Summer Reading Picks

Looking for book recommendations? Our librarians created Summer Reading Picks to kick off your summer. We’ve curated stories to engage your imagination, make you smile or laugh out loud, transport you through history, put you in the shoes of another, and more. All types of reading count this summer and you get to choose the stories to explore!

So read, listen, and explore our Summer Reading Picks!

• Emerging Readers (Preschool to Kindergarten)
• Beginning Readers (1^st to 2^nd Grades) 
• Chapter Book Readers (2^nd to 3^rd Grades)
• Advanced Chapter Book Readers (3rd to 5th Grades)
• Middle-Grade Readers (6^th to 8^th Grades) 
• Young Adult Readers (9^th to 12^th Grades)

These books are in formats from digital to physical. Click on the book's title to see what’s available, and check our new books lists on smcl.org. If you'd like to pick up a physical book from your local library, place a hold on it and learn how Curbside Pickup works.

Why Read During the Summer Break?

Keep reading alive all summer to prevent the “summer slide” or “summer learning loss,” students' partial loss of achievements of the school year. Research, opens a new window shows 3rd to 5th-grade students “lost, on average, about 20 percent of their school-year gains in reading and 27 percent of their school-year math gains during summer break (Scholastic, opens a new window).” In 2017, half of San Mateo County’s children weren't reading proficiently by the end of third grade. To prevent and reverse summer learning loss, we encourage families and youth to participate in our Summer Learning Challenge to read and learn through the summer.

All Reading Counts!

Pair your books with the Summer Learning Challenge and earn a chance to win a $1,000 scholarship. Read what you want, anything from fiction to nonfiction, magazines, newspapers, graphic novels, and even listen to an audiobook—it all counts on your reading log.

Give social reading a try -- read a book with family or join an online book club. Our Family Book Club is open to children entering the 1^st and 2^nd grades (and their grownups). Starting Friday, June 19, the club meets on the first and third Fridays at noon every month. Registration is required. Our first book is AstroNuts Mission One: The Plant Planet by Jon Scieszka, opens a new window. Reading with others helps young children build communication skills and counts toward your reading log, too!

Discover more fun activities you can do at home with Summer at San Mateo County Libraries.