We’re back with part two of our Reading Guide! We hope you enjoyed finding a book or two from our recommended fantasy books. There was certainly plenty to choose from—and be sure to let us know what you read and loved.
We hope this will make your summer reading extra fun, extra magical, and extra special. Please share with us on Instagram which books you chose from the below list and why, as we love hearing from you! Also, there’s a handy Book Log Guide below so you can keep track of what you’ve read and what you think about each book.
And remember, we’ll have new book suggestions every two weeks during the summer, so pop back by for more fun recommendations.
Happy reading…
Science Fiction Books for Kids:
CatStronauts by Drew Brockington — When the world is thrust into darkness due to a global energy shortage, the World's Best Scientist comes up with a bold plan to set up a solar power plant on the moon. They just happen to be cats!
Zita the Spacegirl by Ben Hatke — This graphic novel is a fun, captivating tale of friendship and redemption. With a few space creatures thrown in for good measure.
Hilo, The Boy Who Crashed to Earth by Judd Winick — A wholeheartedly weird and wonderful tale of friendship, acceptance, and robots.
The Problem Paradox by Eliot Sappingfield — This is a wild, warm-hearted, and hilarious sci-fi adventure about a brainy young girl who is recruited for a very special boarding school.
Dragon Pearl by Rick Riordan (middle-grade) — A sci-fi adventure novel about Min, a teenage fox spirit, who runs away to solve the mystery of what happened to her older brother and ends up saving her planet.
Explorer Academy, The Nebula Secret by Trudi Trueit (middle-grade) — Adventure, danger, and a thrilling global mission await 12-year-old Cruz Coronado as he joins an elite school for explorers.
The Fourteenth Goldfish by Jennifer L. Holm (middle-grade) — With a lighthearted touch and plenty of humor, Jennifer Holm celebrates the wonder of science and explores fascinating questions about life and death, family and friendship, immortality . . . and possibility.
The Wild Robot by Peter Brown (middle-grade) — This story is a heartwarming and action-packed novel about what happens when nature and technology collide.
Last Day on Mars by Kevin Emerson (middle-grade) — It's a rousing space opera for any age, meticulously researched and relentlessly paced, that balances action, science, humor, and most importantly, two compelling main characters in Liam and Phoebe.
For Young Adults:
Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card — Ender's two older siblings are every bit as unusual as he is, but in very different ways. Between the three of them lie the abilities to remake a world. If, that is, the world survives.
The Ones We’re Meant to Find by Joan He — With mind-blowing twists, this book is set in a climate-ravaged future, and the story follows the story of two sisters, separated by an ocean, desperately trying to find each other.
The Gilded One by Namina Forna — A dark feminist tale spun with blood and gold, and the start of a bold and immersive fantasy series.
For Adults:
Kindred by Octavia E. Butler — The visionary author's masterpiece pulls us--along with her Black female hero--through time to face the horrors of slavery and explore the impacts of racism, sexism, and white supremacy then and now.
The Broken Earth trilogy by N.K. Jemisin — Vivid characters, a tautly constructed plot, and outstanding worldbuilding meld into an impressive and timely story of abused, grieving survivors fighting to fix themselves and save the remnants of their shattered home.
Station Eleven by Emily St John Mandel — An audacious, darkly glittering novel set in the eerie days of civilization's collapse--the spellbinding story of a Hollywood star, his would-be savior, and a nomadic group of actors roaming the scattered outposts of the Great Lakes region, risking everything for art and humanity.
Red Rising by Pierce Brown — Red Rising is a story of class struggle intersecting with personal struggle—Darrow wanting a better life for his red crew so he can earn a better life for his wife Eo.
The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick — This book offers a haunting vision of history as a nightmare from which it may just be possible to wake.
Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer — A tense and chilling psychological thriller about an unraveling expedition and the strangeness within us.
Here’s how to log your reads:
(Note: Print the below and write to record, or copy and paste into your own document to type out your answers.)
Book title:
Author:
Number of pages:
List of main characters:
Describe your favorite character:
What is this book about?
What was your favorite part of the story?