‘Tis the season for vacation! Whether you hit the road or take to the skies, don’t forget to pack a good book! Kids and teens will love traveling along with the characters in these stories and sharing their adventures. Bon voyage!
Youth
Children will delight in these picture books about the surprises you encounter on vacation.
Road Trip by Roger Eschbacher
Told as a collection of hilarious short poems, this story follows a family on a long cross-country car trip to a family reunion. Playing car games, stopping at famous roadside attractions, and finally making it to the loving chaos of cousins and aunts and family fun, there’s so much to enjoy on this road trip!
Room for Everyone by Naaz Khan
As Musa and Dada ride the daladala (bus) to the shore, the driver picks up some unexpected passengers: “Come in, there’s room for everyone!” But as “one old man and his bike with no seat” is joined by a herder with two goats, vendors with three baskets of fruit, and many more, Musa starts to wonder if there really is “room for everyone.” As Musa and Dada travel to the shore, learn some Swahili words and Arabic phrases while counting passengers from 1 to 10.
All aboard to beginning readers as they traverse the zoo.
Fiona’s Train Ride by Richard Cowdrey
A new baby red panda was born at the zoo, and Fiona couldn’t be more excited to see the new cub! But how will she get across the zoo? By zoo train, of course! Join Fiona and her friends as they travel to welcome the new baby.
These chapter books will entertain kids with road trip “family bonding.”
Road Trip with Max and his Mom by Linda Urban
Max is heading out on a road trip with his mom, though he usually spends his weekends with his dad. Although worrying about his dad being lonely, he is excited about all the things his mom has planned, like meeting his cousins and maybe even being brave enough to ride a really tall roller coaster!
This Would Make a Good Story Someday by Dana Alison Levy
Sara’s summer plans are totally derailed when her parents decide that their family must take a summer-long cross-country train trip to bond and sightsee. Worse, Sara’s mom is going to be writing a book about the two-month-long trip. Being that close to her family 24/7 is enough to drive anyone nuts, but having all the details of her 12-year-old life out in public is not how she wants her summer to go…and now her mom and older sister are fighting and her little sister can’t turn down the volume. Will she even make it back to school, let alone find anything good to put in her summer journal assignment?
Experience Australia with Grace’s family in this non-fiction title.
Are We There Yet? A Journey Around Australia by Alison Lester
Grace and her mom and dad are going on an adventure through Australia! They plan to go camping, feed the quokkas, go bushwalking, and meet lots of new people as they travel around the different parts of Australia.
TWEENS AND TEENS
Traveling with teenagers is always an adventure! Keep them reading this summer with these exciting stories.
As Brave as You by Jason Reynolds
Genie’s summer is full of surprises. The first is that he and his big brother, Ernie, are leaving Brooklyn for the very first time to spend the summer with their grandparents all the way in Virginia – in the COUNTRY! The second surprise comes when Genie figures out that their grandfather is blind.
The Great Wide Sea by M. H. Herlong
Still mourning the death of their mother, three brothers go with their father on an extended sailing trip off the Florida Keys and have a harrowing adventure at sea.
Marcus Vega Doesn’t Speak Spanish by Pablo Cartaya
After a fight at school leaves Marcus facing suspension, Marcus’s mom decides it’s time for a change of scenery. She takes Marcus and his younger brother to Puerto Rico to spend a week with relatives they don’t remember or have never met.
Greetings from Witness Protection by Jake Burt
Thirteen-year-old Nikki Demere is an orphan and a kleptomaniac, making her the perfect girl to portray the Trevors’ daughter in witness protection. But she soon learns that the biggest threat to her new family’s security comes from her own past.
