Books to Keep Your Child Reading This Summer

There is nothing teachers and parents dread more in the summer than the summer slide. You have spent the last nine months helping your child memorize spelling words, read books and practice math facts. The last thing you want is for them to forget all of it. One of the best ways to help prevent the summer slide is to keep your child reading books they enjoy. Not sure what to pick out for them to read this summer? This list has 10 amazing books that your elementary school student is bound to love.

Fablehaven by Brandon Mull– When Kendra and her brother, Seth find out that their grandparents are caretakers for a preserve of magical creatures, they discover a world full of centaurs, satyrs, fairies and even demons. They must learn their family’s trade and protect all of the creatures while keeping the world safe from many of them. The Fablehaven preserve is a place of great magic, wonder and discovery, let Kendra and Seth take you along for the ride.

Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer– There is nothing 12-year-old, genius, criminal mastermind, Artemis Fowl won’t do including kidnapping a fairy. When he finally gets Captain Holly Short trapped, he soon finds out that fairies are nothing like the fairies in fairy tales. They are smart, organized and ready to fight, but Artemis isn’t considered a criminal mastermind for nothing.

Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine. Cinderella with a twist. Ella as a child is cursed to be completely obedient. She has to follow any direct command that she is given, which includes hurting herself. As Ella falls in love with the crowned prince, she realizes that she could be used to hurt him and now she must figure out how to break the curse before she does something truly dreadful.

Princess Academy by Shannon Hale– When Mount Eskel, is chosen as the village of the next queen, Miri’s quiet life is turned upside down. Each village girl is required to attend a strict princess academy, for when the prince comes in a year to pick his bride. Miri doesn’t want to be a princess but soon she discovers that the princess academy offers more than just dancing lessons it offers her a chance to learn and help her village.

Ungifted by Gordan Korman – Donovan is an average trouble maker, who accidentally gets placed in the gifted school. The school work is way over his head, but the kids need him more than he could ever know. They band together, helping each other grow but what will happen when the teachers discover he isn’t gifted? Will he have to leave his friends and everything he has accomplished behind?

Holes by Louis Sachar – When Stanley Yelnats falls victim to his family’s curse and is falsely accused of stealing, he is sent to Camp Green Lake where he is forced to dig a large hole every day. It seems the warden is looking for something but will Stanley break his family’s curse and find it first?

Disney After Dark by Ridley Pearson – When Finn, Charlene, Willa, Maybeck and Philby agree to become the models for the new Disney World hologram projections, they have no idea that they will become part of the park. After the sun goes down, the park comes to life and all of the villains from every Disney ride come alive and these five teens are the only things standing between the villains’ domination of the park.

Percy Jackson by Rick Riordan – When Percy Jackson learns he is not a regular kid, but actually a demigod, he finds his way to Camp Half-Blood, a place where demigods can be safe from the monsters that are trying to kill them. When Zeus and Percy’s father, Poseidon get in a fight over the loss of Zeus’s lightning bolt, it is up to Percy to prove that he is not a thief because Zeus decides to destroy him.

Dealing with Dragons by Patricia C. Wrede (The Enchanted Forest Chronicles). Not all princesses want to spend their time embroidering and dancing. Cimorene wants to fence and practice magic and all sorts of other un-lady like things. Instead of being forced to marry a prince, she runs off to live with the dragons, even talking the knights who come to rescue her into going home.

Dragon Slippers by Jessica Day George– When Creel is given to a dragon in hopes that someone will rescue and marry her, Creel decides to save herself.. She strikes a bargain with a dragon, that includes her freedom and an odd pair of slippers. The slipper cause trouble all over the place until the dragon puts the fate of the whole nation at risk. Creel must figure out what the slippers do and how to save the country before it is too late.

Which of these would your child love?