Summer reading season is my favorite reading season. And, while it’s not a requirement that my summer reading have a summer setting, it is a nice bonus! I especially love YA summer novels because summer means a lot more to those who still get a summer “break.”
Young Adult Books for Your Summer Reading List
Something about adding books to a reading list brings me so much joy. I’m not sure if it’s the anticipation of all of the great books I have to read, or the idea of where I’ll get to read them, but I LOVE making a reading list.
Obviously summer reading lists are better than all other reading lists, and books that are set in summer to be read in summer are greatest of them all!
The Summer of Jordi Perez
I looked at some of the reviews for this book to refresh my memory. Lots of love for this book, but some people are calling it “a little bit silly.”
OF COURSE IT’S SILLY. It’s a book about the summer before senior year where a major plot point is trying to find the best hamburger in the city. This is exactly what I want from a summer YA romance.
And yes, there’s a romance, with a fat lead character, who wears bright, fruit printed clothing. It’s not that deep y’all. Read this poolside and relax.
The Summer I Turned Pretty Series
Now would be a great time to start Jenny Han’s The Summer I Turned Pretty series since a streaming series adaptation is about to drop on Amazon Prime on June 17th.
Just as the title suggest, this series is about the summer Belly starts seeing her long time family friends in a different way, and they start noticing her, too.
Jenny Han’s To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before has also been adapted into a three movie series on Netflix – perfect for watching or reading on a hot summer day.
Along For The Ride
Sarah Dessen has a deep library of summer books, and I think I’ve read them all. In fact, we could just tell you to go find every Sarah Dessen book your library has and you would be set for the summer.
However! Let’s start with Along for the Ride since there’s a Netflix movie adaptation out now.
Wendy watched in and liked it, even though she has no intention of reading the book.
You Have a Match
If you liked Tweet Cute by Emma Lord, we think you should give You Have a Match a try.
This book has surprising DNA test results, a summer camp setting – one of my faves! – and two friends finally getting out of their own way to reveal their long time crushes.
Summer Days and Summer Nights
First there was My True Love Gave to Me, a collection of short stories by YA novels set during the holiday season. Now we have Summer Days and Summer Nights, with a warm weather twist.
The book features 12 short stories from writers including Veronica Roth, Lev Grossman and Stephanie Perkins.
We think this anthology will make you eager to read the other books by these writers, which we suspect is exactly the point.
More Reading Recommendations from Megan and Wendy!
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