The Kojo Nnamdi Show

This year's recommendations for the best summer reading from book editors, librarians and independent bookstore owners.

Barbara Hoffert, Editor of the Book Review at Library Journal

Wench: A Novel

by Dolen Perkins-Valdez

Amistad

Eclipse of the Sunnis: Power, Exile, and Upheaval in the Middle East

by Deborah Amos

PublicAffairs

Girl in Translation

by Jean Kwok

Riverhead Hardcover

The Line

by Teri Hall

Dial

The Cookbook Collector: A Novel

by Allegra Goodman

The Dial Press

The Clouds Beneath the Sun: A Novel

by Mackenzie Ford

Nan A. Talese

I Curse the River of Time: A Novel (Lannan Translation Selection (Graywolf Hardcover))

by Per Petterson

Graywolf Press

The Tenth Parallel: Dispatches from the Fault Line Between Christianity and Islam

by Eliza Griswold

Farrar, Straus and Giroux

Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void

by Mary Roach

W. W. Norton & Company

The Thousand Autumns of Jacob De Zoet, A Novel

by David Mitchell

Random House

World Enough: Poems

by Maureen N. McLane

Farrar, Straus and Giroux

Sarah Cornish Debraski, Past President, Young Adult Library Services Association

The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind: Creating Currents of Electricity and Hope

by William Kamkwamba, Bryan Mealer

William Morrow

The Bride's Farewell

by Meg Rosoff

Viking Adult

Everything Matters!: A Novel

by Ron Currie Jr.

Viking Adult

The Good Soldiers

by David Finkel

Sarah Crichton Books

The Kids Are All Right: A Memoir

by Diana Welch, Liz Welch, Amanda Welch, Dan Welch

Crown

The Magicians: A Novel

by Lev Grossman

Plume

My Abandonment

by Peter Rock

Mariner Books

Stitches: A Memoir

by David Small

W. W. Norton & Company

Tunneling to the Center of the Earth: Stories (P.S.)

by Kevin Wilson

Harper Perennial

Trish Brown, Co-Owner of Hooray For Books,Alexandria, VA

Board Books

Hooray for Fish! (Book & DVD) (Candlewick Storybook Animation)

by Lucy Cousins

Candlewick

Perfect Piggies!

by Sandra Boynton

Workman Publishing Company

Global Babies

by The Global Fund for Children

Charlesbridge Publishing

Picture Books

The Circus Ship

by Chris Van Dusen

Candlewick

Shark vs. Train

by Chris Barton

Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

The Very Fairy Princess

by Julie Andrews, Emma Walton Hamilton

Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

Beginning Readers

Cat the Cat, Who Is That?

by Mo Willems

Balzer + Bray

I Spy Fly Guy!

by Tedd Arnold

Cartwheel Books

Fancy Nancy

by Jane O'Connor

HarperCollins

Ages 8-10

The Magical Ms. Plum

by Bonny Becker

Knopf Books for Young Readers

Big Nate: In a Class by Himself

by Lincoln Peirce

HarperCollins

The Strange Case of Origami Yoda

by Tom Angleberger

Amulet Books

Older Readers

The Cupcake Queen

by Heather Hepler

Speak

It's Not Summer Without You

by Jenny Han

Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers

The Alchemyst (The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel)

by Michael Scott

Delacorte Books for Young Readers

Ginnie Cooper, Chief Librarian,D.C. Public Library

Adult Fiction

Spies of the Balkans: A Novel

by Alan Furst

Random House

The Passage: A Novel

by Justin Cronin

Ballantine Books

A Visit from the Goon Squad

by Jennifer Egan

Anchor

The Help

by Kathryn Stockett

Berkley

The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake: A Novel

by Aimee Bender

Anchor

So Cold the River

by Michael Koryta

Little, Brown and Company

Adult Non-Fiction

Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing: The Apollo Theater and American Entertainment

by

Smithsonian Books

The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains

by Nicholas Carr

W. W. Norton & Company

Forthcoming

The Personal History of Rachel DuPree: A Novel

by Ann Weisgarber

Viking Adult

I'd Know You Anywhere: A Novel

by Laura Lippman

William Morrow

Young Adult Fiction

The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner: An Eclipse Novella (The Twilight Saga)

by Stephenie Meyer

Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

Children's Picture Books

First Pooch: The Obamas Pick a Pet

by Carole Boston Weatherford

Two Lions

The First Pup: The Real Story of How Bo Got to the White House

by Bob Staake

Feiwel & Friends

Children 9-12

Out of My Mind

by Sharon M. Draper

Atheneum Books for Young Readers

Prime Baby

by Gene Luen Yang

First Second

Turtle in Paradise

by Jennifer L. Holm

Random House Books for Young Readers

A Strong Right Arm: The Story of Mamie "Peanut" Johnson

by Michelle Y. Green

Puffin

Will Grayson, Will Grayson

by John Green, David Levithan

Dutton Juvenile

Poetry for Children

Mirror Mirror: A Book of Reversible Verse

by Marilyn Singer

Dutton Juvenile

Theodore Boone: Kid Lawyer

by John Grisham

Dutton Children's Books