my favorite summer middle-grade books {2024 version}

Hey, friends!

I don’t know why but the last couple weeks, I’ve been trying to get back into reading but I can’t find any books that I want to read. So this post is if you’re like me and if you want to try to read some new books. These are a few of my favorite summery middle-grade books and hopefully you’ll love them too!

the penderwicks at point mouette

You can’t make a summer reading list without one of The Penderwicks books on it, in my opinion. I love the whole series, but the first three will always be my favorite. I know a lot of people don’t like this one as much, but I personally liked it! Either way, the whole Penderwick series is perfect to read during the summer!

Blurb: When summer comes around, it’s off to the beach for Rosalind . . . and off to Maine with Aunt Claire for the rest of the Penderwick girls, as well as their old friend, Jeffrey. That leaves Skye as OAP (oldest available Penderwick)—a terrifying notion for all, but for Skye especially. Things look good as they settle into their cozy cottage, with a rocky shore, enthusiastic seagulls, a just-right corner store, and a charming next-door neighbor.  But can Skye hold it together long enough to figure out Rosalind’s directions about not letting Batty explode? Will Jane’s Love Survey come to a tragic conclusion after she meets the alluring Dominic? Is Batty—contrary to all accepted wisdom—the only Penderwick capable of carrying a tune? And will Jeffrey be able to keep peace between the girls . . . these girls who are his second, and most heartfelt, family? It’s a rollicking ride as the Penderwicks continue their unforgettable adventures in a story filled with laughs and joyful tears!

road trip rescue

Becca Wierwille is an amazing author who has also been a huge encouragement to me in my writing. I haven’t read a lot of indie published middle-grade but Road Trip Rescue was amazing, and the second book, Road Trip Return, is being released in September. If you want a cute & light summery read and also want to support an indie author, go check out Road Trip Rescue.

Blurb: Twelve-year-old Kimmy trusts dogs more than people. After all, her dog Bo never made fun of her for having one hand. But two years ago, Bo disappeared. When Kimmy stumbles across a magazine photo of a dog in upstate New York that looks just like Bo, she knows she has to find him. Her parents seem oddly unsupportive, but pink-haired, adventure-hungry Aunt Skylar agrees to a road trip with a stop in the Adirondacks. Kimmy jumps at the chance to bring her furry family member home. Unfortunately, Aunt Skylar’s idea of a road trip isn’t the rescue mission Kimmy had in mind.

roll

Right before one of our vacations last summer, I picked this up from the library and was surprised at how much I liked it! I loved that it was set in the Midwest and had running/cross country as one of themes, and learning about the pigeons was also interesting.

Blurb: When Lauren (but call him “Ren,” pretty please) Hall sees birds falling from the sky, he knows something is wrong. But just as he’s starting to worry, he realizes that the birds are plummeting toward the ground on purpose. Turns out they’re Birmingham Roller Pigeons, and his new neighbor Sutton is training them for a competition. Sure, it’s strange, but Ren’s best and only friend Aiden has picked this summer to start hanging with the popular kids. So Ren starts training pigeons with Sutton—what’s the worst that could happen? A bird falls on his head?

caterpillar summer

One of my favorite things about this book was that it covered some harder topics but also was a light & fun to read book. It was a bit slow, but I really enjoyed seeing the relationship between Cat and her grandparents grow throughout the book, and how everything turned out in the end.

Blurb: Cat and her brother Chicken have always had a very special bond–Cat is one of the few people who can keep Chicken happy. When he has a “meltdown” she’s the one who scratches his back and reads his favorite story. She’s the one who knows what Chicken needs. Since their mom has had to work double-hard to keep their family afloat after their father passed away, Cat has been the glue holding her family together. But even the strongest glue sometimes struggles to hold. When a summer trip doesn’t go according to plan, Cat and Chicken end up spending three weeks with grandparents they never knew. For the first time in years, Cat has the opportunity to be a kid again, and the journey she takes shows that even the most broken or strained relationships can be healed if people take the time to walk in one another’s shoes.

fudge-a-mania (& the rest of the fudge series)

I don’t think I’ve ever recommended this series on any of my book lists before but the Fudge series has been one of my favorites for a long time! Fudge-A-Mania is set during their family’s summer vacation in Maine and is perfect for a book to listen to or read on a road trip, or really anytime. They’re all fun to read but Double-Fudge is probably my favorite!

