping on the 57 bus home from school. Shortly thereafter, Richard, another Oakland teen, boarded the bus with his two friends. When the trio’s jokes took a dark turn, Richard’s and Sasha’s lives were forever changed.