ILS Summer Book Recommendations

Happy Summer! We are already missing the joyful sounds of students filling the classrooms and hallways, but we do hope that students and families are able to enjoy a fun and restful summer break.

As it is throughout our school year together, we hope that reading continues to be a regular part of the summer routine and summer schole for both students and their families. Parents are welcome to join us in reading our Summer Book Club selection: Life Under Compulsion: ten ways to destroy the humanity of your child, by Anthony Esolen, and join us at one or more of our book club discussions.

Looking for some additions to your child’s summer reading (or your own)? We invited faculty and staff to pass along their suggestions for books for students and parents this summer.

Additionally, our ILS teachers have compiled a list of suggested readings for both Upper and Lower School students as a resource for families to help select books that students may enjoy, both reading books from their own grade level, or listening as parents read aloud from more challenging texts. Looking for even more recommendations? Check out a couple of our past summer reading blog posts filled with ideas and favorites from ILS faculty past and present!

What is on your own summer reading list? Are you checking out something new, or re-visiting an old favorite? Let us know in the comments!


“Adults and young adults alike will enjoy the Anthems of Zion Series. You will laugh and cry with the people of Bradbury as Katie Schuermann weaves a story of real life that you won't be able to put down! I love picking up these books again and again to delight in beautiful storytelling and God's gifts of mercy, hope, and true peace.

As our house this summer, we're reading a lot of Hardy Boys mysteries by Franklin W. Dixon and picking out tales of adventure from this excellent list of Books for Cultivating Honorable Boys published by the CiRCE Institute.


Happy Summer Reading!”

— Ms. Julia Habrecht, ILS Headmaster


For students: Last summer, I really enjoyed The Land of Stories by Chris Colfer. A Series of Unfortunate Events is a fun series for children!

For adults: In the summer, I love to read mysteries by the pool or on the beach. Agatha Christie is the master. I also recommend Dorothy Sayers’s Lord Peter mysteries, and G. K. Chesterton’s Father Brown stories (Father Brown can also be read aloud to a whole family, and there are some great audiobook versions for car trips).
— Miss Carissa Davis, Upper School Literature Teacher

My student recommendation: The Prydain Chronicles by Lloyd Alexander
My parent/adult recommendation: The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self by Carl Trueman
— Miss Rebecca Hobbs, Lower School Lead Teacher

For students, I recommend Gulliver’s Travels. I listened to the first two stories from this book on audiobook growing up. It’s a book that inspires the imagination and is essential for understanding many English literary references as students age.

For parents, I recommend Galileo’s Daughter by Dava Sobel. It’s an excellent biography of both Galileo and (as the title suggests) his daughter as well as an excellent demonstration of how science fits into Christianity rather than fights against it.
— Mr. Josef Hageman, Upper School Teacher

For students I would recommend: A Wrinkle in Time.

For parents I would recommend: The Idiot by Dostoyevsky.
— Miss Anastasiya Camp, 2nd Grade Teacher

For kids (and families!) I’d highly recommend “Miss Rumphius,” by Barbara Cooney. This is an inspiring and lovely story about finding our place in the world and the small things we can do to make the world a more beautiful place.

For adults, “Arcadia,” by Tom Stoppard, is a delightful and thoroughly enjoyable read. As it weaves together past and present, the play explores truth and beauty in literature, mathematics, landscape design and more.
— Mrs. Whitney Work, Director of Advancement

Adult Fiction: Finlay Dnoovan is Killing It by Elle Cosimano
Young Adult Fiction: The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate
— Mrs. Rachel McChesney, 3rd Grade Teacher

1. Pro-Life Kids! by Bethany Bomberger
2. The Universe Next Door, by James Sire
— Pastor Noah Rogness

For Students: The Scarlet Pimpernel, by Baroness Orczy

For Parents: Love Thy Body, by Nancy Pearcey
— Miss Katherine Dubke, Kindergarten Teacher