There’s always an abundance of reading going on at our house during the school year, but I like to keep the kids reading over the summer, too. This year, our summer reading list has a variety of fantastic books.

We know reading is great for our kids in a variety of ways, and summer reading is a great way to keep their minds engaged during summer break.

Besides the amazing books titles we have in our reading basket for summer 2021, I also have three FREE printable resources for you to download and put to use with your own crew.

They all have to do with summer reading, so you don’t want to miss these!

This summer reading book list is specifically geared for middle-schoolers as my two boys will be entering 6th and 8th grade this year.

In a nutshell, there’s a variety of books to choose from including:

• one written in verse
• several books from a series
• historical reads
• a book that also has a recent movie version (we love doing book/movie comparisons)

For my boys, I have found that it’s easier to give them a selection of books they can choose from.

Have you ever headed into the library to browse the books with your kids with no direction in mind? It can be overwhelming. I’m trying to assess within a few seconds if the book is decent (according to our family’s standards) and it can just stress me out.

Also, there are so many quality books for this age range! I want to make sure they’re exposed to the most excellent stories. Curating a stack that they can choose from works very well for us.   

Our 2021 Summer Reading Book List

Here are the excellent books we chose to include in our summer reading basket:

• Frightful’s Mountain by Jean Craighead George

• The Dragon’s Tooth by N.D. Wilson

• Lost in the Pacific, 1942 by Tod Olson

• A Night Divided by Jennifer A. Nielsen

• Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis (Newbery Medal)

• The Moffats by Eleanor Estes

• Number the Stars by Lois Lowry (Newbery Medal)

• A Single Shard by Linda Sue Park (Newbery Medal)

• Hatchet by Gary Paulsen (Newbery Honor)

• Chester and Gus by Cammie McGovern (movie in development)

• Gone Fishing: A Novel in Verse by Tamera Will Wissinger

• Flora and Ulysses by Kate DiCamillo (Newbery Medal and also a movie) 

If you’re interested in finding more great titles, I have some favorite go-to resources for finding the best books for kids. You won’t go wrong if you start with those!

PS-I require my kids to read for about 30 minutes daily as part of our summer routine. We use a daily summer checklist to help keep us on track and give some balanced structure to our days. 

As homeschoolers and a family that loves reading, we also have some additional resources you might find helpful as well.

More Helpful Reading Resources For Kids

Reading Timers

I suggest giving your kids a small timer. I found inexpensive clippable timers from our local big box store to help them keep track of their reading minutes. I’ve seen cute bookmarks that have timers, but boy are they pricey! I use timers that are less than $1 so when/if they are lost, it’s not a huge loss.

Speaking of bookmarks, here’s your first FREE resource: FREE colorable bookmarks!

Add a little crafty fun to your day by printing them out on cardstock, having the kids color them, and laminating them for durability.

Keep one or two and gift a few to family or friends.

Join a Reading Challenge

Joining a reading challenge is a really fun and special part of summer. There are online options offered by organizations, or most likely one at your local library.

Sidenote: does anyone else remember the Book-It program? I remember you could earn a personal pan pizza from Pizza Hut for reading. I loved getting my free little pizza all for me. It still exists after all these years!

We’ve participated in numerous summer reading programs through our local libraries. While they were awesome and enjoyable, after several years, my kids were less motivated by the prizes and were ultimately less interested in participating.

Not to be deterred from offering them an alternative, I decided to craft our family’s own summer reading challenge.

I chose small prizes that I knew they would be excited about, and had them keep track with a simple reading log. Let me say, the prizes were highly motivating, as there was a TON of reading going on that summer.

Keep in mind, I don’t believe I need to reward all of my kids’ reading. During the school year, there were many things they read that weren’t rewarded per se. (Isn’t reading it’s own reward? Cliche. I know. But also very true!!).

I did, however, have a small box of prizes they could choose from when they finished a book. 

Summer Reading Logs

A summer reading log can be the perfect way to track books/minutes read for the purpose of a homemade reading challenge.

Some parents or educators might disagree with having any rewards, but let’s face it. Don’t we all like to be rewarded from time to time? I do! 

I think I would manage to make a little more time for my own reading life if there were some snazzy rewards involved!

If creating your own reading challenge sounds like something you could really use at your house, you are in luck! I made a simple reading log you can download for FREE! 

I’ve kept it pretty vague so you can decide how best to use it.

For example, your kids can color in one book for every book they complete, or for every set amount of time spent reading.

You could then offer prizes for every completely filled-in sheet, or even for every book that’s completed if your child is reading novels.

You decide what works best for your family.

Completed Books Log Sheet

Also, I’ve made a handy dandy log sheet your kids can use to keep track of all the awesome books they read this summer. There’s even a place for them to give the book a star rating.

Why keep track of books they read?

I have been keeping my own personal list for several years, and I’ve also kept track of the books we complete as family read-alouds as well.

It’s really so easy to enjoy loads of great stories, but yet still manage to forget the titles of so many of them. 

Does this happen to you, too?

You start recalling parts of a great story, but you can’t for the life of you remember what the title was?

You’d love to read it again or recommend it to a friend, but…what was the name of it???

Keeping a record provides you with just that-a record of all you’ve read (and accomplished). That’s all your memory needs to help you recall the great literary adventures you took, and the fantastical imaginative lands and characters you visited.

Summer Reading Should Be Fun

Most of all, moms, let’s remember to let our kids’ summer reading be FUN.

No book reports or narrations!

Allow your kids some choice about their reading, and maybe that even includes a bit of the so-called twaddle.  

Consider engaging your kids in a different way with what they are reading this summer as well.

So often during the school year I default to just asking them for narrations, which have their purpose. However, I love what Sarah MacKenzie advises about the best ways to talk with your kids about books.

She has an excellent and free PDF: 5 Questions to Help You Have Conversations With Your Kids About Books that changed the way I discuss books with my kids. 

Just last week my 6th grader, who started Frightful’s Mountain, told me how much he loves getting lost in a good story. He said he forgets how fun it is until he gets started and then wants to keep reading and reading and reading. 

Be still this reading mama’s heart!

So, yeah, I may be requiring 30 minutes of reading a day. But, his comment reminded me that in our world of so many distractions, we can all benefit from pausing our doing to curl up in a cozy spot and get a little lost in another place and time.

Summer Reading for Moms

So moms…we deserve a little of our own reading time this summer too!

Maybe a little more than usual?

I know I’m always craving more reading time. Always.

I’d love to make reading a more intentional part of my summer days. 

In the meantime, let’s challenge ourselves together to make more space for our own reading. Include it as an intentional time of daily self-care? (I vote YES!)

Where would you love to be transported to for a little while each day? What time period intrigues you? Whose life would you be fascinated to know more about?

Let me recommend Modern Mrs. Darcy if you’re looking for something to read next. She’s my go-to when I’m looking for my next book (or 10)!

Also, she just released her Summer Reading Guide 2021. There’s a little something for everyone there.

Enjoy!

Here’s to a happy summer of reading for moms and kids alike! I hope it’s filled with fun memories and lots of ground traveled in amazing stories.

Reading makes immigrants of us all. It takes us away from home, but more important, it finds homes for us everywhere. —Jean Rhys