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72 GREAT SUMMER READS FOR KIDS, TEENS, AND ADULTS

By Kyrie Collins, Highlands Ranch-Parker-Castle Rock-Lone Tree Publisher/Merri Cohen August 14, 2014
We talked to teachers and fellow parents, questioned librarians, inquired on Facebook, perused our own bookshelves, and dug into our memories ... then compiled this AWESOME list of recommended books to read this summer for every member of your family.

Toddlers and Preschoolers

  • The Daddy Mountain by Jules Feiffer
  • Dear Zoo by Rod Campbell
  • Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown
  • Gossie by Olivier Dunrea
  • How Do Dinosaurs Play with Their Friends? by Jane Yolen and Mark Teague (and all the How Do Dinosaurs books)
  • Llama Llama Mad at Mama by Anna Dewdney (and all the Llama Llama books)
  • My Friend Rabbit by Eric Rohmann
  • Pajama Time! by Sandra Boynton
  • We're Going on a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen and Helen Oxenbury
  • Where is Baby's Belly Button? by Karen Katz

Early Elementary Age
  • Alexander, Who Used to Be Rich Last Sunday by Judith Viorst
  • Amelia Bedelia Means Business by Herman Parish
  • The Astonishing Secret of Awesome Man by Michael Chabon
  • Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl
  • The Dot by Peter Reynolds
  • Fancy Nancy by Jane O'Connor
  • Fanny's Dream by Caralyn Buehner and Mark Buehner
  • How to Train Your Dragon by Cressida Cowell
  • Ivy + Bean by Annie Barrows
  • Kelsey Green, Reading Queen by Claudia Mills
  • The Matchbox Diary by Paul Fleischman
  • The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams Bianco
  • The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame

Middle Graders
  • The Call of the Wild by Jack London
  • Charlotte's Web by E.B. White
  • Crow by Barbara Wright
  • The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
  • Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell
  • The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis (Book One in the Chronicles of Narnia series)
  • The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
  • Lucy Dakota: Rocky Mountain Beginnings by Carol Sue Shride
  • Parched by Melanie Crowder
  • Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan (Book One in the Percy Jackson series)
  • Ramona and Her Father by Beverly Cleary
  • Scepter by Scott Collins (Book One in the Scepter series)
  • A Summer of Sundays by Lindsay Eland
  • Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson
  • A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle (Book One in The Wrinkle in Time series)
  • Zero Tolerance by Claudia Mills

Teens & Young Adults
  • The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
  • Delirium by Lauren Oliver (Book One in the Delirium trilogy)
  • Divergent by Veronica Roth (Book One in the Divergent trilogy)
  • Earthrise: My Adventures as an Apollo 14 Astronaut by Edgar Mitchell
  • Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell
  • Finnikin of the Rock by Melina Marchetta
  • The Fault in our Stars by John Green
  • The Giver by Lois Lowry
  • The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros
  • I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
  • If I Stay by Gayle Forman (Book 1 of 2)
  • Lord of the Flies by William Golding
  • The Maze Runner by James Dashner (Book One in a trilogy)
  • The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton
  • Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
  • This One Summer by Mariko Tamaki and Jillian Tamaki
  • We Were Liars by E. Lockhart
  • Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

Adults
  • The Art of Hearing Heartbeats by Jan-Philipp Sendker
  • The Bees by Laline Paull
  • China Dolls by Lisa See
  • Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese
  • Euphoria by Lily King
  • The Girls at the Kingfisher Club by Genevieve Valentine
  • Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
  • I Am Having So Much Fun Here Without You by Courtney Maum
  • The Matchmaker by Elin Hilderbrand
  • Mr. Mercedes by Stephen King
  • No Good Deed by M.P. McDonald (Book One in the Mark Taylor series)
  • The One & Only by Emily Giffin
  • The Painter by Peter Heller
  • Summer House with Swimming Pool by Herman Koch
  • The Vacationers by Emma Straub

(Plus, a few of Merri's favorite recent adult books:)
  • The Husband's Secret by Liane Moriarty
  • Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter
  • Me Before You by JoJo Moyes
  • And the Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini
  • The Lost Wife by Alyson Richman
  • The Sisters Weiss by Naomi Ragen
  • The Last Time I Saw Paris by Lynn Sheene
  • This is Where I Leave You by Jonathan Tropper
  • The White Queen Series by Phillipa Gregory
  • Behind the Beautiful Forevers by Katherine Boo

Merri's Note: I will be adding on adult books throughout the summer. Feel free to add on your favorite children's and adults books in the Comments section below!