Book Finder

Stanford flunks English and is forced to go to summer school instead of his beloved basketball camp. What makes it worse is Millicent Min, girl genius, is brought in to act as his tutor. This is a very funny book that will especially appeal to boys.

Three female cousins share a summer home with their family in Maine and each has a summer romance. This beach read may bring a tear to the eye, and will definitely bring some sequels.

In 1950’s Appalachia, the Collins family leads a hard existence. The youngest sister, Carolina, is adrift, when her guitar-playing cousin, Tadpole, unexpectedly arrives. Tadpole’s beautiful singing and positive outlook inspire the family, but when they learn he’s on the run from an abusive uncle, they worry the uncle will come and take Tadpole away.

The first of the Au-Pairs series sets the stage for a hot summer in the Hamptons. Eliza, who used to be rich but now has to be a nanny; Mara, a “regular” girl who just wants to work hard, and lovelorn, Brazilian Jacqui all work together as au-pairs for a wealthy family, but try to have some fun in the Hamptons at the same time.

For Arturo, summertime in Miami means playing basketball until dark, sipping mango smoothies, and keeping cool under banyan trees. And maybe a few shifts as junior lunchtime dishwasher at Abuela’s restaurant. Maybe. But this summer also includes Carmen, a poetry enthusiast who moves into Arturo’s apartment complex and turns his stomach into a deep fryer. He almost doesn’t notice the smarmy land developer who rolls into town and threatens to change it. Arturo refuses to let his family and community go down without a fight, and as he schemes with Carmen, Arturo discovers the power of poetry and protest through untold family stories and the work of José Martí. Funny and poignant, The Epic Fail of Arturo Zamora is the vibrant story of a family, a striking portrait of a town, and one boy’s quest to save both. Also availabe in Spanish.

When adventurous Black cousins Otto and Sheed Alston accidentally extend the last day of summer by freezing time, they find the secrets hidden between the unmoving seconds, minutes, and hours are not the endless fun they expected.

Fourth-grader Kenny goes with his older brother Byron and his parents on a road trip from Flint, Michigan to the South, where Byron will be spending the summer with his grandparents, away from the temptations of city life. Curtis mixes humor with the volatility of the South in the summer of 1963.