Blurb: Peter Hatcher can’t catch a break. His little brother, Fudge—the five-year-old human hurricane—has big plans to marry Peter’s sworn enemy, Sheila Tubman. That alone would be enough to ruin Peter’s summer, but now his parents have decided to rent a summer home next door to Sheila the Cootie Queen’s house. Peter will be trapped with Fudge and Sheila for three whole weeks!

welcome to camden falls (& the rest of the main street series)

Just like the Fudge series, this is another one that I don’t think I’ve ever mentioned on my blog even though it’s been one of my favorites for years. Camden Falls seems like an almost perfect town but once you read more, you see deeper into the lives of all the characters & their struggles. The Secret Book Club (book #5 in the series) is another great book to read this summer!

Blurb: Flora and Ruby do not want to move to Camden Falls. But they don’t really have a choice — their parents are dead and their grandmother, Min, is taking them in. It’s strange to be in a new place. But luckily, it’s a very welcoming place. Min runs a sewing store, Needle & Thread, at the heart of Main Street in Camden Falls. There, Flora and Ruby become friends with Olivia, who likes to organize things, and Nikki, who lives on the wrong side of the tracks. Even if Flora and Ruby never expected it to, Camden Falls becomes their home . . . and its stories become a part of their stories.

the luminous life of lucy landry

Anna Rose Johnson’s first book, The Star that Always Stays, is a mix between Anne of Green Gables, Little Women, and The Penderwicks and The Luminous Life of Lucy Landry is no different! I got the chance to read the ARC for this and it was amazing, then I also listened to the audiobook once it released.

Blurb: Lucy, a spirited French-Ojibwe orphan, is sent to the stormy waters of Lake Superior to live with a mysterious family of lighthouse-keepers—and, she hopes, to find the legendary necklace her father spent his life seeking.

homecoming (& books 2 and 3 of the tillerman cycle)

This is definitely more upper middle-grade/lower YA but great books either way! My mom described it as “a more realistic Boxcar Children” and Homecoming fits that description so well! I liked A Solitary Blue (book #3) more than the first two, but all of three of them were amazing reads. I haven’t read the other books in the series, though.

Blurb: It’s still true… That’s the first thing James Tillerman says to his sister Dicey every morning. It’s still true that their mother has abandoned the four Tillerman children somewhere in the middle of Connecticut. It’s still true they have to find their way, somehow, to Great-aunt Cilla’s house in Bridgeport, which may be their only hope of staying together as a family. But when they get to Bridgeport, they learn that Great-aunt Cilla has died, and the home they find with her daughter, Eunice, isn’t the permanent haven they’ve been searching for. So their journey continues to its unexpected conclusion — and some surprising discoveries about their history, and their future.

when i hit the road

This book literally took me almost a year to read (like I started it the day I got it in July last year and didn’t finish it until a couple weeks ago) because I felt like the beginning was a bit slow and I forgot I had it, but once I got into it, I read it really quick. I loved the style of the journal entries and all the characters were so fun!

Blurb: Samantha is not exactly excited to spend her entire summer vacation in Florida with her grandma. Or to have to write to her future self in the journal her mom insists she use. But it turns out that Gram has some not-so-boring plans up her sleeve… Gram and her friend Mimi are going to audition for the Seniors Have Got Talent Karaoke Contest! A road trip in Gram’s new Mustang turns into a series of hilarious mishaps that flip Samantha’s summer on its head, especially because, an unexpected person is sharing the a super cute, muscular, athletic-looking, dimple-faced, middle-school boy named Brandon. It looks like her journal might be worth keeping after all because this summer will be one Samantha will never want to forget. Follow along with Sam, Gram, Mimi and Brandon in all their road trip shenanigans.

now, it’s your turn!

What books are on your summer reading list? Any books you think I should read this summer? Comment below with your answers!