Summer Reading for NCCS Upper School Students 2023: Mystery, Espionage, Detective, Spellbinding and Suspense

Michael Linden--or just Linden to his preppy boarding school pals--doesn't belong in wealthy, storied Martha's Vineyard. But when his roommate Jasper invites him to spend the end of summer at his massive beachfront home, August House, Linden tries his best to fit in. Linden wouldn't call it lying, exactly. Though it turns out August House is full of liars. Then someone is found unconscious in Jasper's pool, and everyone has something to hide--Jasper, his beautiful sister Eliza, their older brother Wells, and their friends. The accident is written off as just that--an accident--but Linden begins to wonder... Enter: Holiday Proctor. Linden's childhood friend, and the one person on the island who knows the truth about Linden. There's nothing Holiday loves more than a good old-fashioned mystery and she's convinced there's a potential killer on the Vineyard. Grades 8-11 (Lexile: 900)

Swallowtail Island is hosting the Swallowtales Writer’s Conference. Lark's ecstatic to be chosen as a “page” for her favorite author, Ann E. Keyhart.

But they say you should never meet your idols. When Keyhart arrives with her personal assistant in tow, she is nothing but a terror. And within a few hours, the assistant is dead! But the explanation isn't sitting well. Not when lots of people had reasons to want to be rid of Keyhart, and especially not after it’s revealed the assistant recently completed a hot new novel and the file's vanished from her computer.

Then Lark finds out the assistant had a bird—the match to the one she found hidden in her mom’s book—and she needs answers. It looks like Swallowtail Island still has secrets to reveal, and Lark’s going to uncover them. Grades 5-7

"Thirteen-year-old new girl Anna Hunt decides to make an investigative podcast about how fellow classmate Rachel Riley went from being the most popular girl in school to the most hated Grades 5-8

Sam Sylvester is an 18-year-old white nonbinary autistic person who just moved with their dad to a small Oregon town after experiencing a hate crime in Montana that almost killed them. Sam, who was in foster care as a child, has never really felt a connection with anyone but their black adoptive father before, but as soon as they move to Astoria, things start to change. They meet other queer kids, like Shep, a brown Latina who's bisexual and who quickly becomes their closest friend and biggest ally. The two have something in common other than queerness: they're both very intrigued by Sam's new house, where someone called Billy Clement died 30 years ago. The town considers it a tragic accident, but Sam and Shep are not so sure. Grade 7+

Fourteen-year-old Andrâea Hernâandez-Baldoquâin hails from a family of spies working for the Factory, an international organization dedicated to protecting people of color. Andrâea has dreamed about getting her first solo mission, but she never imagined that she would have to straighten her hair and go undercover as a white girl to befriend the estranged son of a dangerous white supremacist. In order to gain the boy's trust, Andrâea finds herself doing a deep dive into the world of comic books and fantasy gaming, all while trying to keep her true identity a secret from her target's adorable Latino best friend. Can Andrâea keep her head, her geek cred, and her code-switching on track to trap a terrorist? Grade 6-9

"Thirteen-year-old new girl Anna Hunt decides to make an investigative podcast about how fellow classmate Rachel Riley went from being the most popular girl in school to the most hated Grade 5-8

Bones Malone feels like he can’t do anything right in his new small town: He almost punched the son of the woman who babysits him and his brothers, he’s one of the only Black kids in Langille, and now his baseball team (the one place where he really feels like he shines) just lost their first game. To make matters worse, things in town are getting weird. His mom isn’t acting like herself at all—she’s totally spaced out, almost like a zombie. And then he and his brothers have the same dream—one where they’re running from some of their deepest fears, like a bear and an eerie cracked mirror that Bones would rather soon forget. Kyle Specks feels like he can never say the right thing at the right time. He thinks he might be neurodivergent, but he hasn’t gotten an official diagnosis yet. His parents worry that the world might be too hard for him and try to protect him, but Kyle knows they can’t do that forever. Even though he’s scared, he can’t just stand by and do nothing while things in this town get stranger and stranger, especially not after he and Bones find a mysterious scientist’s journal that might hold answers about what’s going on. But when faced with seemingly impossible situations, a shady corporation, and their own worst nightmares, will Kyle and Bones be brave enough to admit they're scared? Or will the fear totally consume and control them? Grade 5-7

