91 books like The Last Last-Day-of-Summer

By Lamar Giles, Dapo Adeola (illustrator),

Here are 91 books that The Last Last-Day-of-Summer fans have personally recommended if you like The Last Last-Day-of-Summer. Shepherd is a community of 12,000+ authors and super readers sharing their favorite books with the world.

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Book cover of Amari and the Night Brothers

George Jreije Author Of Shad Hadid and the Alchemists of Alexandria

From my list on diverse heroes in children’s fantasy.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’m an avid reader and writer of children’s literature, though I find it difficult to read anything that isn’t diverse these days. Being able to experience the world from the perspectives of other cultures is a true delight, and I learn something every time. After having read dozens of these diverse books, especially diverse fantasies, I find that nothing inspires my creative soul more. That’s why I’m able to speak on this topic for large conferences and schools, spreading this inspiration to others. And, as a published author of diverse children’s literature, I’ve done the same in my writing with praise from Kirkus, Booklist, Publisher’s Weekly, and many others.

George's book list on diverse heroes in children’s fantasy

George Jreije Why did George love this book?

Amari Peters is a Black girl from a low-income housing project with a lot of heart.

Yet when she’s sent to the Bureau of Supernatural Affairs and discovers the world of the supernatural, she must compete with other students who have enjoyed a lot of privilege. It isn’t just that the world around Amari is spectacular and well-built, but we’re getting a glimpse into her challenges both at home and at this new school.

I loved being in the perspective of someone who never thought they could be a hero before. Someone who looks at things from a different lens can help us build a whole lot of empathy.

By B. B. Alston,

Why should I read it?

5 authors picked Amari and the Night Brothers as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 8, 9, 10, and 11.

What is this book about?

"AMARI IS MAGICAL!" ANGIE THOMAS

An epic middle grade supernatural adventure series, soon to be a major movie starring Marsai Martin. Perfect for readers aged 8+ and fans of Percy Jackson, Skandar and the Unicorn Thief and Men in Black.

Amari Peters knows three things.

Her big brother Quinton has gone missing.
No one will talk about it.
His mysterious job holds the secret...

So when Amari gets an invitation to the Bureau of Supernatural Affairs, she's certain this is her chance to find Quinton. But first she has to get her head around the new world of the Bureau,…


Book cover of Midsummer's Mayhem

Erin Yun Author Of Pippa Park Raises Her Game

From my list on middle school fiction featuring delicious food.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’m a children’s book writer from Frisco, Texas. I’ve published two middle grade chapter books, Pippa Park Raises Her Game and Pippa Park Crush at First Sight. I’ve always been captivated by novels that make me hungry; you can blame formative children’s books like If You Give a Mouse a Cookie or Stone Soup for that. That’s why today I’m sharing my top 5 favorite middle grade books that have a foodie twist. Some of them revolve entirely around food; others simply offer a notable scene. Either way, I hope you’ll find them as delectable as I do!

Erin's book list on middle school fiction featuring delicious food

Erin Yun Why did Erin love this book?

Eleven-year-old Mimi is the youngest child in a family full of high-achievers. Determined to prove herself, she enters a baking contest at a newly opened bakery in town, but when strange things begin happening to those around her (such as her food critic dad losing his sense of taste), Mimi must pair her culinary skills with her detective skills to get to the bottom of the magical mystery. 

If I had to pick one word to describe this book, it’d be: sweet. Plus, this adorable book is also a retelling of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. And if you know me, you know I adore retellings! 

By Rajani LaRocca,

Why should I read it?

5 authors picked Midsummer's Mayhem as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 8, 9, 10, and 11.

What is this book about?

A Kirkus Best Book of 2019!
An Indies Introduce Selection for 2019!
An Indie Next Pick for Summer 2019!

"A delectable treat for food and literary connoisseurs alike." Kirkus Reviews, STARRED REVIEW

"What a wonderful, intriguing, and magical book. And wow, did it ever get my tastebuds going! Each time I picked it up, I felt the urge to head to my kitchen. . . . What I loved most was the smartness of it. It never once doubted its young readers." Kathi Appelt, Newbery Honor- and National Book Award-Nominated author

"Midsummer's Mayhem is an enchantment of a novel, bursting…


Book cover of A Crack in the Sea

Sharon Skinner Author Of Lostuns Found

From my list on middle-grade adventures with magical elements.

Why am I passionate about this?

