This week has been about roundup of new books for summer reading!! With schools getting out it is time to find books for your kids to enjoy this summer! If you have 4- to 8-year-olds check out this list and 8- to 12-year-olds this list. Today we are sharing books for ages 10+ and young adult! Four of the books are new and I have not yet reviewed and will not be reviewing today. I still need to read them. The other three I will share links to my reviews. They are all new books this year! There is something for everyone here! I am starting with the books I have not read or reviewed yet. I didn't want you to miss the chance to check these books out because of my lack of reading time and speed. The first book is Meet Me at Wonderland by Julia DeVillers. It is recommended for ages 10 and up.
About the Book:
A girl with a summer job at her family’s amusement park crushes on a coworker who’d rather be working anywhere else in this fun and flirty middle grade rom-com.Fourteen-year-old Coco is Morty the Moose for the summer—the official mascot for her family’s business, Wonderland Adventure Park. Her first shift in the claustrophobic and stinky moose costume comes in the middle of a heatwave, and of course it’s when she emerges a sweaty mess that her manager introduces her to the new hire, Henry…the cutest boy Coco has ever seen.
Henry can’t believe his parents are forcing him to work at this dorky theme park. He’d much rather be hanging with his friends and working on his soccer game, but recovery from a bad injury would have kept him sidelined anyway. Being deathly afraid of heights, Henry hopes he can at least do his job without going on any of the rides.
After their first awkward meeting, Coco and Henry start to warm up to each other, and Coco confides in him about the park’s financial struggles. Soon, she thinks she like likes Henry…a lot. As the weeks go on, Henry’s dad starts asking oddly specific questions about his job, and Henry starts to suspect there’s more to his parents insisting on him working at the park than he thought. When a malfunctioning new ride leaves Henry and Coco stranded at the top, Henry’s worst nightmare comes true and secrets get revealed.
My review will be coming soon!!
Are you ready for baseball season? Our next book is The Right Call by Tommy Greenwald. Recommended for ages 10 to 14.
About the Book:
From award-winning author Tommy Greenwald comes a thrilling companion novel to Game Changer that explores the growing pressures in youth sports, and the lengths some parents will go to make sure their kid comes out on topCal Klondike’s life revolves around baseball. He’s the Walthorne Baseball Academy’s star pitcher, and everyone from his coach to his dad to the town sports blogger is telling Cal he has an unlimited future in the sport. But with all this attention comes a lot of added stress, especially as the season kicks into high gear and college and pro scouts start to show up at the games. Inevitably, tensions that have been bubbling under the surface finally boil over, culminating in a confrontation that could change Cal’s relationship to baseball forever.
Told through a combination of transcripts, articles, texts, and emails, The Right Call is a gripping, fast-paced story for middle grade readers about our split-second decisions, facing the consequences, and the courage it takes to forgive.
My review will be coming soon!!
Our next book is a young adult book--ages 14-18. It is The House No One Sees by Adina King.
About the Book:
Penelope Ross has always felt like a passenger in her mother’s fairytale - until the night of her 17th birthday, when she is forced to enter her own.After a text from her estranged mother rips her away from a night with friends, Penny is forced into a kaleidoscope of memories locked inside the dark labyrinth of her childhood home. As Penny wanders between present and past—prose and verse—she must confront her mother's opioid addiction to mend her fractured past. But the house is tricky. The house is impossible. It wants her to dig up the dead to escape. And as Penny walks through herself to find herself, she is not sure she has the courage to free the light she trapped inside.
My review will be coming soon!!
Our final book that I haven't read yet is What If You Fall for Me First? by G.F. Miller. It is being released on June 10, 2025. Recommended for ages 10 and up.
About the Book:
A girl determined to ditch her goody-two-shoes image and the cool guy classmate she enlists to help her get more than they bargained for in this relatable and swoon-worthy middle grade rom-com.Sofia has had enough of everyone thinking she’s sooo nice. “Sweet,” “innocent,” and “goody two-shoes” are how her classmates would describe her, but there’s more to her than that. She wants everyone—especially her forever crush, Mark Chen—to see that she has other sides.
To help her level up to Official Cool Girl, Sofia enlists trendy and confident Holden—the guy who everyone else has written off as a total player and a first-class jerk. Under Holden’s guidance, Sofia learns to revamp her style, ride a skateboard, and stand up for herself. At the same time, Holden learns that when he’s alone with Sofia, it’s safe to drop the cool guy act and just be himself.
When their efforts start to pay off, Sofia is faced with a choice. Should she stick with the plan—and risk losing herself in the process—or take a chance on the person everyone says will break her heart?
My review will be coming soon!!
Now we will look at some of the books for this age group that I have already reviewed. The first of this category is Dragged Down Deep by Michael Okon. This book is a young adult book for 15+.
About the Book:
Logan Osborne has spent his life chasing the shadows of the past.
As a child, he watched helplessly as his father was snatched from a fishing boat by what he swore was a mermaid. No one believed him then. No one believes him now.
Determined to prove that mythical creatures exist, Logan is drawn back to the small coastal town where his nightmares began after another mysterious disappearance stirs the waters.
Teaming up with his pragmatic colleague Elliot Sheppard and his fiercely loyal friend Penny Swanson, Logan dives headfirst into an adventure packed with danger and deception. As they dig deeper, the trio faces resistance at every turn—a secretive agency with its own agenda, a suspiciously unhelpful police force, and Logan’s old flame, who may know more than she’s letting on.
What they uncover is far darker and more terrifying than Logan ever imagined: the truth about his father, the secrets of Minatuck, and the horrifying reality of the Mermaid of the Hamptons.
