Staff Picks: Beach Reads

Trapped on Brody Island, her boyfriend missing, June Branch is on the run from four escaped convicts. Her only weapon is an enchanted axe that leaves the heads it severs from the body alive and talking.

Fans of "The Evil Dead" and "Creepshow."

James Gardner

An unlikely bond is forged when popular and tough Momo challenges the quiet boy she decides to call Okarun, and he steps up: each will prove the other wrong about whether ghosts or aliens exist. Unfortunately for them, they're both wrong; now, Okarun has a curse, and Momo's psychic powers have awakened. As they try to figure out what to do about all of the weird and wacky things that keep happening to them, they're also trying to figure out what they mean to each other.

Readers who want something for their beach read that has a hint of seriousness and a dash of slapstick, plus a heavy pinch of raunchy, will love Dandadan, but it's not a flavor for everyone. There's something about the specific way all of these elements are combined that has made Dandadan the hit it is currently, though, so it's worth having on the shelves and worth recommending to a reader that doesn't mind a character named Turbo Granny making sexual jokes.

Sexual language, partial nudity, discussions/depictions of death, threat of sexual violence

Shannan Prukop

Neeta dreams of traveling the world, but her friend Emery wants nothing more than to stay on the Lark, his father’s ship. When the Lark gets a new owner, Mr. Honeycutt, things take a turn. Honeycutt’s policies are running the staff ragged, and the passengers and Honeycutt seem... insatiable...

With arresting visuals and a compelling, clever plot, Hunger’s Bite gives new meaning to the phrase “consumed by greed”. Pick this up if you’re looking for a gripping horror story.

Gruesome imagery, including dismembered body parts

Megan Rupe

Set in the 1960s, three sisters are sent to Oakland, California, to see their mother, who left when the older sister, Delphine, was 4 years old. Their mom is not looking to step back into the role of motherhood, order Chinese food instead of cooking, and sending them to the People's Center (run by the Black Panthers) during the day to get them out of the house. Although their mother's dismissal hurts the girls, they form friendships with the other kids at the people's center. They also participate in lessons taught by the adults working at the center, and start to learn that not every black person thinks like their Southern "Big Ma" and New Yorker "Pa". During this summer, they learn about themselves as well as begin to understand their mother and why she left a little better.

If you are looking for a civil rights era story for readers who are not quite ready for "March", this story allows younger readers to get an idea of what it was like for people of color at that time.

Racism

Tayla Cardillo

Sailing with her parents has given Janey a life full of adventure, yet frequent travel makes it difficult for her to make friends. When she finally meets Astrid, Astrid’s complex personality challenges Janey to see the world she experiences in a different light.

Readers looking for a thoughtful and engaging coming-of-age story would do well to pick up Sea Legs.

Discussion of abuse

Megan Rupe

Gayle Briar's is set to have a pretty bad summer. She broke her arm during the softball championship, which also cost her team the game. Now, her best friend and the team captain, Lex, is mad at her. Then she runs into Elijah Jones, a young aspiring documentarian who is visiting Martha's Vineyard because his father is covering the production of a blockbuster movie on the island for the magazine he works for. Gayle agrees to show him around the island and quickly gets on board with helping him with his documentary when she finds out there is a kids' film festival with a $3000 prize. They enlist the help of local "creepy girl" Madison when she tells them a local ghost story, and they decide that's the perfect story for their film. Will they finish the movie in time to enter the festival, or will their creative differences tear them apart?

Fans of stories where kids make unlikely allies and go on an unexpected adventure, like Aquanauts and Snapdragon, will love this book.

Very minor gore in the form of movie props.

Tayla Cardillo

Aqualand has been the only source of joy for Sophia since her father died at sea while conducting research for the aquarium. Her uncle is trying to continue their work at the park, but as things have taken a turn for the worse financially for Aqualand, things have started to change, and not for the better. One day, while visiting Aqualand, Sophia notices a man in a diving suit strolling around the park. She follows him only to find out that he is a suit being piloted by four sea creatures. Can Sophia and "the aquanaut" work together to make Aqualand a place her uncle and her late father can be proud of?

Folks looking for a story that is equal parts hijinks and heart will love this book.

Death of a parent

Tayla Cardillo

In a small rural town, best friends Yoshiki and Hikaru are navigating something new in their relationship: the fact that Hikaru isn't really Hikaru anymore. As the days and weeks pass, Yoshiki grapples with all of the usual teen issues, but also the morality of staying close to Hikaru. And of course, it all gets more complicated as the two learn more about their town's history and what or who Hikaru is now.

This series is perfect for readers who like a bittersweet, melancholy vibe for their beach reads. It's both a surreal horror and a coming-of-age story, and the first volume at least is set in the grips of summer, so it has that haze of summer heat across the pages. Though Yen Press has this as a teen series, it's an adult in this list because it could honestly be shelved in either very easily.

Body horror, grief

Shannan Prukop

After they drink the last of their booze, mermaids Pearl, Tooth, and Eez use magic to take on human forms and go ashore to look for more. When they can’t change back, the pod finds themselves having to negotiate human life, including jobs, clothes, and more!

With plenty of humor and wonderful, tight-knit friendships, Thirsty Mermaids is a delightful fantasy romp of a girl's adventure. Pick this up if you’re in the mood for found family and hijinks.

Some swear words; drinking/bar scenes; dysphoria; nudity

Megan Rupe

Set in the middle of the Great Depression, this adaptation of an award-winning children's novel tells the story of Turtle, a young girl who is sent to live with her aunt in Key West when her mom gets a job as a housekeeper for an employer who doesn't allow children. Turtle meets her cousins for the first time and arrives at the place where her mom and aunt grew up. While Turtle waits for her mother to save enough money to buy them a home, she learns more about herself and the family she didn't even know she had before coming to Key West.

Fans of Graphic Novels set in historical periods like Catherine's War and Nathan Hale's Hazardous Tales will enjoy this glimpse into the past from a kid's perspective.

Tayla Cardillo

The world is slowly ending around Alpha, a robot that runs a cafe in the middle of nowhere, near the sea. We follow Alpha across the years, experiencing some things possibly for the last time and sharing moments with the humans and other robots around her. Sometimes she closes her cafe and travels, and at different times the travelers and experiences come to her. Either way, there's always something worth seeing, even if it's just the one time.

It's hard to call this series anything other than a gentle slice of life with melancholic overtones; it's sometimes funny or sweet, but often it's pretty sad. So for readers who enjoy that kind of theme during the summer, this is a great pick. Also, despite the omnibus volumes being quite large, it can be pretty breezy to get through since there's a lot of sweeping scenery and quiet moments throughout. Though the publisher rates the series as teen, it's likelier to appeal to an adult reader looking for something to slow down and cool off while reading.

Some nonsexual nudity

Shannan Prukop