I love books. All kinds of books. Growing up, I didn’t have many friends outside of books. It’s no wonder that as an adult reader/writer/editor/book coach, I still read widely and voraciously. I believe all stories are magical, but I’m especially drawn to books that contain emotionally engaging characters and fun magical elements. I’m also a huge fan of good KidLit and getting a chance to see and explore other cultures and worlds, both real and imagined. (I even co-host a podcast: Coaching KidLit.) So, I read a ton of magical stories and a lot of KidLit. That’s how I discovered the books on this recommended reading list. 

Sharon's book list on middle-grade adventures with magical elements

Sharon Skinner Why did Sharon love this book?

Creative and deeply layered, this book has so much on offer: multiple universes, a boy who can talk to fish, a city built of rafts, sea monsters, and wonderfully clever and well-drawn characters. An absolutely beautiful and emotionally engaging story of escaped slaves and refugees fleeing for their lives seeking a new home and freedom. I was totally swept away.

By H. M. Bouwman, Yuko Shimizu (illustrator),

Why should I read it?

1 author picked A Crack in the Sea as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 10, 11, 12, and 13.

What is this book about?

An enchanting historical fantasy adventure perfect for fans of Thanhha Lai's Newbery Honor-winning Inside Out and Back Again

No one comes to the Second World on purpose. The doorway between worlds opens only when least expected. The Raft King is desperate to change that by finding the doorway that will finally take him and the people of Raftworld back home. To do it, he needs Pip, a young boy with an incredible gift-he can speak to fish; and the Raft King is not above kidnapping to get what he wants. Pip's sister Kinchen, though, is determined to rescue her brother…


Book cover of Dust & Grim

Sharon Skinner Author Of Lostuns Found

From my list on middle-grade adventures with magical elements.

Why am I passionate about this?

I love books. All kinds of books. Growing up, I didn’t have many friends outside of books. It’s no wonder that as an adult reader/writer/editor/book coach, I still read widely and voraciously. I believe all stories are magical, but I’m especially drawn to books that contain emotionally engaging characters and fun magical elements. I’m also a huge fan of good KidLit and getting a chance to see and explore other cultures and worlds, both real and imagined. (I even co-host a podcast: Coaching KidLit.) So, I read a ton of magical stories and a lot of KidLit. That’s how I discovered the books on this recommended reading list. 

Sharon's book list on middle-grade adventures with magical elements

Sharon Skinner Why did Sharon love this book?

Not only does this book have a strong female lead, a scary, spooky adventure, and an unusual friendship where cousins who start off not liking one another have to work together, or else, but the idea that a funeral home guards another realm. I love it. And Chuck Wendig really nailed the voice of this story! It’s totally Chuck-like, but not the creepy Chuck we get in his adult horror books. This is 100% snarky, goofy, yeehaw, let’s-have-a-rollicking-good-time kid-at-heart Chuck. Also, this one made me laugh out loud in places, and I can always use a good laugh.

By Chuck Wendig,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Dust & Grim as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 8, 9, 10, and 11.

What is this book about?

?Thirteen-year-old Molly doesn't know how she got the short end of the stick-being raised by her neglectful father-while Dustin, the older brother she's never met, got their mother and the keys to the family estate. But now the siblings are both orphaned, she's come home for her inheritance, and if Dustin won't welcome her into the family business, then she'll happily take her half in cash.

There's just one problem: the family business is a mortuary for monsters, and Molly's not sure she's ready to deal with mysterious doors, talking wolves, a rogue devourer of magic, and a secret cemetery.…


Book cover of Einstein's Dreams

Mario Livio Author Of Galileo: And the Science Deniers

From my list on science, mathematics, and philosophy.

Why am I passionate about this?

Mario Livio is an astrophysicist and author of seven popular science books, including the bestsellers The Golden Ratio and Brilliant Blunders. He worked for 24 years (till 2015) with the Hubble Space Telescope, and published more than 500 scientific papers. He lectures regularly to the general public, and has appeared on television programs ranging from 60 Minutes to NOVA to The Daily Show.

Mario's book list on science, mathematics, and philosophy

Mario Livio Why did Mario love this book?

An enthralling, fictional description of a young scientist (Einstein) and his dreams/thoughts about space, time, relativity, and the nature of reality. The book fictionalizes Einstein’s dreams in 1905, his “Annus Mirabilis” (“Miracle Year”), in which he wrote four fundamental papers, including one on his theory of Special Relativity. While this is a work of fiction, the physics concepts are beautifully explained.

By Alan Lightman,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Einstein's Dreams as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

It is ten minutes past six by the invisible clock on the wall. The young patents clerk sprawls in his chair, dreaming about time. He is Albert Einstein, and in his dreams he imagines new worlds, in which time can be circular, or flow backwards, or slow down at higher altitudes.


