Start Here! The Bookies Top 10 Bestsellers from 2015 Summer Reading Lists - and Why!
1.
Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library by Chris Grabenstein - a smart contemporary book that combines a thrilling adventure with puzzles and an homage to the wonder of libraries - ticks all the boxes for students and teachers! The follow-up,
Mr. Lemoncello's Library Olympics, is out now - see below!
2.
Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson - summer reading lists tend to prefer paperbacks, but this, along with our #10
The Crossover, which was also only in hardback last year, proved too good for schools to resist - and from our sales numbers, students and parents felt the same about this stunning memoir in verse. Out in paperback in October!
3.
El Deafo by Cece Bell - kids love graphic novels, but teachers and parents can be skeptical about their value. But this memoir of the author's struggle with deafness and exclusion appealed to adults and students.
4. & 5. - a tie!
Number the Stars by Lois Lowry - the first 'classic' summer read to appear on our list - some books just never get old, and this is one of them.
Wonder - by R. J. Palacio this beautiful book finally came out in paperback in summer 2015, in time for book lists. Its extraordinary hero and anti-bullying and kindness messages are powerful. The follow-up,
Auggie & Me, is out now - see below!
6.
The Giver by Lois Lowry - another Lowry perennial on summer reading lists.
7. & 8. - also a tie!
All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr - an interesting one for school reading lists as it's an adult book. However, it doesn't appeared on many high school lists and was also boosted by a couple of schools choosing it as a 'one school, one book' selection. It's likely to feature again this year, particularly as it is coming out in paperback this summer.
Fish in a Tree by Lynda Mullaly Hunt
- this came out just before last summer, but with a heroine struggling with dyslexia and struggling to fit in, it became an immediate middle school favorite
. It will not come out in paperback until 2017, but, despite that, it's still likely to feature on many reading lists this summer.
9.
Counting by 7s by Holly Goldberg Sloan - another contemporary book about a middle school outsider that has become very popular with schools.
10.
The Crossover by Kwame Alexander - the book that proved not only can you get boys to read, you can get them to read in verse. Fast moving and exciting. The follow-up,
Booked, is coming out in April - see below!
