Summer Reading List for Girls

Summer reading is full of fun and fascination.

At times, it seems like summer reading is less important.

Aside from reporting titles or time to optional summer reading programs, children typically don't have to do anything with the books they read. We require little to no narration, book reports, or literature guides. In fact, our children are free to enjoy the books just for the sake of enjoyment! Perhaps this is the most important kind of reading then. {Reading to enjoy books, novel idea, eh?}

Which leads me to believe that maybe...
Summer reading is more important.

Today, I'd like to share some of the books my girls, who are in the upper elementary and middle school years, enjoy. There is a variety of books listed with a wide range of reading levels.

All of the books have been found on our bookshelves, our friends' bookshelves, or the local library.



Classics & Good Books:

• A Little Princess, by Frances Hodgson Burnett
• The Secret Garden, by Frances Hodgson Burnett
• Anne of Green Gables, by L.M. Montgomery
• Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott
• Heidi, by Johanna Spyri
• Caddie Woodlawn, by Carol Brink
• Pippi Longstocking, by Astrid Lindgren
• Sarah, Plain and Tall, by Patricia MacLachlan
• Black Beauty, by Anna Sewell

Biographies:

• These Are My People: A Biography of Gladys Aylward, by Mildred T. Howard
• Annie Oakley: A Photographic Story of a Life, by Chuck Wills
• The Diary of a Young Girl, by Anne Frank

Book Series:

• Little House series, by Laura Ingalls Wilder
• Betsy and Tacy series books 1-4, by Maud Hart Lovelace {Betsy is very boy-crazy in the books set in high school years, which begin in book number 5.}
• Nancy Drew, by Carolyn Keene {Our girls read the older versions, not the newer contemporary books.}
• American Girls: Addy, by Connie Porter
• The Chronicles of Narnia series, by C.S. Lewis
• Left Behind: The Kids, series by Jerry B. Jenkins and Tim LaHaye 
• Childhood of Famous Americans
• Magic Tree House books, by Mary Pope Osborne
• Box Car Children, created by Gertrude Chandler Warner
• The Lighthouse Family series, by Cynthia Rylant

My Daughters' Ultimate Favorites as of Spring 2013:
Though they recommend all the books on this listing, these are the current favorites in our household.

• The Silver Chair, C.S. Lewis
• Left Behind: The Kids, series by Jerry B. Jenkins and Tim LaHaye 
• The Hobbit, J.R.R. Tolkien
• Box Car Children, created by Gertrude Chandler Warner

*Links provided for further investigation, not affiliate links.
*Parents should provide guidance in children's reading choices. What is acceptable to one family, may not be to another.


Coming Soon: Summer Reading List for Boys