Book cover of Uncommon Measure: A Journey Through Music, Performance, and the Science of Time

Annik LaFarge Author Of Chasing Chopin: A Musical Journey Across Three Centuries, Four Countries, and a Half-Dozen Revolutions

From my list on bringing music to life history listening joy.

Why am I passionate about this?

I took piano lessons as a kid, but my teacher was imperious and boring. In my mid-30s I started thinking about it again, and my partner bought me a state-of-the-art Yamaha keyboard as a Valentine’s Day present. I found a wonderful teacher, Rafael Cortés, who worked at a community music school a few blocks from my office. Every piece we worked on began with a conversation about the composer, the period in which she/he wrote the piece, and the other artists–painters, sculptors, poets–who were working then. I fell in love with both playing and learning about music, and more than 30 years later, I’m still taking weekly lessons with Rafael. 

Annik's book list on bringing music to life history listening joy

Annik LaFarge Why did Annik love this book?

I was struck by the ease with which Hodges moves from her own experience learning the violin to the scientific underpinnings of her subject: from math, physics, and neurology to quantum mechanics, biology, and entanglement theory, always in search of a clue to how music informs our experience of time.

Complex topics are suddenly eased by an anecdote from her personal life and practice: a bow dropping during Paganini or the story of her mother buying her “a red dress, bright as D major.” There’s a quality of searching that runs through these essays, both for scientific meaning in music as well a deeper understanding of the dynamics of her own life. 

By Natalie Hodges,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Uncommon Measure as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

NATIONAL BOOK AWARD LONGLIST
NPR "BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR" SELECTION
NEW YORK TIMES EDITORS' CHOICE

A virtuosic debut from a gifted violinist searching for a new mode of artistic becoming

How does time shape consciousness and consciousness, time? Do we live in time, or does time live in us? And how does music, with its patterns of rhythm and harmony, inform our experience of time?

Uncommon Measure explores these questions from the perspective of a young Korean American who dedicated herself to perfecting her art until performance anxiety forced her to give up the dream of becoming a concert…


Book cover of The World In A Second

Lauren Redniss Author Of Heatwave

From my list on children’s books raising engaged citizens.

Why am I passionate about this?

For many years, I’ve been creating visual nonfiction books for adults. These books are about climate change, indigenous sovereignty, and nuclear physics—not typical kids’ book fare. But because my books include artwork, everyone always asked me when I would write and illustrate a book for children. Once I had my own children, I was suddenly full of ideas. Children’s books are often underestimated. The best books of the genre are accessible enough to interest a young person, sophisticated enough to engage the adults reading them aloud, and multidimensional enough to reward countless re-readings. I believe books that meet this standard fit alongside civilization’s great works of literature.

Lauren's book list on children’s books raising engaged citizens

Lauren Redniss Why did Lauren love this book?

I never tire of reading this brilliant book to my son. His imagination (and mine) goes to new places with each rereading. Each spread relocates the reader to another corner of the world, where we glimpse a snapshot of action: someone honks their car horn in a traffic jam in Mexico City, a volcano erupts in Papua-New Guinea, a woman drops a mysterious envelope on the sidewalk in Budapest.

For my son and I, the book has been as interactive as any game, offering endless possibilities for discussion and debate. Because each spread is a single moment, we can dream up our own interpretation of what might have led to this scene and what will unfold afterward. It’s wonderful to see wildly varied landscapes as we travel the planet. 

By Isabel Minhos Martins, Bernardo Carvalho (illustrator),

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The World In A Second as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 4, 5, 6, and 7.

What is this book about?

Inspired by the question, "What are they doing right at this moment on the other side of the world?" this book focuses on natural and human events happening all over the world in the same second. Talking about the world and how it's so different in places but also so similar and shared, so incredible and surprising, the books takes us to New York, Chicago, Mexico, Portugal, Angola, Turkey, Greece, Italy, Hungry, Brazil, and South Africa, among others.

So, while you sit turning the pages of this book, things are happening everywhere. Somewhere, a wave is reaching the shore. Elsewhere,…


Book cover of Time: Big Ideas, Small Books

Jasna Koteska Author Of Communist Intimacy

From my list on understanding trauma and how to heal it.

Why am I passionate about this?

I was 14 years old when my dad was imprisoned by the communist police of ex-Yugoslavia. My dad spent his childhood working as a shepherd in a small Macedonian village with 11 inhabitants. Later, he became a poet, and he belonged to the last group of political prisoners in the former Yugoslavia. When my dad was sent to prison, my family and I dealt with great trauma. 

