OverDrive is excited to introduce our inaugural OverDrive Summer Read program, designed to encourage your students to keep reading all year long. This program aims to help prevent the Summer Slide by providing exciting titles young readers that are simultaneously available during the summer weeks. The below titles will be automatically added to North American and European OverDrive-powered school library websites in eBook and OverDrive Read formats (and Kindle format where available) with unlimited access from June 9-July 9. Public libraries who offer eReading Rooms will also receive this content on their eReading Room pages. Similar to the Big Library Read this program will enable young readers to enjoy these titles without any wait lists or holds during the summer.

 

The Fat Boy Chronicles by Diane Lang & Michael Buchanan. It’s bad enough being the new kid, but as a freshman, Jimmy finds school less enjoyable than many of his classmates. Standing 5’5″ and weighing 187 pounds, he’s subjected to a daily barrage of taunts and torments. His only sources of comfort are his family, his youth group, and his favorite foods. When his English teacher assigns a journal as a writing project, Jimmy chronicles not only his struggles but also his aspirations – to lose weight and win the girl of his dreams. Inspired by a true story and told in first-person journal entries, The Fat Boy Chronicles brings to life the pain and isolation felt by many overweight teenagers as they try to find their way in a world obsessed with outward beauty.

 

Red Berries, White Clouds, Blue Sky by Sandra Dallas. It’s 1942: Tomi Itano, 12, is a second-generation Japanese American who lives in California with her family on their strawberry farm. Although her parents came from Japan and her grandparents still live there, Tomi considers herself an American. She doesn’t speak Japanese and has never been to Japan. But after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, things change. No Japs Allowed signs hang in store windows and Tomi’s family is ostracized.

 

Things get much worse. Suspected as a spy, Tomi’s father is taken away. The rest of the Itano family is sent to an internment camp in Colorado. Many other Japanese American families face a similar fate. Tomi becomes bitter, wondering how her country could treat her and her family like the enemy. What does she need to do to prove she is an honorable American? Sandra Dallas shines a light on a dark period of American history in this story of a young Japanese American girl caught up in the prejudices and World War II.

Digital libraries that only serve elementary students will feature Red Berries, White Clouds, Blue Sky. All other school partners will feature both titles. Contact your Account Specialist if you have any questions.