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Tiny TripFiction’s Summer Reading Challenges!

30th July 2021

Read one, read ten – travel the world this summer from the comfort of your home with Tiny TripFiction’s Summer Reading Challenge! Reading challenges for middle grade readers and young adults.

 

Middle Grade Summer Reading Challenge (Reading age: 9-12)

 

The White Giraffe by Lauren St John – SOUTH AFRICA

Cover artwork by David Dean

Escape to Africa with the thrilling White Giraffe wildlife adventure series by Lauren St John, now with gorgeous new covers by David Dean!

In book one, The White Giraffe, Martine is plunged into a world of danger, mystery and adventure surrounding the legend of a magical white giraffe. Reading age: 9+

The Shark Caller by Zillah Bethell – PAPUA NEW GUINEA

Cover artwork by Saara Söderlund

Dive beneath the waves and journey to the bottom of the ocean to brave the deadliest shark of them all in this spell-binding adventure of friendship, forgiveness and bravery, set on the shores of Papua New Guinea. Reading age: 9+

 

 

The Bridge Home by Padma Venkatraman – CHENNAI, INDIA

Cover artwork by Jennifer Bricking

Life is harsh on the teeming streets of Chennai, India, but runaway sisters Viji and Rukku find shelter – and friendship – on an abandoned bridge with Muthi and Arul. But when their freedom and family is threatened, the children must risk everything to protect what they’ve fought so hard to protect. Reading age: 10+

 

Ghosts of Shanghai by Julian Sedgwick – SHANGHAI, CHINA

Shanghai 1926. Expat Ruby and her Chinese friends form the Shanghai Ghost Society are intending to hunt down restless spirits after discovering ‘the Almanac of the Other World’ in an old bookshop. But it’s not long before Ruby and her friends find themselves in very real danger as it becomes clear that trouble is brewing, both in the real and spirit worlds… Reading age: 11+

 

Peril in Paris by Katherine Woodfine – PARIS, FRANCE

Cover artwork by Karl James Mountford

It’s 1911, and the young detectives of TAYLOR & ROSE are turning their talents to espionage! But danger lurks beneath the bright lights of the city… The first book in a truly brilliant, action-packed series that takes readers all over the world! Reading age: 9+

 

Cloudburst: A Jack Courtney Adventure by Wilbur Smith and Chris Wakling – DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO

A summer adventure you’ll never forget! Jack Courtney with his parents and friends are travelling to the Democratic Republic of the Congo for a gorilla conference. But when his parents are abducted by mercenaries, Jack must brave the jungle and all its dangers to save them. Reading age: 9+

 

Boy, Everywhere by A. M. Dassu – SYRIA, TURKEY and UNITED KINGDOM

Cover artwork by Zainab ‘Daby’ Faidhi

When Sami and his family flee their home in Damascus they must embark on a harrowing journey across countries and continents in search of safety. In a world where we are told to see refugees as the ‘other’, this story will remind readers that ‘they’ are also ‘us’.

 

Soul Lanterns by Shaw Kuzki – HIROSHIMA, JAPAN

Translated by Emily Balistrieri
Cover artwork by Shoko Ishida

A haunting and poignant story of a how a young Japanese girl’s understanding of the historic and tragic bombing of Hiroshima is transformed by a memorial lantern-floating ceremony. Reading age: 10+

 

The Dog Runner by Bren MacDibble – AUSTRALIA

Cover artwork by Jo Hunt

Ella and her brother Emery are alone in a city that’s starving to death. If they are going to survive, they must get away, upcountry, to find Emery’s mum. But how can two kids travel such big distances across a dry, barren and dangerous landscape? Well, when you’ve got a few big doggos, the answer is you go mushing!

 

 

The Girl Who Stole an Elephant by Nizrana Farook – SRI LANKA

Cover artwork by David Dean

Chaya, a no-nonsense, outspoken hero, leads her friends and a gorgeous elephant on jewel chase adventure through the jungle where revolution is stirring and leeches lurk.

 

 

 

Young Adult Summer Reading Challenge

 

The Love and Lies of Rukhsana Ali by Sabina Khan – BANGLADESH

When seventeen-year-old Rukhsana Ali is caught kissing her girlfriend Ariana, her devastated parents take Rukhsana to Bangladesh. There, immersed in a world of tradition and arranged marriages, Rukhsana finds the perspective she’s been looking for in her grandmother’s old diary. The only question left for her to answer is: Can she fight for the life she wants without losing her family in the process?

