Summer Reading Picks for Kids!

The Loudness By Nick Courage: A great summer read for ages 9-12.

Following a series of natural disasters, dubbed the Tragedies, the citizens of an unnamed coastal city have been confined to the Green Zone, the final habitable neighborhood. Since the Tragedies, Henry Long’s existence has been reduced to an annoying low-watt buzz from his makeshift heart transplant and a dusty library attic from which he charts the slow progress of reconstruction in the Green Zone. While his parents work on making the Green Zone independent from a federal government that appears to have abandoned them, Henry finds himself increasingly left on his own—that is, until he discovers a refugee artists’ colony called the Other Side. But when the federales don’t take kindly to the Green Zone’s attempts at secession and kidnap Henry’s parents, Henry and his new renegade friends are forced from the colorful streets and underground rock clubs of the Other Side to an overcrowded capital city on the verge of collapse. As Henry uncovers more about the conflicting forces that run his corner of the world, he realizes that not everyone is who they seem to be—himself included—and recognizes that his artificial heart may turn out to be more of a blessing than a curse.

I read this book and enjoyed it. My son is looking forward to reading it this summer. It’s unique and a good read. I do think this one is for the older end of 9-12.

 The Loudness: Amazon, B&N, and IndieBound.

Nick Courage is a New Orleans-born artist, musician, writer, and aspiring skateboarder. His work has appeared in Full Stop, the Paris Review Daily, and Exquisite Corpse, where Andrei Codrescu described his poetry as “a fresh sort of daring in the overstrained broth of contemporary American poetry.” After a decade in the publishing industry, Nick now works with an organization that provides sanctuary for exiled writers. He currently lives with his wife and two cats in Brooklyn, New York.

Trouble in Zombie-town: The Mystery of Herobrine

Book One: A Gameknight999 Adventure, An Unofficial Minecrafter’s Adventure

By Mark Cheverton.

When one of his father’s inventions went haywire, Gameknight999 found himself sucked into and trapped in the world of Minecraft. After eventually learning the error of his ways, the former griefer transformed into a heroic worrier who was tasked with defeating powerful endermen, ghasts, dragons, and other foes in order to save the world and his NPC (non-player character) friends that call Minecraft home. After returning to the real world, Gameknight vowed to never return to Minecraft. But when his little sister, Monet113, accidently enters the game herself, he finds himself once again entering a digital world where real danger lies around every corner. With the help of friends from his previous foray into the virtual world, as well as a few new ones, Gameknight must journey deep into a zombie village to save his sister. On the way, he encounters Xa-Tul, a powerful zombie king with a hatred for Gameknight999. In order to get himself and his sister out safely, Gameknight must rely on his skills and intuition, as well as learning a few new tricks, if he has any chance of defeating this monstrous creature.

My 11-year-old son and I enjoyed reading this one together. He knows much more about Minecraft than I do. We liked it and I thought the story was quite imaginative. It does have some violence, as would be expected by the title. But is suggested as a Summer pick for ages 9+.

Trouble in Zombie-Town is available at the following:  Amazon, B&N, and IndieBound.

Mark Cheverton is a former high school physics and math teacher, and the father of a Minecraft fanatic. He created the Gameknight999 series as a teaching tool for his son who was cyber bullied on his Minecraft server. Through his writing, Cheverton was able to teach his son about bullying and how best to deal with it. He is now a New York Times bestselling author of four Minecraft books.

Self Disclosure: I received free books to facilitate this post.