Jay doesn't believe in Bigfoot. His dad loves hunting for Bigfoot, but searching for a mythical creature in the dark isn't Jay's idea of fun. Especially because he always gets stuck looking out for his little sister while his dad plays with the cool gear, like night-vision goggles. But while out on a camping trip, a large creature starts hunting them, and then Jay’s father goes missing. Jay is forced to start tracking the creature himself while still keeping his sister safe. It turns out that not only is Bigfoot real but it isn't the only threat in the woods. There’s a different kind of monster out here, one who is armed with a gun. Jay must act fast to save his father before it’s too late. And he needs Bigfoot’s help to do it. Grade 6-9

A visit to a private amusement park is the trip of a lifetime for a group of teen influencers, until they learn that getting off the island alive is not part of the plan.Grade 7-12 (Lexile: 580)

Three girls who arrive to an abandoned island must outwit and outlast the mysterious killer who awaits them there. Grade 9-12

Michael Linden--or just Linden to his preppy boarding school pals--doesn't belong in wealthy, storied Martha's Vineyard. But when his roommate Jasper invites him to spend the end of summer at his massive beachfront home, August House, Linden tries his best to fit in. Linden wouldn't call it lying, exactly. Though it turns out August House is full of liars. Then someone is found unconscious in Jasper's pool, and everyone has something to hide--Jasper, his beautiful sister Eliza, their older brother Wells, and their friends. The accident is written off as just that--an accident--but Linden begins to wonder... Enter: Holiday Proctor. Linden's childhood friend, and the one person on the island who knows the truth about Linden. There's nothing Holiday loves more than a good old-fashioned mystery and she's convinced there's a potential killer on the Vineyard. Grades 8-11 (Lexile: 900)

Stella North is one of twelve young pilots competing in a 1937 air race meant to promote peace in Europe, but when one of her competitors is sabotaged, Stella races to determine who is capable of murder, and who might be the next victim. Grade 8-12

Penelope Magnificent spends as little time as possible with her awful parents--a grocery-mogul father and a fashion-obsessed mother who loves expensive purses more than she does her daughter. But when they mention an important trip to Paris, Nell begs to come along. Paris holds something very dear to her: her old au pair Perrine--Pear--who lives there. Pear used to write to Nell every week, promising to come to her rescue, but recently the letters stopped. With the help of a savvy bellboy named Xavier, Nell sets out from her parents' ultra-fancy Parisian hotel to find her beloved Pear. But Pear's old neighbors and coworkers are strangely tight-lipped. And as Nell's search for the truth takes her and Xavier to some of the darkest, most mysterious parts of the city, a sinister plot comes to light involving the destruction of a cherished--and delicious--part of Parisian life. Grade 4-7

After inheriting a grieving fox spirit, a Chinese American boy must learn to embrace his heritage to solve the mystery of his brother's death. Grade 3-7

Fourteen-year-old Andrâea Hernâandez-Baldoquâin hails from a family of spies working for the Factory, an international organization dedicated to protecting people of color. Andrâea has dreamed about getting her first solo mission, but she never imagined that she would have to straighten her hair and go undercover as a white girl to befriend the estranged son of a dangerous white supremacist. In order to gain the boy's trust, Andrâea finds herself doing a deep dive into the world of comic books and fantasy gaming, all while trying to keep her true identity a secret from her target's adorable Latino best friend. Can Andrâea keep her head, her geek cred, and her code-switching on track to trap a terrorist? Grade 6-9