A relationship can be between classmates, people in your neighborhood, you and your pet - it's all about how you relate (get it?) to others and the world around you. No romance or mystery here, just hanging out and enjoying!
Need more suggestions? Have a look at last year's summer reading guide
Scout Is Not a Band Kid by
Scout joins her middle school's band in order to go on the band's annual trip and meet her favorite author, but she's forced to face the music when the trombone section leader realizes Scout doesn't know how to play.
School Trip by
Jordan, Drew, Liam, Maury, and their friends from Riverdale Academy Day School are heading out on a school trip to Paris. As an aspiring artist himself, Jordan can't wait to see all the amazing art in the famous City of Lights. But when their trusted faculty guides are replaced at the last minute, the school trip takes an unexpected--and hilarious--turn. Especially when trying to find their way around a foreign city ends up being almost as tricky as navigating the same friendships, fears, and differences that they struggle with at home.
Confessions of a Class Clown by
7th-grader Jack Reynolds loves making people laugh but he needs help to make his wacky MyTube channel take off, and making friends is not exactly his strong suit."
Honey and Me by
Milla and Honey have been best friends since forever. In their close-knit Jewish community, the two girls do everything together. So when Honey joins Milla's school for sixth grade, why is it not as great as Milla expected? Can their friendship survive all the ups and downs the year has in store for them?
Grounded by
When a thunderstorm grounds all flights following a huge Muslim convention, four unlikely kids are thrown together.
Finally Seen by
When ten-year-old Lina Gao leaves China to live with her parents and sister, after five years apart, she must reckon with her hurt, anger, and curiosity and find a way to get her bearings in this new country--and the almost-new family that comes along with it.
Gideon Green in Black and White by
"Gideon's short-lived run as a locally famous boy detective ended when middle school started, and everyone else--including his best friend, Lily--moved on while Gideon kept holding on to his trench coat, fedora, and his treasured film noir collection. Now he's sixteen and officially retired. That is, until Lily shows up suddenly at Gideon's door, needing his help.
In the Key of Us by
While twelve-year-old Andi has suffered from anxiety attacks ever since her mother died ten months ago, Zora starting hurting herself whenever she feels out of control; they are both at Camp Harmony, an elite summer music camp, trying to deal with their problems and also the stress of competition--but as the summer passes they find themselves increasingly drawn to each other, and maybe not just as friends.
Kings of B'more by
Propelled by his best friend's impending move out of state and inspired by Ferris Bueller's Day Off, sixteen-year-old Harrison plans a farewell through Baltimore that includes a road trip, their first Pride, and a rooftop dance party.
Spells for Lost Things by
Willow and Mason, two teens who are unceremoniously dragged to Salem, Massachusetts for the summer, meet and help each other figure out their places in the world.
Belittled Women by
"When a famed photojournalist shows up to document her family's 'Little Women Live!' attraction, Jo, who is rebelling against living in the shadow of her literary namesake, discovers that real life is much more complicated and messier than fiction
Attack of the Black Rectangles by
When sixth-grader Mac discovers several words of his classroom copy of Jane Yolen's The Devil's Arithmetic are blacked out he is outraged, so he, his friends, and his eccentric family set out to do something about the censorship imposed by one teacher and the school board.
Lessons in Chemistry by
Chemist Elizabeth Zott is not your average woman. In fact, Elizabeth Zott would be the first to point out that there is no such thing as an average woman. But it's the early 1960s and her all-male team at Hastings Research Institute takes a very unscientific view of equality. Except for one: Calvin Evans; the lonely, brilliant, Nobel-prize nominated grudge-holder who falls in love with--of all things--her mind. True chemistry results
The Daydreams by
A deliciously entertaining novel about the stars of a popular teen show from the early 2000s-and the reunion special, thirteen years after their scandalous flameout, that will either be their last chance at redemption, or destroy them all for good
Really Good, Actually by
Determined to embrace her new life as a "Surprisingly Young Divorcee," twenty-nine-year-old Maggie, with the help of her tough-loving academic advisor, her newly divorced friend Amy, and her group chat, barrels through her first year of singledom, searching for what truly makes her happy.
Happy Place by
A couple who broke up months ago make a pact to pretend to still be together for their annual weeklong vacation with their best friends. Harriet and Wyn have been the perfect couple since they met in college- but they broke up six months ago. And still haven't told their best friends. Which is how they find themselves sharing a bedroom at the Maine cottage that has been their friend group's yearly getaway for the last decade.
True Biz by
True biz? The students at the River Valley School for the Deaf just want to hook up, pass their history finals, and have politicians, doctors, and their parents stop telling them what to do with their bodies. This revelatory novel plunges readers into the halls of a residential school for the deaf
Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by
A modern love story about two childhood friends, Sam, raised by an actress mother in LA's Koreatown, and Sadie, from the wealthy Jewish enclave of Beverly Hills, who reunite as adults to create video games, finding an intimacy in digital worlds that eludes them in their real lives