Summer reading programs have had a place in American libraries since 1896 when an innovative librarian at the Cleveland Public Library, Linda Eastman, pioneered the concept. Eastman encouraged children and teens to read over the summer while they were out of school by distributing lists of exciting, recommended titles straight to classrooms. The program was an undisputed hit! More students were visiting Cleveland Public Library over the summer than ever before. Other libraries across the country quickly devised their own summer reading programs to mimic Eastman’s.
In recent years, SJCPL’s Summer Reading Club has shifted away from a prize model to instead rewarding participants with free books. As a librarian, there are few feelings more fulfilling than watching a child’s world open up as they realize they can pick out a free book. Their choice of book might be the latest Dog Man nine times out of ten, but rest assured! Graphic novels build literacy just as well as any other book.
Why should kids get to have all the fun, though?
Like last year, we at SJCPL have a variety of amazing books available for adults to choose from when they sign up for Summer Reading Club. No children required! Here are just a few of the titles available this year.
Summer Reads
Perhaps you’ve heard of Netflix’s decision to adapt this runaway hit romantasy into a film. Get your own copy of Callie Hart’s Quicksilver this summer and experience the story before it gets the movie star treatment. Quicksilver introduces us to Saeris Fane, a mortal woman (and professional pickpocketer of the Undying Queen) who accidentally crosses a gateway into the fae realm. Saeris’ mysterious powers put her in conflict with Kingfisher, a fae warrior with his own secret motives–and her only way home.
Are you on the hunt for a book within a book? Or a savvy analysis of how art can shape the artist’s life beyond what they intended? Nnedi Okorafor’s latest Afrofuturistic novel, Death of the Author, pairs a literary examination of the effects of fame on artistic direction with snippets of a science fiction novel that becomes all too real for its writer, Zelu.
Also available is Fiona Davis’ historical fiction novel The Stolen Queen. Museum curator Charlotte Cross must return to Egypt after a disastrous archaeological dig decades ago when one of the artifacts in her collection goes missing. At the center of the mystery is a forgotten female pharaoh whose curse might be awakening.
Haven’t sign up for Summer Reading Club yet?
Want to see more? This booklist showcases some more reads you can snag just for being part of Summer Reading Club.
Grace Downey
Readers’ Services Librarian
