With the year coming to a close, students will be busy this summer with plenty of activities and travels. In light of this, reading is still a fun and important way to spend summer days. Whether on the beach, at the pool, or on a plane, these books are a necessity for the summer of 2018.
All The Light We Cannot See– Anthony Doerr
This New York Times Best Seller novel depicts World War II in an impeccable way. The highs and lows of the war are seen through a blind French girl and a gifted German boy. Their paths collide as they both struggle to survive through the devastations of the war.
Born a Crime- Trevor Noah
Trevor Noah takes the reader through his lifelong struggle to fit in in and apartheid dominated South Africa. Noah was born to a white Swiss father and a black Xhosa mother. His birth could be punishable to up to five years in prison. This lead to Noah being sheltered and hidden from the rest of the world, giving him time to question this system. His time of growth in an apartheid controlled South Africa shows the reader the harsh reality of the time.
Call Me By Your Name– Andre Aciman
This romantic novel tells the coming of age story between the inquisitive 17-year-old American-Italian Jewish boy named Elio Perlman and and a visiting 24-year-old American Jewish scholar named Oliver in 1980’s Italy. Their passionate relationship blossoms through a summer romance and the 20 years that follow.
Everything Happens For a Reason– Kate Bowler
Kate Bowler lives an average life; she has a stable job, married the love of her life and has recently given birth to a beautiful boy. Her life changes when she is diagnosed with stage IV colon cancer. Everything Happens For a Reason perfectly depicts Bowler’s coming to terms with death and how she lets that affect her time left on earth.
Evicted– Matthew Desmond
This non-fiction book is set in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 2008. The story follows eight struggling families, all desperately trying to earn enough money to pay months rent during the 2008 financial crisis. This eye-opening book takes readers into the harsh realities of the financial crisis and how eight families gained the strength to keep fighting.
Gone Girl- Gillian Flynn
Gone girl is the perfect thriller novel for the summer. The suspense builds as the reader attempts to unravel the disappearance of Laci Peterson. Her husband, Nick Dunne, turns from victim to culprit as clues to her disappearance surface. This New York Times best seller has readers at the edge of their seats as Peterson’s husband tries to prove himself innocent in a town who does not believe him.
Hidden Figures– Margot Lee Shetterly
This true and untold story of the black women who were crucial to winning the space race. This book takes place from the 1930’s through the 1960’s and perfectly depicts the brutality in being a black women in the workforce. The mathematicians overcame discrimination while working at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
Looking For Alaska– John Green
Miles “Pudge” Halter, a student enrolled in boarding school, is on the road to gaining a deeper meaning to life. Alaska Young stands out among his classmates. Her quirky sense of humor and one-of-a-kind take on the world made her easy to fall in love with. After her unexpected death, Halter is forced to find the meaning in life through her death as he and his close friends attempt to uncover the truth.
The Outsider– Stephen King
As of June 6 2018, this novel was a New York Times best seller. The fictional town of Flint City, Oklahoma goes through a traumatic public arrest that all starts with police detective Ralph Anderson to decipher the truth from the lies. Anderson arrests Terry Maitland, the towns Little League baseball coach, with raping, killing, and mutilating an 11-year-old boy with eyewitnesses and physical evidence that puts him at the scene. Anderson believes he has a straightforward case until the District Attorney tells him to tear down his alibi which leads him to uncover the possible innocence of the possible framed Maitland.
The Perfect Couple– Elin Hilderbrand
It is wedding season in Nantucket and the Otis-Windbury wedding is hosting a lavish ceremony at their oceanfront estate. The big day finally arrives but when a body was found in the Nantucket Harbor, the wedding reception turns into an interrogation room. This jaw dropping novel shows how one close family will go to far lengths to find out who is responsible, no matter the consequences.
The Short and Tragic Life Of Robert Peace– Jeff Hobbs
This biography is about a bright young African-American man named Robert Peace. He left the dangerous streets of Newark, New Jersey to study at the pristine Yale University. This novel shows how quickly one’s life can change; for Peace, his life is changed forever once he returns to Newark and gets mixed-up in his old habits.
The Plot Against America– Philip Roth
This alternative history novel will leave readers asking, “what if?”. In Roth’s novel, Franklin D. Roosevelt is defeated in the presidential election of 1940 by Charles Lindbergh. The change in presidency leads to anti-semitism becoming for acceptable and Jewish-American families became the target of hate crimes and persecution on various levels.
Since You’ve Been Gone- Morgan Matson
Emily Hughes’ summer was on track to being a regular summer until her best friend Sloane leaves with her family and disappears without a trace. Without any knowledge of when she would be coming back, Sloane mailed Emily a list of challenges for her to do that summer. Emily believes that if she completes all the challenges, Sloane will return back home. While at first a task, Emily’s challenges force her out of her comfort zone and she begins to find herself through forming the sweetest friendships.
Unbroken– Laura Hillenbrand
Most Americans would have loved to switch places with Louie Zamperini, a champion racer who raced in the 1936 Berlin Olympics. That is until he becomes an Army Air Corps bombardier in 1941. After his B-24 crashed into the Pacific in May 1943, he spent 47 days adrift with his fellow airman, Russell Allen “Phil” Phillips until finally captured by the Japanese. His journey shows his strength and how he survived WWII.
