Summer is a perfect time for readers to lose themselves in a great book. Fast-paced, action-packed adventures, rich world-building, and relatable characters can help stave off the dreaded “summer slide.” For kids heading off for camp, Elissa Brent Weissman’s laugh-out-loud tale of hijinks and sibling rivalry, Nerd Camp 2.0, earns its place in the duffle bag. For readers who like escapist fiction that transports them to far-off places, Stuart Gibbs’s Space Case offers a light mystery set in 2041 on a lunar outpost, balanced with humor and authentic middle school characters. Readers looking for more contemporary fare may enjoy Karen Rivers’s Finding Ruby Starling, a story of two sisters separated at birth, reunited as tweens through an internet image search. Along with sunscreen and bug repellent, a great beach read is a summertime essential!

Gibbs, Stuart. Space Case. 352p. S. & S. Sept. 2014. Tr $16.99. ISBN 9781442494862.

Gr 4-6 –It’s 2041, and 12-year-old Dash Gibson lives with his family in Moon Base Alpha, the first lunar outpost. Life is mostly dull (watching TV, going to the gym to keep fit, and playing video games—not much variety) until Ronald Holtz, beloved base physician, dies under suspicious circumstances. Despite warnings from the base’s autocratic commander, Dash continues to investigate the incident as a possible murder. The story is fun, if somewhat thin; a space-age Agatha Christie mystery grafted onto a Scooby Doo plot. There are multiple suspects, each with a seemingly plausible motive—the scientist who accuses Dr. Holtz of stealing his brilliant idea; the shoddy psychiatrist whom Holtz tried to keep off of the mission; even Lars Sjoberg, the hapless and arrogant billionaire space tourist. Some of the characters are colored with a broad brush, such as Kira the tween-age super hacker; the vile, “pure white” Sjoberg family; and Chang Hi-Tech, the tattooed and mohawked tech guru. But Gibbs’s passion for science is obvious, and his portrayal of what life might be like for a middle schooler in space is credible and insightful. The difficulty of learning to run in reduced gravity, the dreary food, ubiquitous technologies, and recycled water (urine is purified and returned to the reservoir) all are treated evenhandedly and with reference to relevant science. The prospect and related concerns of contact with a distant race of super-intelligent beings provide an intriguing “what if” counterpoint. Recommended as a breezy read, especially for the budding space scientist.–Bob Hassett, Luther Jackson Middle School, Falls Church, VA

Rivers, Karen. Finding Ruby Starling. 304p. Scholastic/Arthur A. Levine. Aug. 2014. Tr $16.99. ISBN 9780545534826.

Gr 5-8 –After doing an image search on herself, Ruth Quayle finds pictures of a girl who looks like her double. Ruby Starling is also 12 ¾, but unlike Ruth, living in America with adoptive parents, she lives in England with her birth mother. The novel is told in a series of emails between the girls and to and from their friends and families.The emails are full of slang that works for both girls’ cultures and feels surprisingly authentic. Interspersed with the emails are Ruth’s poems, posted to her Tumblr page, and Ruby’s handwritten letters to her dead Gran. Readers travel through the emotional journey of discovering an unknown twin while trying to navigate the normal tween life of best friends and maybe boyfriends. Both girls have trouble understanding why their mother kept Ruby and gave up Ruth but in the end find that reconciliation is possible. The emotional content of the novel comes through in a genuine and natural way; readers will feel for each girl as they discover each other and the truths about themselves. The other characters are only lightly sketched, but their relationships to the twins add depth to the readers’ understanding of the girls. Overall, a fun book for middle graders.–Genevieve Feldman, San Francisco Public Library

Weissman, Elissa Brent. Nerd Camp 2.0. 288p. S. & S./Atheneum. 2014. Tr $15.99. ISBN 9781442452947.

Gr 6-9 –Last summer was the best of Gabe’s life. Not only did he meet his new stepbrother, Zack, but he also spent his first summer at the Summer Center for Gifted Enrichment, also known as Nerd Camp. At Summer Center, Gabe got to revel in all things nerdy without having to worry about being mocked for being “uncool.” In fact, he had such a great time, that he decided to convince Zack that he should go to nearby Camp Seneca, where Zack could spend his summer playing sports and music. A week before summer camp begins, a forest fire in the region forces Camp Seneca to close, relocating those campers to Summer Center. While both boys are excited to start camp, Zack is concerned about what the other Seneca kids will think of him because he has a brother at Nerd Camp. Gabe is worried about Zack seeing him partaking in so many nerdy activities. Over the next few weeks, these fears serve as a backdrop between the fight for dominance between Summer Center and Camp Seneca, causing both characters to wonder if things can get better before the summer ends. Continuing where Nerd Camp (S. & S./Atheneum, 2011) left off, this is a good-natured summer camp tale, that calls to mind movies like Heavy Weights.–Ryan F. Paulsen, New Rochelle High School, NY