Summer! What I remember most about summers when I was young is staying up
late reading. And by late I mean, really, really late: like four in the morning!
But you don’t have to stay up all night to enjoy some of the best new books I’ve found,
perfect for summer reading. Full of adventure, they are guaranteed to transport you to
faraway places!
LOVE, RUBY LAVENDER
by Deborah Wiles
Harcourt
ISBN: 0152023143
200 pages
You’ll love this warm and funny story about Miss Eula Garnet and her granddaughter Ruby. They shake up their Mississippi town of Halleluia, "Population: 400 Good Friendly Folks And A Few OldSoreheads", when they liberate chickens from an egg ranch! After that, the fun begins.
STORM WARRIORS
by Elisa Carbone
Knopf
ISBN: 0375806644
168 pages
STORM WARRIORS is a fantastic adventure story set in1895 that’s based on actual fact. A young African American boy named Nathan Williams wants to be a "stormwarrior", one of the brave men of the U.S. Lifesaving Service on Pea Island, off the North Carolina shore. This is an exciting novel filled with details about what life was like for the brave men who helped rescue people from shipwrecks.
THE LAMP, THE ICE, AND THE BOAT CALLED FISH
by Jacqueline Briggs Martin
illustrated by Beth Krommes
Houghton Mifflin 2001
ISBN: 061800341X
48 pages
Here’s a beautiful book also based on a true story that took place in 1913, when a research boat became trapped in the ice on an Arctic expedition. Along with a captain, crew, scientists, and explorers, the ship carried sled dogs and some Inupiaq people, including a family with two small daughters. This is an exciting story of adventure, and one of the best parts is seeing photographs of the actual people involved that are included at the back of the book.
SHIPWRECKED: The True Adventures Of A Japanese Boy
by Rhoda Blumberg
Harpercollins
ISBN: 0688174841
80 pages
Here is the amazing, true story of Manjiro, the first Japanese person to live in the United States. The book follows his life from the time he was shipwrecked, then rescued by a U.S. whaling captain, to his return to Japan years later.
