The summer reading books for girls is one of my favorite lists to put together each year. I have many fond memories of long days spent in my treehouse reading after my dad told me I needed to “get outside more.” With trips and camps cancelled and school being let “out” looking different for many of us due to social distancing, fortunately summer reading is one part of the season that can remain unchanged. Check out these books if you’re looking for someplace to get started!

The Battle of Junk Mountain

Cover image for The Battle of Junk Mountain by Lauren Abbey Greenberg

Shayne has always loved living with Grandma Bea, a collector who adds her many flea market finds to a pile Shayne calls “junk mountain.” But everything changes the summer that Shayne’s best friend Poppy becomes more interested in talking about boys than weaving friendship bracelets, and Grandma Bea’s “collecting” crosses the line into hoarding. Can Shayne and her grandma both find a way to let go?

Hello From Renn Lake

Book cover image for Hello From Renn Lake by Michele Weber Hurwitz

Ever since she was three years old, Annelise could sense what Renn Lake was feeling. So she’s thrilled when she gets the chance to help out for the summer at the lakeside cabins her family owns, meaning she can spend even more time with her beloved lake. But she stops “hearing” the lake when harmful algae blooms and it must be closed. She and her friends must work to save the lake in this unique novel told from both Annelise’s and the lake’s perspectives.

Rating Your Bunkmates and Other Camp Crimes

Cover image for Rating Your Bunkmates and Other Camp Crimes by Jennifer Orr

Twelve-year-old Abigail has never had a real friend, but she’s sure that will change now that she’s attending sleepaway camp. Her extensive research has revealed that camp is the best place to make lifelong friendships. As soon as she arrives, she begins documenting her experiences, rating her cabinmates for “friendship potential.” But all her hard work may fall apart when another camper accuses her of stealing. Can she clear her name AND make a friend before the week is out?

The Girl and the Witch’s Garden

Book cover image for The Girl and the Witch's Garden by Erin Bowman

Piper has always shrugged off the rumors that a “witch” lives at Mallory Estate … mostly because that “witch” is also her grandmother. When her father gets sick and she has to spend the summer at the estate, she’s more worried about living with her mom than about any magic that might be lurking around. But she soon begins to discover that the estate holds many secrets … some of which might be able to save her father.

Dark Hedges, Wizard Island, and Other Magical Places That Really Exist

Book cover image for Dark Hedges, Wizard Island, and Other Magical Places That Really Exist by L. Rader Crandall

If the pandemic has cancelled your summer travel plans, curl up with this book instead. Through vivid descriptions and captivating photos, it will take you along Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm’s Fairy Tale Route, the Yellow Mountain where a Chinese Emperor discovered the secrets of Eternal Life, and New Zealand’s Glowworm Caves. No plane ticket necessary!

More Summer Reading Books for Girls

In A Field Guide to Getting Lost by Joy McCullough, Sutton and Luis have to find a way to get along over the summer now that their parents are dating.

As she gets ready to start seventh grade, Micah develops a friendship with twins Luke and Megan, caught between the world of “boys’ interests” and “girls’ interests” in Micah McKinney and the Boys of Summer by Nina Chapman.

Summer is a great time to explore the natural world, and the beautifully illustrated My Friend Earth by Patricia MacLachlan might be just the inspiration you need to get out of the house!

Need a break from reading? Pick up some pens or markers and find a comfy place to doodle in Draw Here: An Activity Book by Herve Tullet.

What about you? Have you read any of the books listed above? Do you have favorite summer reading books for girls? Let me know in the comments!

Lacey Louwagie is an adult writer and editor who got her first editing job with New Moon Girls in 2002. She is currently a freelance writer and editor and stay-at-home parent of 2 little boys. She has been a teen services librarian and coordinates book-related goodies for New Moon Girls. She is the author...

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