Jasna's book list on understanding trauma and how to heal it

Jasna Koteska Why did Jasna love this book?

During the short walk that entered literary history, Sigmund Freud met Rainer Maria Rilke, a poet who experienced the terror of mortality and felt eerily that everything human is ultimately worthless. Not really, Freud answered.

The mortality of nature and humans–the end of the beloved human face–gives them their ultimate meaning. It is because we know that everything that exists will be gone one day, which is why we cherish them. I read about it for the first time in this book. It is written with a very mild and careful hand, describing all things worthy of living. 

By Eva Hoffman,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Time as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Novelist, cultural commentator, memoirist, and historian Eva Hoffman examines our ever-changing perception of time in this inspired addition to the BIG IDEAS/small books series

Time has always been the great given, the element that establishes the governing facts of human fate that cannot be circumvented, deconstructed, or wished away. But these days we are tampering with time in ways that affect how we live, the textures of our experience, and our very sense of what it is to be human. What is the nature of time in our time? Why is it that even as we live longer than ever…


Book cover of The River of Time

Efe Yazgan Author Of Neutron Stars, Supernovae & Supernova Remnants

From my list on non-technical books to get interested in knowing the Universe.

Why am I passionate about this?

My fascination with the Universe led me to become a high-energy physics and astrophysics researcher. I work at CERN (Geneva) working on elementary particles. Over many years, I have written and reviewed numerous scientific articles and served as the editor for two books. I have also reviewed books and co-written a few short popular science pieces. My reading interests encompass not only academic and literary works but also popular science, philosophy, and sociology. Understanding the Universe is difficult. With this collection, I hope to provide you with an authentic introduction to the study of the Universe and its evolution from various perspectives. 

Efe's book list on non-technical books to get interested in knowing the Universe

Efe Yazgan Why did Efe love this book?

This book is about the attempts of physicists to understand the nature of time. The author tells the story of the concept of time from ancient Greece to the end of the 20th century through the progress in relativistic astrophysics, cosmology, and particle physics.

The best thing about the book is the anecdotes about great physicists with whom Novikov met in the former Soviet Union and in the West, such as Zeldovich, Guseinov, Longair, Hawking, and Trimble. I also like how Novikov shows the readers that many new phenomena and laws of nature are waiting to be discovered. It is also inspiring to learn about how physicists have been able to contribute to the understanding of nature even under very difficult situations. 

By Igor D. Novikov, Vitaly Kisin (translator),

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The River of Time as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Can we change the past? The surprising answer to this question can be found in the final chapters of this book. Novikov details the development of our views on time from classical Greece to the modern day, presenting the figures who have contributed to the evolution of our knowledge as real people and placing them in the context of their own time. He also describes in detail the current state of research in such areas as time machines, the start of time and why does time pass: areas on which he himself has worked. The author's own personal experiences, of…


Book cover of When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing

Anna Dearmon Kornick Author Of Time Management Essentials: The Tools You Need to Maximize Your Attention, Energy, and Productivity

From my list on how to live your best life.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’m a time management coach, author, keynote speaker, host of the top 1% ranked time management podcast It’s About Time, and founder of the It’s About Time Academy (a community of people who want to make time for what matters most). I help busy professionals and business owners struggling with overwhelm manage their time with my signature HEART Method. I’ve been devouring time management books for over a decade now—so I hope you enjoy these time management reads as much as I did!

Anna's book list on how to live your best life

Anna Dearmon Kornick Why did Anna love this book?

This book changed the way I think about time. It helped me incorporate biological chronotypes into my time management methods. After reading it, I realized that when you go with your flow, you get so much more done.

I love that this book is a great mix of science, stats, and introspective questions. One of my favorite things included are the action items throughout, and the concept of a nappuccino!

By Daniel H. Pink,

Why should I read it?

3 authors picked When as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Timing is everything. But we don't know much about timing itself. Timing, it's often assumed, is an art; in When, Pink shows that timing is in fact a science.

Drawing on a rich trove of research from psychology, biology and economics, Pink reveals how best to live, work and succeed. How can we use the hidden patterns of the day to build the ideal schedule? Why do certain breaks dramatically improve student test scores? How can we turn a stumbling beginning into a fresh start? When should you have your first coffee of the day? Why is singing in time…


Book cover of Amari and the Night Brothers
Book cover of Midsummer's Mayhem
Book cover of A Crack in the Sea

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