The season of summer reading is upon us. Whether you’re out poolside with your latest book or curling up in the cool air conditioning, June has some wonderful books to read! Take them on your next adventure or let them take you somewhere without leaving your chair. (Don’t forget to sign the kids up for Summer Reading to help a good cause and win fun prizes.)
The following information is provided courtesy of the Arlington Public Library.
Fiction
Everyone I Kissed Since You Got Famous
By Mae Marvel
Christmas is coming early this year in this holiday romance featuring a movie star returning home and reconnecting with her high school best friend. Kate Price has an Oscar and a screenplay to write. Wil Greene never left Green Bay after her father died and is starting to gain TikTok fame. They fall back into their friendship easily and are now old enough to recognize their feelings may be more than platonic, but can they navigate Kate’s fame and Wil’s unrealized dreams? A compelling and heartwarming story of love and self-discovery. // Available June 11. Library catalog link here.
How to Age Disgracefully
By Clare Pooley
After her daughter moves out, Lydia takes a job running the Senior Citizens’ Social Club a few afternoons a week, expecting gentle card games and cups of tea. The reality is a motley crew of people who’ve been around long enough to acquire many, many secrets. When the city council tries to sell the community center building, the group joins up with the daycare that also uses the space, resulting in an adventure complete with guerrilla art installations, madcap bus rides, reality TV show auditions, revenge plots, and a delightful read. // Available June 11. Library catalog link here.
Four Squares
By Bobby Finger
In 1992, 30-year-old Artie Anderson falls in love with a married man and plans to quit his job and work on a novel based on his friend group – a tight group that spend most of their time at a Greenwich Village gay bar. Thirty years later, most of that group is gone, but Artie survived the AIDS epidemic and starts to find new community at GALS, the Gay and Lesbian Seniors center. A moving and reflective novel of New York, aging, community, and chosen family. // Available Available June 18. Library catalog link here.
Lula Dean’s Little Library of Banned Books
By Kirsten Miller
Lula Dean is worried about the children of her small Georgia town and is on a mission to protect them by ridding the public library of books she hasn’t read but knows are unacceptable. To bolster her crusade, she starts a little library in her front yard, stocked with the right sort of book. When townspeople borrow the acceptable titles, they’ve found someone has switched out the dust jackets with the titles Lula wants banned, forever changing their lives and that of the town. A sharp social commentary that is also big on heart and laughs. // Available June 18. Library catalog link here.
Nonfiction
When the Sea Came Alive: An Oral History of D-Day
By Garrett Graff
Just in time for the 80th anniversary of the Allied landing at Normandy, Graff collects the voices of 700 people who were involved in the invasion–reporters, nurses, neighbors, politicians, and of course the Allied and Axis soldiers. The result is a sprawling and contemporaneous account of the heroism and devastation–and a new look at an important turning point in the war. // Available June 4. Library catalog link here.
When Women Ran Fifth Avenue: Glamour and Power at the Dawn of American Fashion
By Julie Satow
The history of fashion often focuses on designers, but Satow’s latest shows the influence of the department store in shaping taste and commerce in 20th century America. A large part of this transformation is the work, leadership, and vision of three women who bucked convention and expectation and worked their way to the top. A fascinating history of business and glamor. // Available June 4. Library catalog link here.
The Wrong Stuff: How the Soviet Space Program Crashed and Burned
By John Strausbaugh
In 1957, the Soviet Union launched Sputnik and beat the United States into space. The early years of the space race saw many Soviet firsts, but Strausbaugh examines the cracks under the surface and how pressure from Moscow and government cover-ups undermined the science and engineering, ultimately halting innovation and discovery. A witty and chatty look at how Moscow used science as propaganda with a space program held together by sheer will and pure luck. // Available June 4. Library catalog link here.
The Language Puzzle: Piecing Together the Six-Million-Year Story of How Words Evolved
By Steven Mithen
Many animals vocally communicate with each other, but only humans have developed sophisticated language. Combining linguistics, anthropology, geography and neuroscience, Mithen looks at what made the development of language necessary and possible. These include not only the evolution of human society, but also physical changes in the body to enable our wide range of vocal capability. // Available June 18. Library catalog link here.
Middle Grade
Camp Prodigy
By Caroline Palmer
Tate Seong wants to be a professional violinist but is the worst musician in the school. They hope a summer at orchestra camp will help boost their skills and confidence. While there, Tate meets Eli, a viola virtuoso with extreme stage fright. Eli helps Tate improve their skills at the viola and offers advice about coming out as nonbinary. But with the end-of-summer recital looming, will either of them be able to perform despite their fears and anxiety? // Available June 11. Library catalog link here.
Teen
All Roads Lead to Rome
By Sabrina Fedel
Astoria “Story” Herriot has spent her high school years in Rome, as the daughter of an American diplomat. She has a quiet summer planned before returning to the US for college, but her plans change when a chance encounter at a gelato shop ends up with her fake-dating a Scottish celebrity to help him throw off the paparazzi. Of course, as they spend the summer together, fake feelings start to become real in this upbeat and engaging homage to Roman Holiday. // Available June 18. Library catalog link here.
Jennie Rothschild is a collection engagement librarian for Arlington Public Library.