Summer reads for teens

And Then I Turned into a Mermaid

The holidays are here and we're celebrating with this list of brilliant books that are perfect summer reading.

From love stories to dark comedy, we think teenagers will love digging into this list over the break.

  • Friendship Never Ends

    Author: Alexandra Sheppard

    Interest level: 12+

    Reading age: 11+

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  • Friendship Never Ends

    Author: Alexandra Sheppard

    Interest level: 12+

    Reading age: 11+

    An insightful and engrossing portrait of a unique friendship that might be threatened when four girls have to spend their summer a…

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  • Steady for This

    Author: Nathanael Lessore

    Interest level: 12+

    Reading age: 10+

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  • Steady for This

    Author: Nathanael Lessore

    Interest level: 12+

    Reading age: 10+

    When Shaun, aka MC Growls, goes viral, and not in a good way, he and his mate Shanks become a laughing stock. Told with infectious…

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  • Bite Risk

    Author: S. J. Wills

    Interest level: 12+

    Reading age: 11+

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  • Bite Risk

    Author: S. J. Wills

    Interest level: 12+

    Reading age: 11+

    Each month, when there’s a full moon, the adults of Tremorglade transform into werewolves and the children must lock them away unt…

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  • Infinite Sky

    Author: C J Flood

    Interest level: 12+

    Reading age: 12+

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  • Infinite Sky

    Author: C J Flood

    Interest level: 12+

    Reading age: 12+

    Iris's mum has gone, leaving her to look after her older brother and dad. When a family of Irish Travellers park up on the farm, t…

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  • Ravencave

    Author: Marcus Sedgwick

    Interest level: 9-11

    Reading age: 8+

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  • Ravencave

    Author: Marcus Sedgwick

    Interest level: 9-11

    Reading age: 8+

    A tense, accessible ghost story that also exposes harsh truths about social injustice.

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  • Pumpkin Heads

    Author: Rainbow Rowell Illustrator: Faith Erin Hicks

    Interest level: 12-16

    Reading age: 10+

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  • Pumpkin Heads

    Author: Rainbow Rowell Illustrator: Faith Erin Hicks

    Interest level: 12-16

    Reading age: 10+

    A story of friendship and romance told in a funny and inclusive graphic novel that celebrates the joy and diversity of Halloween t…

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  • What Momma Left Me

    Author: Renée Watson

    Interest level: 12-16

    Reading age: 10+

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  • What Momma Left Me

    Author: Renée Watson

    Interest level: 12-16

    Reading age: 10+

    Moving to a new school, making new friends and having your first boyfriend – these are all challenging things. But for Serenity, w…

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  • Roller Girl

    Author: Victoria Jamieson

    Interest level: 10-14

    Reading age: 9+

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  • Roller Girl

    Author: Victoria Jamieson

    Interest level: 10-14

    Reading age: 9+

    It’s really exciting to be starting at Roller Derby summer camp, but less so when Astrid finds herself doing it alone. A fantastic…

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  • A Good Day For Climbing Trees

    Author: Jaco Jacobs Illustrator: Jim Tierney Translator: Kobus Geldenhuys from Afrikaans

    Interest level: 11-14

    Reading age: 11+

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  • A Good Day For Climbing Trees

    Author: Jaco Jacobs Illustrator: Jim Tierney Translator: Kobus Geldenhuys from Afrikaans

    Interest level: 11-14

    Reading age: 11+

    Thirteen-year-old Marnus finds himself at the centre of a protest when he and a girl named Leila camp out in a tree to preven…

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  • No Fixed Address

    Author: Susin Nielsen

    Interest level: 11-15

    Reading age: 11+

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  • No Fixed Address

    Author: Susin Nielsen

    Interest level: 11-15

    Reading age: 11+

    If Felix can win Canada’s biggest junior quiz show, he and his mum can stop living in a car park. Or is that just wishful thinking…

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  • How I Live Now

    Author: Meg Rosoff

    Interest level: 13+

    Reading age: 13+

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  • How I Live Now

    Author: Meg Rosoff

    Interest level: 13+

    Reading age: 13+

    Fifteen-year-old New Yorker Daisy is sent to England to spend a summer with her unconventional cousins

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  • I Capture the Castle

    Author: Dodie Smith

    Interest level: 12+

    Reading age: 12+

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  • I Capture the Castle

    Author: Dodie Smith

    Interest level: 12+

    Reading age: 12+

    17-year-old Cassandra lives an eccentric existence with her bohemian family in a crumbling castle in the English countryside, in t…

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  • The Switch-Up

    Author: Katy Cannon

    Interest level: 12-15

    Reading age: 12+

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  • The Switch-Up

    Author: Katy Cannon

    Interest level: 12-15

    Reading age: 12+

    Willa and Alice meet for the first time in the unaccompanied minors lounge at LAX airport. They look so alike that they’re mistake…

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  • Jackdaw Summer

    Author: David Almond

    Interest level: 12+

    Reading age: 8+

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  • Jackdaw Summer

    Author: David Almond

    Interest level: 12+

    Reading age: 8+

    Fate leads Liam to find an abandoned baby and as a result his life becomes entwined with that of Oliver, an African boy seeking as…

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