 

Piglettes by Clémentine-Beauvais – PARIS, FRANCE

Mireille, Astrid and Hakima have just been voted the three ugliest girls in school by their classmates on Facebook. But does that mean they’re going to sit around crying about it… Climbing onto their bikes, the friends set off on a summer roadtrip to Paris, where fame, friendship and a mountain of food awaits!

 

 

Blackout by Dhonielle Clayton, Tiffany D. Jackson, Nic Stone, Angie Thomas, Ashley Woodfolk, Nicola Yoon – NEW YORK CITY

When a heatwave plunges New York City into darkness, sparks fly for thirteen teenagers caught up in the blackout. A first meeting, long-time friends, bitter exes and maybe the beginning of something new…

 

 

Outwalkers by Fiona Shaw – UNITED KINGDOM

Cover artwork by Levi Pinfold

The border’s closed… No one can get into Scotland, just like no one can cross the channel… England is under the control of an authoritarian regime. Chips implanted in citizens’ skin at birth mean anyone can be tracked, anywhere. But Jake, who breaks out of the Academy dorm he’s been housed in, has decided to escape…

 

 

A Girl Like That by Tanaz BhathenaSAUDI ARABIA

Cover photograph by Ali Smith

Sixteen-year-old Zarin Wadia is far more than just a girl like that. But when Zarin and Porus Dumasia, a Parsi boy who only has eyes for Zarin, end up dead in a car together, crashed on the side of the highway in Jeddah everything everyone thought they knew about Zarin is called into question.

 

Song Beneath the Tides by Beverley BirchAFRICA

Cover artwork by Salvador Design

When Ally arrives from England with her brothers to stay for a month in Africa, she is swamped by a sense of an unseen presence close to her. The feeling only increases as a local teenager, Leli enthusiastically sweeps her into the world of his village and their offshore island Kisiri, a sacred, forbidden place of local legend. Part ghost story, part thriller, part love story.

Clap When You Land by Elizabeth Acevedo – DOMINICAN REPUBLIC and NEW YORK CITY

Camino Rios lives for the summers when her father visits her in the Dominican Republic. But this time Camino arrives at the airport to see crowds of crying people… In New York City, Yahaira Rios is told that her father has died in a plane crash. Separated by distance – and Papi’s secrets – the two girls are forced to face a new reality and their lives are forever altered. But just when it seems like they’ve lost everything of their father, they learn of each other.

The Marvelous Mirza Girls by Sheba Karim – DELHI, INDIA

To cure her post-senior year slump, made worse by the loss of her aunt Sonia, Noreen decides to follow her mom on a gap year trip to New Delhi, hoping India can lessen her grief and bring her voice back. In the world’s most polluted city, Noreen soon meets kind, handsome Kabir, who introduces her to the wonders of India. But when a family scandal erupts, Noreen and Kabir must face complex questions in their own relationship.

Wranglestone by Darren Charlton – UNITED STATES

Cover artwork by Karl James Mountford

In a post-apocalyptic America, a community survives in a national park, surrounded by water that keeps the Dead at bay. But when winter comes, there’s nothing to stop them from crossing the ice. But when homebody Peter puts the camp in danger he’s forced to leave the community of Wranglestone. Together with Cooper, they must herd the Dead from their shores before the lake freezes over. But as love blossoms, a dark discovery reveals the sanctuary’s secret past…

Butterfly Yellow by Thanhhà La – VIETNAM AND TEXAS

Cover artwork by Xuan Loc Xuan

In the final days of the Việt Nam War, Hằng takes her little brother, Linh, to the airport, determined to find a way to safety in America. But Linh is ripped from her arms, and Hằng is left behind in the war-torn country. Six years later, Hằng has made the brutal journey from Việt Nam and is now in Texas as a refugee. But will Hằng find her little brother, and would he even remember the lost sister who fought so hard to reunite with him?

 

What are you reading this summer? Be sure to let us know in the comments or on social media using the hashtags
#TinyTripFictionSummerReading
#TinyTripFictionReadTheWorld

 

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