Memorial Day weekend marks the unofficial kickoff to summer. For readers, that means it’s prime season to kick back in a hammock or relax by the pool and soak up a good book.
The Wichita Public Library’s annual Summer Reading Program launches this week. It encourages people of all ages to read and track their progress.
The library offers incentives such as local restaurant coupons, free books and bookmarks when participants reach their goal.
Library spokesman David Garcia says the program helps children maintain literacy skills while school is out.
“They come back in the fall not as prepared or have fallen back a little bit,” Garcia said. “So to try to address that and really just spark a love of reading … libraries make an effort to make reading in the summer super fun, engaging, easy and accessible.”
In previous years, reading goals were tied to the number of books read. Last year, the library abandoned that rule. Now people can set their own goals.
“(For) some kids it looks like reading 10 minutes a day, or reading X amount of books,” Garcia said. “Each age range has some prompts to go off of to kind of get them started, but really we want to encourage every participant … to find what works best for them.”
This year’s theme, “Unearth a Story,” features a mix of science, technology, history and art activities for children. Adults can participate with events tied to researching family ancestry.
The adult program challenges people to read any five books or complete five activities from a list. For those who struggle to read physical books, the library also offers audiobooks through the Libby app for adults, and audio Playaway Wonderbooks for children. All can count toward a reading goal.
The Summer Reading Program runs through July 30th. People can pick up prizes as early as June 25th.
“It's just a great way to kind of build yourself up, understand others and open your world up to what there is to offer,” Garcia said. “The library is a gateway to take you anywhere.”
Summer reading recommendations
We visited Watermark Books in Wichita to ask booksellers what they love or are most looking forward to reading over the next few months. Here are some of their favorite titles:
Adult fiction
- Canon by Paige Lewis — Bookseller Shane Grebel says this brash, funny anti-epic by the acclaimed poet has references to the Epic of Gilgamesh, the Bible and Moby-Dick. “It’s one of the most stunning, original works of fiction I’ve ever read,” Grebel said.
- The Shampoo Effect by Jenny Jackson — The author of the bestselling Pineapple Street is back with a literary rom-com that tells the story of an ambitious young woman who insinuates herself into the tight-knit social set in a New England seaside town. “It's scenic and atmospheric, but it also has those elements that I think we all love in summer drama,” Grebel said. “You've got secrets, you've got messy lives, mixed in with your late night parties by the seaside.”
- Beginning Middle End by Valeria Luiselli — The award-winning author of Lost Children Archive is back in late July with the story of a mother and daughter traveling together through Sicily and digging into their family’s history. “This is a book where you'll want to highlight sentences and send them to your friends and say, ‘Look at how beautiful this is,’” Grebel said.
Adult nonfiction
- Faith, Family and Flag: Branson Entertainment and the Idea of America by Joanna Dee Das — Watermark marketing director and bookseller Lynne Graham says she loved this comprehensive history of the Branson entertainment industry within the context of America’s culture wars. “It's a great book for anybody who's gone (to Branson) over and over and is very familiar with the town and the vibe,” Graham said.
- Make Believe: On Telling Stories to Children by Mac Barnett. The newly appointed National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature offers a timely and intimate meditation on the importance of kid lit. “Children’s books … may be even more important than adult books,” Graham said. “Because if you can't grab a child when they're 5 or 7 or 11 or 17 and you don't get them to enjoy that love of reading, they're never really going to become a reader. It gets much harder.”
- Pizza Before We Die by Hassan Kanafani. A heart-wrenching first-hand account of the tragedy unfolding in Gaza, first posted by the author on Reddit and then compiled by activists into this urgent memoir. “Sometimes we just need to see or hear from someone who is actually living through something to feel that empathy, and this really does that,” Graham said.
- London Falling: A Mysterious Death in a Gilded City and a Family’s Search for Truth by Patrick Radden Keefe. “This is the nonfiction book of the summer,” Graham said. “Everyone is talking about it.” The modern master of narrative nonfiction explores the mysterious death of a teenager who plunged into the River Thames in 2019.
Kids’ and young adult books
- Gunner the Viking’s Great Pizza Adventure by Diego Vaisberg — “I don’t know what it is about putting Vikings together with pizza, but it totally works in this book,” said Watermark bookseller Jess Schneider. “It’s definitely a staff favorite.” The children’s picture book features vivid illustrations and a step-by-step pizza recipe at the end.
- Bearsuit Turtle Plays a Game by Bob Shea — Two friends invent an imaginative new game in this laugh-out-loud story that captures the silliness of playtime.
- Snowlands Book One: A Blood Moon by Morr Meroz — A middle-grade book about friendship and found family that’s perfect for fans of Wings of Fire or the Warriors series.
- America’s Founding Myths … And What REALLY Happened by Christy Mihaly and Marta Sevilla — Perfect for a road trip or for celebrating the nation’s 250th birthday this summer, this middle-grade book in infographic form packs in lots of information. “Kids are reading about history, but this answers those questions in a way that gives them fuller information. … And it’s fun,” Schneider said.
- Piper at the Gates of Dusk by Patrick Ness — Two-time Carnegie Medalist Ness makes a thrilling return to the world of Chaos Walking with the launch of a new trilogy. For teens and young adult readers. “Right from the first page, there’s action happening,” Schneider said. “It has that dystopian twist that kids really love.”
- School Bus Graveyard, Volume 1: A Graphic Novel by Red — Perfect for fans of Stranger Things or A Nightmare on Elm Street, this young-adult horror focuses on a rag-tag group of classmates who have to survive murderous phantoms.
