Best summer reads for teens
1. The Summer I Turned Pretty trilogy - by Jenny Han
Genre: Young adult romance. Age Rating: 13+
The Summer I Turned Pretty is about a girl named Isabel (Belly for short) Conklin, every summer she can remember has been spent at Cousins Beach with her family and family friends. Belly has had a crush on Conrad since she was 10, but now his brother Jeremiah likes her, who will Belly choose?
Also a TV series on Prime Video called The Summer I turned Pretty directed Jenny Han.
Genre: Young adult romance. Age Rating: 13+
The Summer I Turned Pretty is about a girl named Isabel (Belly for short) Conklin, every summer she can remember has been spent at Cousins Beach with her family and family friends. Belly has had a crush on Conrad since she was 10, but now his brother Jeremiah likes her, who will Belly choose?
Also a TV series on Prime Video called The Summer I turned Pretty directed Jenny Han.
2. Anne of Green Gables – by L.M Montgomery.
Genre: Childrens literature. Age Rating: 9+
Anne is an independent orphan child who gets adopted by mistake, she continues to live with the family who accidently adopted her, she starts to make friends, begins school and learns household chores. You read in great detail about Anne's struggles in adapting to her new life.
Also a TV series on Netflix called Anne with an E directed by Amanda Tapping.
Genre: Childrens literature. Age Rating: 9+
Anne is an independent orphan child who gets adopted by mistake, she continues to live with the family who accidently adopted her, she starts to make friends, begins school and learns household chores. You read in great detail about Anne's struggles in adapting to her new life.
Also a TV series on Netflix called Anne with an E directed by Amanda Tapping.
3. Every Last Word – by Tamara Ireland StoneGenre: Young adult fiction. Age Rating: 13+
In Every Last Word, Sam McAllister lives her life with a secret. She has Purely-Obsessional OCD, a mental illness that causes her to live a life with dark thoughts and obsessive behaviours. Sam doesn't want her "perfect" friends to know about her inner battles, so she hides behind a face of makeup and confidence.
In Every Last Word, Sam McAllister lives her life with a secret. She has Purely-Obsessional OCD, a mental illness that causes her to live a life with dark thoughts and obsessive behaviours. Sam doesn't want her "perfect" friends to know about her inner battles, so she hides behind a face of makeup and confidence.
4. The Potion Diaries series – by Amy McCulloch Genre: Fantasy Fiction. Age Rating: 12+
The Princess of Nova accidentally poisons herself with a love potion meant for her crush, and she ends up falling in love with her own reflection. Cue a nationwide hunt for a cure, that becomes a competition. Teenage Sam enters on behalf of her family, alchemists who have fallen on hard times. But it’s not just a race to find the cure – it’s also a race against Zain, her former classmate and enemy, and son of the head of a mega company threatening the Kemi’s livelihood.
The Princess of Nova accidentally poisons herself with a love potion meant for her crush, and she ends up falling in love with her own reflection. Cue a nationwide hunt for a cure, that becomes a competition. Teenage Sam enters on behalf of her family, alchemists who have fallen on hard times. But it’s not just a race to find the cure – it’s also a race against Zain, her former classmate and enemy, and son of the head of a mega company threatening the Kemi’s livelihood.
5. The Secret Garden – by Frances Hodgson Burnett Genre: Childrens literature. Age Rating: 9+
The Secret Garden tells the story of Mary Lennox, a spoiled young English girl who was raised in India. After the death of her parents, she is sent to live at her mysterious uncle’s Yorkshire estate, Misselthwaite Manor. Mary is disagreeable, used to being waited on, and at the beginning does not even know how to dress herself. At Misselthwaite, she is mostly ignored and left to wander outside in the gardens. The manor is full of secrets, and Mary often hears the screams of a child echoing its halls at night, despite the servants’ insistence that it is only the wind. She also hears rumours of a mysterious garden, locked up for over a decade after the death of her uncle’s wife. Mary sets out to discover the secrets of Misselthwaite and bring the garden back to life.
