Summer Reads for Middle Readers and Young Adults by Diana L. Flegal

Summer is a great time to get kids to read when they normally wouldn't. If you are looking for titles to purchase for your middle readers and on up, here are a few of my favorites:

Book One in the India Street Kids series, Capturing Jasmina, by Kimberly Rae - JourneyForth BJU Press

Capturing Jasmina, is the story of Jasmina, a young girl in India, and her brother, Samir. The children are sold by their father to a man promising them an education and good jobs. But, as Jasmina and Samir soon discover, the man is providing an education, not in a school, but as a slave in his sweatshop garment factory. While Samir quickly submits to his new life of misery, Jasmina never stops planning an escape.

She comes to realize that escape doesn’t always mean freedom.

Mary Slessor: Missionary Mother by Terri B. Kelly - JourneyForth BJU Press

The daughter of a drunken mill worker, Mary Slessor wonders how God can possibly use her. But God is preparing her for more than she knows. With His power and a personality to match her fiery red hair, Mary stands up to African chiefs, adopts abandoned children, and slowly begins to change the hearts of the African people. Prayer and determination pave Mary’s path to trusting God and becoming one of the most cherished missionary “mothers” in the history of Scotland and the world.

Dead Man's Hand (The Caden Chronicles)  is book one in a 3 book mystery series written by Eddie Jones Zonderkidz Publishers.

In an authentic old west ghost town where the dead don't stay dead, Nick Caden uncovers the body of Jesse James ... and other deadly secrets.

Book 2: Skull Creek Stakeout

Book 3: Dead Low Tide

Cake: Love, chickens, and a taste of peculiar by Joyce Magnin - Zonderkidz

More than frosting filled those cakes… Wilma Sue seems destined to go from one foster home to the next---until she is sent to live with sisters and missionaries, Ruth and Naomi. Do they really care about Wilma Sue, or are they just looking for a Cinderella-style farmhand to help raise chickens and bake cakes? As Wilma Sue adjusts to her new surroundings and helps deliver “special” cakes, Wilma Sue realizes there’s something strange going on. She starts looking for secret ingredients, and along the way she makes a new friend, Penny. When Penny and her mother hit a rough patch, Naomi decides to make her own version of cake---with disastrous results. Then tragedy strikes the chickens, and all fingers point to Wilma Sue---just when she was starting to believe she could at last find a permanent home with Ruth and Naomi. Will the sisters turn her out, or will she discover what it feels like to be truly loved?

Bash and the Pirate Pig by Burton Cole B&H Kids. Written for boys 8 to 14, Bash and the Pirate Pig is the story of a cranky city kid named Raymond “Beamer” Boxby who must spend summer vacation at his younger cousin Bash Hinglehobb’s farm.

Beamer prefers air conditioning and video games. He can’t see what good can come of this so-called country fun that includes riding cows, river rafting with a pig, or playing with skunks.

But hang tight, Beamer, because Bash’s zany adventures with his "Fishin' and Farmin' book" (The Bible) just might lead to the coolest Discovery of all.

Southern Belle's Special Gift (Keystone Stables series) by Marsha Hubler Zonderkidz. Skye and Morgan have their hands full trying to share God’s love and the preciousness of life with Tanya Bell, an African-American girl and a runaway who becomes a foster child in the Chambers’ household.
Although Tanya’s adoptive parents are successful in business, Tanya is an obnoxious teen and veteran shoplifter. But when Southern Belle, one of the Keystone Stables’ mares, dies giving birth to a foal, Tanya is transformed as she takes responsibility for the foal. Through her love for the foal and Skye’s friendship, Tanya faces the problems in her life instead of running from them and turns to God to help her work through her past.

Check out BJU Press's Summer Reading Program offering prizes for three age groups.


There are nine Summer Reading tote bags full of free JourneyForth books up for grabs—3 for each age group.

And the grand prize—a brand new Kindle Fire™!

Make reading a part of your summer! Explore new places, meet new people, and experience amazing adventures—all while sitting in a lawn chair or on your couch at home!


Please share the titles your children are reading this summer.