Top 5 Books You Should Read this Year

Check out these 5 AMAZING books!

1. Keeper of the Lost Cities By Shannon Messenger

This action packed fantasy novel is perfect for lovers of Harry Potter or if you just want a good book.

Twelve-year-old Sophie Foster has a secret. She’s a Telepath–someone who can read minds. It’s a talent she’s never known how to explain. Everything changes the day she meets Fitz, a mysterious (and adorable) boy who appears out of nowhere, and who can also read minds like her. She discovers there’s somewhere she does belong, and that staying with her family will put her in grave danger. In the blink of an eye. Sophie is forced to leave behind everything and start a new life in a place that is vastly different from what she has ever known.

2. Counting By Sevens By Holly Goldberg Sloan

This page turning realistic fiction book full of friendship, love, and loss leaves an impact that will leave you in tears.

Counting By 7s is the story of Willow Chance, a twelve-year-old girl who has been identified at an early age as ‘gifted’. Willow lives in Bakersfield, California and comes home from school one day to the news that her parents have been killed in a traffic accident. What follows is Willow’s search to find a place where she belongs. In equal parts an exploration of the pain of loss and of the triumph of moving forward, the novel looks at how one person can change the lives of many, often without even trying.

3. The Thirty Nine Storey Tree house

The Thirty Nine Storey Tree House is a short humorous fiction novel for all to enjoy! Andy and Terry’s amazing treehouse has 13 new levels including a chocolate waterfall, a non-erupting active volcano, an opera house, a baby-dinosaur petting zoo, Andy and Terry’s Believe it or Else! museum, a not-very-merry merry-go-round, a boxing elephant called the Trunkinator, an X-Ray room, a disco with light-up dance floor, the world’s scariest roller-coaster, and a top secret 39th level that hasn’t even been finished yet! Well, what are you waiting for? Come on up!

4. Rangers Apprentice By John Flanagan

This medieval fantasy series is filled with humor and suspense with characters that you’ll be sure to love!

Meet fifteen year old Will, a foundling who is convinced that his father died a mighty warrior in battle. As Choosing Day commences, when young men and women become forever bound to a vocation, he hopes against hope to honor his father’s legacy and be selected for Battleschool training. Instead, he’s inducted into the ranks of the mysterious Ranger Corps. At first a reluctant recruit, Will gradually becomes drawn to the skills and secret ways of the Rangers.

5. New Kid By Jerry Craft

This graphic novel is entertaining and brings up real issues that need to be considered.

Seventh grader Jordan Banks loves nothing more than drawing cartoons about his life. But instead of sending him to the art school of his dreams, his parents enroll him in a prestigious private school known for its academics, where Jordan is one of the few kids of color in his entire grade. As he makes the daily trip from his Washington Heights apartment to the upscale Riverdale Academy Day School, Jordan soon finds himself torn between two worlds—and not really fitting into either one. Can Jordan learn to navigate his new school culture while keeping his neighborhood friends and staying true to himself? This middle grade graphic novel is an excellent choice for tween readers, including for summer reading. -Emily Isbell, BLEEM co-founder