Resource Guides: Summer Reading: Home

Summer Reading Suggestions

This guide includes suggested summer reading for each grade level. There is something for every reader! The lists include Reading Olympics titles, PA Young Readers' Choice Award nominees, and other great reads. We hope you have a wonderful summer filled with books you love.

Questions:

Where can I find these books?

You can easily find these books in our libraries, in your public library, where books are sold, and online.

Can I listen to the audiobook?

Absolutely! Returning students should check out our digital library on the Sora app. Login with your school network credentials.

How many books should I read?

We hope that you will read at least one book, but beyond that, as many as you want.

Is this required? I don't like reading.

We understand. Not everyone identifies as a reader. However, maybe you have just never gotten to read a book you love. You're so lucky because you have so much to explore and try! See if anything on this guide looks interesting. Go to a library or bookstore and just browse, or look online. When you find something to try, give it at least three chapters or 50 pages to grab your attention! If it never does, put it down and try something else.

Do I have to read something from this guide? I have my own summer TBR list!

That's fantastic - please enjoy reading books of your choice. This guide is to give you some great ideas.

Find a Book

Search the Catalog by Keyword / Title / Author / Subject / Series

Digital Library on Sora by OverDrive
Borrow eBooks and and audiobooks from our digital library to read or listen to on your computer or mobile device.
SYNC free Audiobooks
SYNC is a free summer audiobook program for teens 13+. Two free audiobooks a week starting April 30.

One Book, One Philadelphia

Want to join in some regional community reading fun? Check out the Free Library of Philadelphia's One Book, One Philadelphia program!

Interior Chinatown by Charles Yu
Call Number: eBoko and audiobook on Sora
ISBN: 9780307907202
Publication Date: 2020-01-28
Willis Wu doesn't perceive himself as the protagonist in his own life: he's merely Generic Asian Man. Sometimes he gets to be Background Oriental Making a Weird Face or even Disgraced Son, but always he is relegated to a prop. Yet every day, he leaves his tiny room in a Chinatown SRO and enters the Golden Palace restaurant, where Black and White, a procedural cop show, is in perpetual production. He's a bit player here, too, but he dreams of being Kung Fu Guy--the most respected role that anyone who looks like him can attain. Or is it? After stumbling into the spotlight, Willis finds himself launched into a wider world than he's ever known, discovering not only the secret history of Chinatown, but the buried legacy of his own family. Infinitely inventive and deeply personal, exploring the themes of pop culture, assimilation, and immigration--Interior Chinatown is Charles Yu's most moving, daring, and masterful novel yet.

Companion Books

American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang (Illustrator)
Call Number: GN F YAN
ISBN: 1596433736
Publication Date: 2007-10-30
A Michael L. Printz Award winner, a National Book Award finalist, and a New York Times bestseller! A tour-de-force by New York Times bestselling graphic novelist Gene Yang, American Born Chinese tells the story of three apparently unrelated characters: Jin Wang, who moves to a new neighborhood with his family only to discover that he's the only Chinese-American student at his new school; the powerful Monkey King, subject of one of the oldest and greatest Chinese fables; and Chin-Kee, a personification of the ultimate negative Chinese stereotype, who is ruining his cousin Danny's life with his yearly visits. Their lives and stories come together with an unexpected twist in this action-packed modern fable. American Born Chinese is an amazing ride, all the way up to the astonishing climax. American Born Chinese is the winner of the 2007 Michael L. Printz Award, a 2006 National Book Award Finalist for Young People's Literature, the winner of the 2007 Eisner Award for Best Graphic Album: New, an Eisner Award nominee for Best Coloring, a 2007 Bank Street Best Children's Book of the Year, and a New York Times bestseller. This title has Common Core Connections
Drawn Together by Minh Lê; Dan Santat (Illustrator, Cover Design by)
ISBN: 9781368022507
Publication Date: 2018-06-04
This acclaimed picture book from two award-winning creators about connecting across generational and language differences shows that sometimes you don't need words to find common ground. When a young boy visits his grandfather, their lack of a common language leads to confusion, frustration, and silence. But as they sit down to draw together, something magical happens -- with a shared love of art and storytelling, the two form a bond that goes beyond words. With spare text by Minh Lê and luminous illustrations by Caldecott Medalist Dan Santat, this stirring story about reaching across barriers will be cherished for years to come. "A beautifully told and illustrated story about a grandson and grandfather struggling to communicate across divides of language, age and culture." --- Viet Thanh Nguyen, Pulitzer Prize winner Don't miss LIFT, also by Minh Lê and Dan Santat!