Will Logan and his friends expose the lies that have haunted him for years, or will they be Dragged Down Deeper into the swampy, secretive underbelly of a town that guards its mysteries with deadly intent?
Please be careful. Please be happy. And PLEASE forget all about me. It’ll be better for everyone that way.
Those were the last words Keefe Sencen wrote to Sophie Foster before he ran away to the Forbidden Cities. He didn’t want to leave, but it was the only way to keep his friends safe while he figured out how to control his scary new powers and searched for answers about his past.
What he found was so much more than adventures in Humanland.
Where did he go? What did he do? And who did he meet while the rest of his friends worked to solve the mystery of Stellarlune? The answers go far beyond anything anyone could have ever imagined and give Keefe the power to change his destiny.
From award-winning historian Leonard S. Marcus, Earthrise is a unique middle-grade nonfiction book about the astonishing photograph taken during the Apollo 8 mission that forever shifted the way we view ourselves and our planet.
Gazing out the window of the Apollo 8 spacecraft on Christmas Eve, 1968, NASA astronaut Bill Anders grabbed his camera and snapped the iconic color photo of our planet rising over the lunar horizon. Not long after the crew’s safe return, NASA developed Anders’s film and released “Earthrise” to the world. It soon became one of the most viewed and consequential photographs in all of human history, inspiring the first Earth Day in 1970 and boosting the global environmental movement. In the decades since, this incredible photograph of our small yet beautiful, familiar yet strange, “blue marble” has moved billions to rethink their understanding of our home planet, and even their very idea of “home.”
A companion to Marcus’s acclaimed Mr. Lincoln Sits for His Portrait—a unique biography of America’s sixteenth president centered around one famous 1864 photo—Earthrise uses the same technique of exploring a key moment in US history through the lens of an iconic photograph. This rocket-paced, compact, and highly accessible nonfiction book includes a trove of black-and-white images and related materials throughout.
This is perfect for elementary and middle school kids ages 10-14, or in grades 5 through 8, who love:
● Outer space, astronauts, and STEM-related books
● Fascinating dives into American history
● Quick and engaging nonfiction reads
As a child, he watched helplessly as his father was snatched from a fishing boat by what he swore was a mermaid. No one believed him then. No one believes him now.
Determined to prove that mythical creatures exist, Logan is drawn back to the small coastal town where his nightmares began after another mysterious disappearance stirs the waters.
Teaming up with his pragmatic colleague Elliot Sheppard and his fiercely loyal friend Penny Swanson, Logan dives headfirst into an adventure packed with danger and deception. As they dig deeper, the trio faces resistance at every turn—a secretive agency with its own agenda, a suspiciously unhelpful police force, and Logan’s old flame, who may know more than she’s letting on.
What they uncover is far darker and more terrifying than Logan ever imagined: the truth about his father, the secrets of Minatuck, and the horrifying reality of the Mermaid of the Hamptons.
Will Logan and his friends expose the lies that have haunted him for years, or will they be Dragged Down Deeper into the swampy, secretive underbelly of a town that guards its mysteries with deadly intent?
My review is here.
Our next book is part of the Keeper of the Lost Cities Series, but if you haven't read the series (I haven't) the book is still great! It is Unraveled by Shannon Messenger. It is recommended for ages 11 and up.
About the Book:
The past and present unravel into staggering truths in this can’t-miss installment of the New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling Keeper of the Lost Cities series told entirely from Keefe’s point of view.Please be careful. Please be happy. And PLEASE forget all about me. It’ll be better for everyone that way.
Those were the last words Keefe Sencen wrote to Sophie Foster before he ran away to the Forbidden Cities. He didn’t want to leave, but it was the only way to keep his friends safe while he figured out how to control his scary new powers and searched for answers about his past.
What he found was so much more than adventures in Humanland.
Where did he go? What did he do? And who did he meet while the rest of his friends worked to solve the mystery of Stellarlune? The answers go far beyond anything anyone could have ever imagined and give Keefe the power to change his destiny.
My review is here.
Our next book is a nonfiction book. It is for space lovers. It is Earthrise: The Story of the Photograph That Changed the Way We See Our Planet by Leonard S. Marcus. It is recommended for ages 10-14.
About the Book:
Gazing out the window of the Apollo 8 spacecraft on Christmas Eve, 1968, NASA astronaut Bill Anders grabbed his camera and snapped the iconic color photo of our planet rising over the lunar horizon. Not long after the crew’s safe return, NASA developed Anders’s film and released “Earthrise” to the world. It soon became one of the most viewed and consequential photographs in all of human history, inspiring the first Earth Day in 1970 and boosting the global environmental movement. In the decades since, this incredible photograph of our small yet beautiful, familiar yet strange, “blue marble” has moved billions to rethink their understanding of our home planet, and even their very idea of “home.”
A companion to Marcus’s acclaimed Mr. Lincoln Sits for His Portrait—a unique biography of America’s sixteenth president centered around one famous 1864 photo—Earthrise uses the same technique of exploring a key moment in US history through the lens of an iconic photograph. This rocket-paced, compact, and highly accessible nonfiction book includes a trove of black-and-white images and related materials throughout.
This is perfect for elementary and middle school kids ages 10-14, or in grades 5 through 8, who love:
● Outer space, astronauts, and STEM-related books
● Fascinating dives into American history
● Quick and engaging nonfiction reads
My review is here.
Another great young adult book to check out that is not new this year is Dragon Surf by D. G. Driver with Jeni Bautista Richard. My review of it is here. I also love The Chosen Series. For more young adult suggestions check out my reviews of older young adult books here.
