Summer Reading 2026
The Summer Reading theme for 2026 is Plant a Seed, Read!
All teens in 6th-12th grade are invited to participate in the teen summer reading program. Pick up a reading log in the Teen Nook, fill out the log over the summer with books you read and activities you complete, then bring it back to the library by 5pm on Friday August 28 to enter to win raffle prizes.
The reader with the most books read will win a prize, and 3 more prize-winners will be randomly selected in a raffle. Everyone who submits their log on time gets 1 default entry into the prize raffle, and you can earn more entries by reading more books and completing bonus activities. Every prize bundle will include a Tidal Pages gift card and some smaller goodies, plus one larger prize like a Lego set or craft kit!
Don’t forget to visit the library event calendar to register for fun teen events all summer long!
IMHS Assigned Reading
Ipswich High School no longer assigns general summer reading. If you need specific titles for an honors or AP class assignment, let YA Librarian Viktoria know.
Ipswich Middle School students (rising 6th-8th grade) will select & read one TIGER Tale from the list below. Copies of each title will be available on a cart in the Teen Nook when summer break begins. Learn more about the IMS Summer Reading assignment.
Amari and the Night Brothers by B. B. Alston
Thirteen-year-old Amari, a poor Black girl from the projects, gets an invitation from her missing brother to join the Bureau of Supernatural Affairs and join in the fight against an evil magician.
Before the Ever After by Jacqueline Woodson
ZJ’s friends help him cope when his father, a beloved professional football player, suffers severe headaches and memory loss that spell the end of his career.
Bomb: The Race to Build—and Steal—the World’s Most Dangerous Weapon (Graphic Novel) by Steve Sheinkin and Nick Bertozzi
Recounts the scientific discoveries that enabled atom splitting, the military intelligence operations that occurred in rival countries, and the work of brilliant scientists hidden at Los Alamos.
Monsters in the Mist by Juliana Brandt
When Glennon McCue moves into a lighthouse on a mysterious island not found on any maps, he must figure out why those who visit are never heard from again before he and his family fall victim to the island’s curse.
Posted by John David Anderson
When cell phones are banned at their school, Frost and his friends start communicating through sticky notes left all over the school before other kids start following their example, triggering a wave of bullying activities in the wake of a new girl’s arrival.
Rivals by Tommy Greenwald
In basketball-crazed Walthorne, rival middle school stars Austin Chambers and Carter Haswell are both feeling the pressure when school sports reporter Alfie Jenks reveals scandals that jeopardize the whole season.