The Secret Garden tells the story of Mary Lennox, a spoiled young English girl who was raised in India. After the death of her parents, she is sent to live at her mysterious uncle’s Yorkshire estate, Misselthwaite Manor. Mary is disagreeable, used to being waited on, and at the beginning does not even know how to dress herself. At Misselthwaite, she is mostly ignored and left to wander outside in the gardens. The manor is full of secrets, and Mary often hears the screams of a child echoing its halls at night, despite the servants’ insistence that it is only the wind. She also hears rumours of a mysterious garden, locked up for over a decade after the death of her uncle’s wife. Mary sets out to discover the secrets of Misselthwaite and bring the garden back to life.
6. Apple and Rain – by Sarah Crossman Genre: Fiction.
Age Rating: 12+
Apple's mother left when she was a toddler, leaving her with her grandmother. Eleven years later she returns with another daughter, Rain, things don't go as Apple would have guessed and her mother turns Apple's world upside down.
Age Rating: 12+
Apple's mother left when she was a toddler, leaving her with her grandmother. Eleven years later she returns with another daughter, Rain, things don't go as Apple would have guessed and her mother turns Apple's world upside down.
7. Keeper of the Lost Cities series – by Shannon Messenger
Genre: Fantasy Fiction. Age rating: 9+
Twelve-year-old Sophie Foster has a secret. She's a Telepath (someone who can read minds). It's a talent she's never known how to explain. Everything changes the day she meets Fitz, a mysterious boy who appears out of nowhere, and who can also read minds like her.
Genre: Fantasy Fiction. Age rating: 9+
Twelve-year-old Sophie Foster has a secret. She's a Telepath (someone who can read minds). It's a talent she's never known how to explain. Everything changes the day she meets Fitz, a mysterious boy who appears out of nowhere, and who can also read minds like her.
8. Yes No Maybe So – by Becky Albertalli & Aisha Saeed
Genre: Fiction/Romance. Age rating: 13+
A story about how two individuals with different personalities come together to work on political matters. The two main characters, Jamie Goldberg and Maya Rehman spend a lot of time together and eventually fall for each other. Jamie is shy while Maya is outgoing so they balance each other out nicely.
Genre: Fiction/Romance. Age rating: 13+
A story about how two individuals with different personalities come together to work on political matters. The two main characters, Jamie Goldberg and Maya Rehman spend a lot of time together and eventually fall for each other. Jamie is shy while Maya is outgoing so they balance each other out nicely.
9. The Grandest Bookshop in the World – by Amelia MellorGenre: Fantasy/Historical fiction. Age Rating: 10+
Pearl and Vally must do everything they can to save their family and the grandest bookshop in the world. They make their own deal with the Obscurosmith – they will complete a set of tasks he sets. If they succeed, they get the arcade and their dad back. If they fail, he'll be erased from their memories.
Pearl and Vally must do everything they can to save their family and the grandest bookshop in the world. They make their own deal with the Obscurosmith – they will complete a set of tasks he sets. If they succeed, they get the arcade and their dad back. If they fail, he'll be erased from their memories.
10. The Davenports – by Krystal Marquis Genre: Young Adult/Historical fiction. Age Rating: 12+
The Davenports are one of the few Black families of immense wealth and status in a changing United States, their fortune made through the entrepreneurship of William Davenport, who founded the Davenport Carriage Company years ago. Now the Davenports live surrounded by servants, crystal chandeliers, and endless parties, finding their way and finding love—even where they're not supposed to.
The Davenports are one of the few Black families of immense wealth and status in a changing United States, their fortune made through the entrepreneurship of William Davenport, who founded the Davenport Carriage Company years ago. Now the Davenports live surrounded by servants, crystal chandeliers, and endless parties, finding their way and finding love—even where they're not supposed to.