Summer Adventures

It's summer vacation - soak up a good book! Dive into any of these summer adventures: a cross country bike trek, a working summer vacation on a yacht in Italy filled with danger and romance, or a summer job that leads to a chase after a serial killer.

 

 

 

 

Bingham, Kelly L.. Shark Girl. 2007. (YA Fiction Bingh.K)Cover Art

After a shark attack during the summer causes the amputation of her right arm, fifteen-year-old Jane, an aspiring artist, struggles to come to terms with her loss and the changes it imposes on her day-to-day life and her plans for the future.

 

 

Bradbury, Jennifer. Shift. 2008. (YA Fiction Bradb.J)Cover Art

When best friends Chris and Win go on a cross country bicycle trek the summer after graduating and only one returns, the FBI wants to know what happened.

 

 

Brashares, Ann. The Sisterhood Of The Traveling Pants. 2001. (YA Fiction Brash.A 2004)Cover Art

During their first summer apart, four teenage girls, best friends since earliest childhood, stay in touch through a shared pair of secondhand jeans that magically adapts to each of their figures and affects their attitudes to their different summer experiences.

 

 

Gehrman, Jody Elizabeth. Confessions Of A Triple Shot Betty. 2008. (YA Fiction Gehrm.J)Cover Art

Sixteen-year-olds Geena, Hero, and Amber spend the summer working at a Sonoma, California coffee shop, where they experience romance, identity crises, and newfound friendships.

 

 

Han, Jenny. The Summer I Turned Pretty. 2009. (YA Fiction Han.J)Cover Art

Belly spends the summer she turns sixteen at the beach just like every other summer of her life, but this time things are very different.

 

 

 

Hartinger, Brent. Project Sweet Life. 2009. (YA Fiction Harti.B)Cover Art

When their fathers insist that they get summer jobs, three fifteen-year-old friends in Tacoma, Washington, dedicate their summer vacation to fooling their parents into thinking that they are working, which proves to be even harder than having real jobs would have been.

 

 

Johnson, Maureen. Girl At Sea. 2007. (YA Fiction Johns.M)Cover Art

High-school junior Clio Ford reluctantly gives up her dream job and a potential first kiss to take a working summer vacation with her estranged father on a yacht in Italy, where treasure, danger, and romance awaits.

 

 

 

Lockhart, E.. Dramarama. 2007. (YA Fiction Lockh.E)Cover Art

Spending their summer at Wildewood Academy, an elite boarding school for the performing arts, tests the bond between teens Sadye and her best friend Demi.

 

 

 

Lubar, David. Dunk. 2002. (YA Fiction Lubar.D)Cover Art

While hoping to work as the clown in an amusement park dunk tank on the New Jersey shore the summer before his junior year in high school, Chad faces his best friend's serious illness, hassles with police, and the girl that got away.

 

 

Lynch, Chris. The Big Game Of Everything. 2008. (YA Fiction Lynch.C)Cover Art

Jock and his eccentric family spend the summer working at Grampus's golf complex, where they end up learning the rules of "The Big Game of Everything."

 

 

 

Mayall, Beth. Mermaid Park. 2005. (YA Fiction Mayal.B)Cover Art

Sixteen-year-old Amy escapes family difficulties by immersing herself in her job at a mermaid-themed water show.

 

 

 

McNamee, Graham. Acceleration. 2003. (YA Mystery Mcnam.G 2005)Cover Art

Stuck working in the Lost and Found of the Toronto Transit Authority for the summer, seventeen-year-old Duncan finds the diary of a serial killer and sets out to stop him in this nail-biting thriller.

 

 

 

Peña, Matt de la. Mexican Whiteboy. 2008. (YA Fiction Pena.M)Cover Art

Sixteen-year-old Danny searches for his identity amidst the confusion of being half-Mexican and half-white while spending a summer with his cousin and new friends on the baseball fields and back alleys of San Diego County, California.

 

 

Resau, Laura. What The Moon Saw : A Novel. 2006. (YA Fiction Resau.L)Cover Art

Clara Luna spends the summer with her grandparents in the tiny, remote village of Yucuyoo, Mexico, learning about her grandmother's life as a healer, her father's decision to leave home for the United States, and her own place in the world.

 

 

Simons, Michael. Pool Boy. 2005. (YA Fiction Simmo.M)Cover Art

When his father is arrested for insider trading and his family loses all their money, Brett Gerson takes a job as an assistant to a 70-something pool cleaner in his former wealthy California neighborhood and learns some valuable life lessons.

 

 

 

Stork, Francisco X.. Marcelo In The Real World. 2009. (YA Fiction Stork.F)Cover Art

Marcelo Sandoval, a seventeen-year-old boy on the high-functioning end of the autistic spectrum, faces new challenges, including romance and injustice, when he spends the summer working for his father in the mailroom of a corporate law firm.

 

 

Vivian, Siobhan. Same Difference. 2009. (YA Fiction Vivia.S)Cover Art

Feeling left out since her long-time best friend started a serious relationship, sixteen-year-old Emily looks forward to a summer program at the Philadelphia College of Art but is not sure she is up to the challenges to be faced there, including finding herself and learning to balance life and art.

 

 

Woodson, Jacqueline. After Tupac & D Foster. 2008. (YA Fiction Woods.J)Cover Art

In the New York City borough of Queens in 1996, three girls bond over their shared love of Tupac Shakur's music, as together they try to make sense of the unpredictable world in which they live.

 

 

Short Stories

Baseball Crazy : Ten Short Stories That Cover All The Bases. 2008. (YA Fiction Stories Merca.N)Cover Art

Batter up! These ten short stories about baseball celebrate all aspects of the game.

 

 

 

Gallo, Don. Ultimate Sports : Short Stories By Outstanding Writers For Young Adults. 1995. (YA Fiction Stories Gallo.D)Cover Art
This knockout collection of stories about teenage athletes includes sports ranging from basketball, running, tennis, water sports, traithlon training and more, and features writers such as Chris Crutcher, Robert Lipsyte and Carl Deuker.
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