What is the Summer Reading program?
Every summer for more than eighty years, the Metropolitan Library System has offered a Summer Reading program to keep kids and their families reading all summer long. We believe reading is a fundamental skill and a gateway to success in life. Summer Reading is a community tradition that promotes reading for fun and lifelong enrichment. We create a motivational framework for learning for all ages during the summer.
What's the Summer Slide?
Summer slide is what happens between school years when kids and teens do not read, engage in learning activities, or otherwise work to retain what they learned in school.
On average, children lose approximately two months of their reading achievement if they do not read during the summer. They typically score lower on standardized tests at the end of the summer than they did on the same test at the beginning of the summer. And these few months of reading loss accumulate over the years. By the time kids reach middle school, those who haven’t read during the summers may have lost as much as two years' worth of achievement!
How much do I need to reach to reach the goals?
This year, you will be rewarded for reading and for reading activities:
1 minute read = 1 point
Reading activities = 5 points
To complete the program, earn prizes and the coveted 2025 Summer Reading completion badge, you'll need to earn 600 points. As in previous years, you'll earn reading badges when you reach 5, 10, 15 and 20 hours' worth of reading. You will also receive points badges at intervals ranging from 25 to 5,000 points. Summer Reading is as simple as that!
Do you have a prize breakdown?
600 Point Badge
Completion Certificate
2 Books of Your Choice* or a Metro Library Tote Bag*
Entry in drawing if library card is on Summer Reading account
*While supplies and selection last
Do I need to have a library card?
No! Participation does not require a library card. Library cards are required only for those who wish to qualify for our drawings.
Don't have a card? Visit https://www.metrolibrary.org/about-us/accounts.
What kind of reading counts for Summer Reading?
All kinds of reading! Books, magazines, audiobooks, comic books, blogs, and other online sources can be logged. And these materials do not need to come from the library. Caregivers can read out loud to children and count that as both reading time for themselves and the child.
For early childhood participants, reading activities are considered everyday activities for children such as reading, listening, talking or playing together. These activities help develop a child’s literacy skills before they can read or write. Reading activities also play an important role in satisfying curiosity and building a child's knowledge. A list of suggested activities is available in the activity logs. Encourage participants to keep track of how much time they spend doing these activities and then log them as an "activity" in Beanstack to earn a special badge.
Simon Sort of Says by Erin Bow. Simon O’Keefe could be well known for many reasons - like for the alpaca disaster that went viral on YouTube, or when his dad gave a squirrel a holy sacrament. Instead, everyone remembers him for the one thing that Simon wants most to forget. He was the survivor of a school shooting. Two years later, his family moves to the National Quiet Zone - no TV, no internet. The town is focused on listening to signs of life in space, not on Simon’s past. With the help of new friends, a dog, and a telescope, Simon is determined to rewrite his story.
It Happened on Saturday by Sydney Dunlap. A thirteen year old girl finds understanding and friendship from a boy online. What happens next could end up being the worst decision she ever makes. A cautionary tale that could end up saving a life.
The Probability of Everything by Sarah Everett. With an 84.7% change that an asteroid heading straight for Earth will hit in just four days, 11-year-old scientist Kemi Carter builds a time capsule to honor each member of her family but struggles to find the perfect item to represent her dad’s true passion. As the world continues to spin despite the incoming catastrophe, Kemi finds that she is the only one taking their seemingly imminent demise seriously. The truth hits as hard as an asteroid would, with a heartbreaking yet hopeful conclusion.
Good Different by Meg Eden Kuyatt. Selay Godfrey has a hard time fitting in 7th grade. Even though she follows the rules for being “normal,” Selay knows that she’s different. Lights are too bright, sounds are too loud, and small touches are overwhelming. In this novel-in-verse, Selay learns how to advocate for herself and show that it’s okay to be different.
Something Like Home by Andrea Beatriz Arango. Laura plans carefully how everything will go in her life. She tries to make sense of everything around her, and she also tries to get through each day without causing any trouble. Written in verse, Something Like Home reads quickly and is moving in the short bursts of revelation each page brings. As the reader learns the depth of Laura’s past home life, they come to realize that she is coping the best she can.
The Lost Year by Katherine Marsh. While quarantined at home during Covid with his mother and great grandma, Matthew finds an old photograph of his great grandma as a girl. This acts as a catalyst for her to share the story of her childhood in the Ukraine and the horrible famine that she survived.
The Fire, the Water, and Maudie McGinn by Sally J. Pla. Neurodivergent Maudie is excited to spend the summer with her dad in the California cabin that he built. But, a wildfire forces them to evacuate to the beach town where he grew up. Maudie watches the surfers on the ocean every day, but doesn’t feel brave enough to try. But, is she brave enough to tell her dad the horrible secret about her stepdad that her mom told her never to tell? And can she find a way to stay with her Dad forever before the summer is over?
A First Time for Everything by Dan Santat. While on a trip with other middle school students Dan makes memories experiencing some “first times” of love, friendship and opportunity. He also reminisces on other “first times” that have made him who he is.
The Labors of Hercules Beal by Gary D. Schmidt. After the worst year of his life, Hercules Beal is given the task to complete the Twelve Labors of Hercules by his teacher. Somewhere in between capturing the ugly cat pack and rescuing a woman from a collapsed house, Hercules begins to realize that he doesn’t have to endure these labors alone.
Impossible Escape: a True Story of Survival and Heroism in Nazi Europe by Steve Sheinkin. Sheinkin delivers a gripping narrative that intertwines the courageous stories of Rudolf Vrba and Gerta Sidonová, Slovakian Jewish teenagers who defied the horrors of the Holocaust. Vrba's determination to evade deportation to Auschwitz led to a daring escape with Alfred Wetzler, culminating in the landmark Vrba-Wetzler report that saved countless lives. Seamlessly blending historical context with personal narratives, "Impossible Escape" is an essential addition to Holocaust literature, resonating with relevance and urgency in today's world.
What Happened to Rachel Riley? Anna Hunt has been given an assignment to cover something important to her. While deciding on the topic for her assignment she notices how everyone in the school ignores one student; Rachel Riley. Told in a series of interviews, emails, and narrative Anna investigates what happened to Rachel Riley and leads readers on a journey from laughs to jaw dropping reveals.by Claire Swinarski.
Parachute Kids by Betty C. Tang. Feng-Li was excited about the family vacation to Disneyland. But then the best vacation turned sour when her parents went back to Taiwan, leaving Feng-Li and her teenage siblings to care for themselves. Feing-Li hopes they can make it work, but first her siblings have to learn to get along.
The Talent Thief by Mike Thayer. A girl with the ability to borrow other people’s talents must use her powers to find her own spotlight in this wish-fulfilling middle-grade novel. Tiffany Tudwell feels cursed and longs for stardom, but it’s safe in the shadows where the curse cannot reach her. But two meteors collide and suddenly she can borrow other talents for a day. Can these powers solve everything for her?
Nic Blake and the Remarkables: The Manifestor Prophecy by Angie Thomas. Twelve-year-old Nic Blake can’t wait to learn The Gift from her Manifestor father on her birthday. When her father is arrested for a crime he didn’t commit, Nic must call on the help of a hellhound, her Unremarkable best friend, and her long-lost twin brother to find a magical artifact that could save him. Will she save her father in time and what secrets will she discover along the way?
The In-Between: a Memoir in Verse by Katie Van Heidrich. Katie and her siblings navigate life in their new not-home at an extended stay motel, where life goes on around them, regardless of the circumstances. A novel in verse about homelessness, hope and survival.