6 Must Reads for the Summer of ’22 

During the Summer of ’22, my eleven-year-old granddaughter will spend a month at Camp Ramah, a Jewish summer sleep-away camp affiliated with the Conservative Movement. The camp she’ll be attending is in Ojai, California. 

When I was a teen, I too wanted to go to Camp Ramah, but since I lived on Long Island, my Camp Ramah was in the Berkshires. But, alas, my parents couldn’t come close to affording the huge expense. 

Teens like me escaped to our own private worlds in the books we read. Now, as an adult, I still enjoy the escape by opening my Kindle and gobbling one of the many books I’ve purchased during the past year. 

Below, you’ll find a few I think you’ll enjoy. 

Zara Hossain Is Here by Sabina Khan

Kindle: $6.21

Paper: $10.99 

Length: 258 pages

Amazon Rating: 4.3 out of 5

Zara Hossain is Here is a gripping novel written for teenagers, but this adult reviewer couldn’t put the book down. After reading it, I began to understand the difficulties Muslim immigrants have in this country and feel sensitized to their pain. This is an honest and timely coming of age story readers won’t want to miss. 

The Lip Reader by Michael Thal

Kindle: $.99

Paper: $10.20

Length: 226 pages

Amazon Rating: 4.9 out of 5

Winner of the 2022 Next Generation Indie Book Awards Inspirational (Fiction)

USA Today bestselling author, Jacqueline Diamond, said this about the novel: “Zhila was truly a person who gave more than she received and a beautiful example of compassion in action. Author Michael Thal has created a first-person account of Zhila’s life, giving the reader a humbling opportunity to walk with, and learn from, this amazing person.”

Acquisition Editor at Paper Angel Press had this to say: “It’s so vivid, so earnest, so honest, so full of love and luminous intelligence, so lacking in mean spirit even as it treats some of the deepest horrors of life with total clarity and resolution. I’m not ashamed to say that even this much-scarred, stoical woman is weeping freely. The world must have this book.”

The Pen: Sultan’s Wisdom by Dennis Galloway

Kindle: $2.99

Paper: $12.95

Length: 230

Amazon Rating: 4.1 out of 5

An ancient shopkeeper shows Harold a dark, ebony pen longer than most with a grip curved to fit his hand. Harold leaves the shop happy with his purchase, a gift to himself that will change his life. 

At home, Harold pulls out a sheet of paper to try out the new pen. However, when he writes, the pen does all the thinking for him and scrolls out a story in ancient Arabic. At midnight, Harold falls asleep, and unbeknownst to him, all the unfamiliar letters and words fly off the page and into his ear. Thus begins Harold’s very realistic dream about Ah-Hamid Akbar, a slave living in 1300 AD in an Egyptian desert. What Harold hears in his head is Al-Hamid’s narration of his life story, a story Harold will follow throughout the novel. 

Dennis Galloway uses a unique time-travel idea to entwine Harold to Al-Hamid’s life as he learns the wisdom the boy acquires to advance from slave to Sultan, ruler of the Bashihin desert. 

Koolura and the Mystery at Camp Saddleback by Michael Thal

Kindle: $2.64 

Paper: $2.64

Length: 137 pages

Amazon Rating: 4.6 out of 5

I plan on gifting this book to my granddaughter before she goes to sleep-away camp. Here’s why: Koolura can teleport, levitate, heal, and even fly. But at Camp Saddleback she wakes up drained and powerless. Who or what has stolen her psychic powers? As Koolura searches for the truth about her power loss, she and the Chumash Girls must deal with pranksters ruining their cabin and destroying their summer. Campers plan revenge but problems escalate as lives are threatened. Will Koolura and the Chumash Girls solve the mystery at Camp Saddleback?

The Would-be Mommy by Jacqueline Diamond

Kindle: Free

Paper: $5.28

Length: 177 pages

Amazon Rating: 4.5 out of 5

When journalist Ian Martin stirs up trouble with his news story about a hospital welcoming abandoned babies, the roguish reporter accidentally ignites a firestorm around public relations director Jennifer Serra. Now she faces losing her heart to a baby she can’t keep and losing her job because of a scandalous secret.

After surviving a tragedy years earlier, Jennifer has made a new life for herself. Then Ian’s report implies that young moms who can’t keep their babies can find the perfect families for them at Safe Harbor Medical Center. One young teen insists on surrendering her newborn to Jennifer, who falls instantly in love.

Called a “brilliantly moving story” by Cataromance.com, The Would-Be Mommy is the first book in USA Today bestselling author Jacqueline Diamond’s award-winning Safe Harbor Medical romance series.

Death Lake Motel by Rod Little

Kindle: $2.99

Paper: $7.99

Length: 152 pages

Amazon Rating: 3.8 out of 5

While driving up to the lake on a fishing trip, retired police officer Owen and his two best friends, Gary and Bob, face an intense storm and wrecked car. Inside the vehicle are two frightened teen girls, who they rescue and take with them. The group stop at the first motel they find for a landline to call for help, but the storm has knocked phones out of commission. But there’s a lot more problems they uncover than disconnected phones. The desk clerk is dead, and it’s not from natural causes.

Owen and two others in the group check other motel rooms finding dead bodies and blood in almost every room they check: thus, beginning Rod Little’s 128-page novella, Death Lake Motel. 

Through descriptive writing, excellent characterization, and exciting plot development, Little writes a horror story with more twists and turns than a mountain road. Death Lake Motel is a quick read as you nibble your fingernails in anticipation of the next revelation. 

Happy Summer Reading- Pop