Page-Turners for Every Age

So, you've checked out our "Sweet Summer Reads" (see under Features), and now you're hungry for more. Print out this list for your next trip to the library or bookstore, and feast on these outstanding stories, courtesy of those wonderfully opinionated experts at The Horn Book.

"Carl’s Summer Vacation" written and illustrated by Alexandra Day (Farrar)
At the family’s cabin, Rottweiler Carl and his charge Madeleine are supposed to be taking a nap; instead, they go canoeing, visit a playground, and surreptitiously feast on somebody else’s picnic. Grade level: Preschool. 32 pages.

"Tacky Goes to Camp" written by Helen Lester, illustrated by Lynn Munsinger (Houghton)
Tacky is a happy camper, but of course not a typical one, at the Nice Icy Land’s summer camp, where he manages to inadvertently save the day against a campsite-raiding bear. Grade level: K–3. 32 pages.

"Orangutan Tongs: Poems to Tangle Your Tongue" written and illustrated by Jon Agee (Hyperion)
Ever-effervescent Agee fashions thirty-four comic tongue-twisting verses, each featuring daft characters and a succinct scenario. Grade level: 1–4. 48 pages.

"Moonshot: The Flight of Apollo 11" written and illustrated by Brian Floca (Jackson/Atheneum)
Floca selects the exact details to transform science into relatable experience in this artistic history of the Apollo 11 moon landing. Grade level: 1–4. 48 pages.

Snake and Lizard written by Joy Cowley, illustrated by Gavin Bishop (Kane/Miller)
In fifteen episodes, Snake and Lizard meet, bicker, and form an unlikely friendship marked by comical repartee. Grade level: K-2. 85 pages.

Paddington Here and Now written by Michael Bond, illustrated by R. W. Alley (HarperCollins)
Fans will be relieved to know that in this fiftieth-anniversary offering of new stories nothing has changed: Paddington gets into trouble, usually because of a misunderstanding, always ending in a glorious muddle. Grade level: 1–3. 170 pages.

Cowgirl Kate and Cocoa: Rain or Shine written by Erica Silverman, illustrated by Betsy Lewin (Harcourt)
Cowgirl Kate and cowhorse Cocoa return in four rainy-day adventures that highlight the close friendship between girl and horse. Grade level: 1–3. 44 pages.

The Penderwicks on Gardam Street by Jeanne Birdsall (Knopf)
Life for the four Penderwick sisters is going along as it should…until their father contemplates dating, prompting his panicked daughters to concoct a “Save-Daddy Plan.” 308 pages.

Paleo Bugs: Survival of the Creepiest written and illustrated by Timothy J. Bradley (Chronicle)
Bradley uses crisp graphics to trace the evolution of anthropods from 530 million years ago to the present. 48 pages.

The Diamond of Darkhold by Jeanne Duprau (Random)
Lina and Doon (first introduced in The City of Ember) return to the underground city to retrieve supplies, but instead encounter hostile new inhabitants. 387 pages.

Zorgamazoo written and illustrated by Robert Paul Weston (Razorbill/Penguin)
Human Katrina and zorgle Morty journey to the planet Graybalon-4 and back in search of the missing zorgles of Zorgamazoo in this whimsical, well-constructed story told entirely in rhymed anapestic tetrameter. 284 pages.

Best Friends written by Jacqueline Wilson, illustrated by Nick Sharratt (Roaring Brook)
When Gemma’s friend Alice moves to Scotland, both girls must find ways to deal with the change and remain “best friends forever” despite the distance. 229 pages.

3 Willows: The Sisterhood Grows by Ann Brashares (Delacorte)
Ama, Polly, and Jo, who sealed their friendship in third grade by planting trees, begin to reconnect during a challenging summer after drifting apart during middle school. 319 pages.

Into the Volcano written and illustrated by Don Wood (Blue Sky/Scholastic)
While visiting relatives on a remote island, two brothers embark on a seemingly harmless camping/hiking trip that quickly turns into a dangerous game of treachery, kidnapping, double-crosses, and spectacular natural perils. 175 pages.

One Small Step by P. B. Kerr (McElderry)
NASA asks thirteen-year-old Scott, son of an Air Force flight instructor, to man a pre–Apollo 11, top-secret spaceflight to the moon with a crew of chimponauts. 309 pages.

Hannah’s Winter by Kierin Meehan (Kane/Miller)
Staying with the Maekawa family after she’s dragged to Japan by her mother, twelve-year-old Hannah discovers a ghost—a young boy who needs her help. 212 pages.

The Reformed Vampire Support Group by Catherine Jinks (Harcourt)
An ill-assorted, amusingly pathetic group of vampires committed to not “fanging” humans investigates the slaying of one of their number in this offbeat Australian novel. 360 pages.

The Uninvited by Tim Wynne-Jones
After Mimi flees to her father’s cabin and meets her previously unheard-of half-brother, the two discover a disturbing problem: someone has been watching the house and repeatedly breaking in. 353 pages.

Little Brother by Cory Doctorow (Tor)
Following a major terrorist attack on San Francisco, Marcus (unjustly apprehended by Homeland Security in the aftermath) applies his formidable technological savvy to thwarting efforts to restrict personal liberty after he is released from detainment and interrogation. 365 pages.

Suite Scarlett by Maureen Johnson (Scholastic Point)
Drama queen Mrs. Amberson moves into Scarlett’s family’s occupancy-challenged Manhattan hotel and proceeds to hatch schemes to save the hotel and resolve Scarlett’s love life in this over-the-top comedy presented with wry New York aplomb. 353 pages.

Grown-Up Bookworms Will Love:

The Rights of the Reader written by Daniel Pennac, illustrated by Quentin Blake, translated from the French by Sarah Adams
(Candlewick)
Ironic, epigrammatic, and very French, Pennac’s celebration of the joys, freedoms, and rights of reading inspires us all to go forth and do so post haste. 166 pages.