I mentioned Bit About Books’ Summer Reading Challenge in my “I Can’t Believe…” post earlier this month. Kathie and Laurie have created twelve reading trails exploring different themes/genres of middle grade books. Check out their original post for details and books suggestions for each trail. They have suggested various ways one might hike through titles:

• Scout the Trails: Read at least one book from each trail
• Take in the View: Read all books from a single trail
• Off the Grid: Explore on your own by creating your ownt rail with books not on the list

I’ve decided to aim for “scout the trails”, but no one will be surprised if I end up veering “off the grid”. 😜 I can’t focus too much on summer 2023 releases as my library doesn’t purchase much and takes ages to process them, but I currently have the following middle grade titles on request at my library:

1. Pandemic Promotions: The Circus of Stolen Dreams by Lorelei Savaryn (selected via “I Can’t Believe” #19)
2. Family and Friends: Where the Lost Ones Go by Akemi Dawn Bowman
3. Debut: Turtles of the Midnight Moon by Maria Jose Fitzgerald
4. Action & Mysteries: The House that Whispers by Lin Thompson
5. Historical: Season Most Unfair by J. Anderson Coats
6. Novels in Verse: The Song of Us by Kate Fussner
7. Graphic Novel: Séance Tea Party by Reimen Yee
8. Social Issues: Small Town Pride by Phil Stamper

That leaves titles TBD for Fantasy & Scifi (how did I not naturally end up with a SFF pick?! haha), Trail Mix, Nonfiction, and Diversity & Multicultural. Below is a graphic I made adapted from the lovely templates available on Bit About Books to track my 12 reads.

What are you reading this summer?
Do you have any 2023 middle grade recs for me?