Best 2021 Middle School Summer Reading Guide (for Kids Ages 8 and Up)

It’s here: Reading Middle Grade’s 2021 Summer Reading Guide!

This year’s Summer Reading Guide is sponsored by Reading in Color Crate! Middle Grade and Young Adult books by BIPOC authors delivered to your door, every single month.

reading in color crate box - middle grade and ya by authors of color

What’s Inside?

Every month you’ll receive a Middle Grade and Young Adult book from an underrated POC author tailored to a fresh theme and perspective!

EVERY BOX INCLUDES

One MG book
One YA book
Bookish goodies and a self-care item such as a candle or bath bomb to treat yourself!

Reading in Color Crate is offering 20% OFF your first box if you subscribe to their email list!

2021 Summer Reading Guide for Middle School (Ages 8+)

For the inaugural edition of the Summer Reading Guide, I thought long and hard about what kids need in a summer read, and a few words came to mind. These adjectives shaped my choices for this year’s selections:

adventurous, engaging, heartwarming, feel-good, inspiring.

I hope that every book on this list makes you feel at least one of these adjectives — and more importantly, that they keep your kiddos flipping the pages.

The list features only 2021 releases, but I’ve snuck in a few backlist titles as readalikes (in the printable). This year’s reading guide is 100 percent focused on middle grade books divided into five different categories. I have tried to include as many genres as possible, but this is a subjective list and my main criteria was “books so good I did not want to stop reading.”

And now, the 2021 Summer Reading Guide. View the online guide here, but you can cut to the chase and download the *beautiful* printable PDF by dropping your email in the box below. This will subscribe you to Reading Middle Grade’s Friday Kidlit Newsletter (subscribers received their PDF last Friday ;)). The printable includes the following bonuses:

An additional category with 5 books
A suggested readalike for each recommended book (making 55 books in total)
Number of pages for every book

Many thanks to our lovely sponsor, Reading in Color Crate for helping make this guide possible! Thank you for supporting the authors, brands and businesses that make Reading Middle Grade and all its resources free for readers.