Summer is the best time to find that perfect spot of shade under a large tree, or snuggle up with a comfy blanket on your favorite chair and read a good book. If you’re looking for something extra cozy to read this summer, here are a few cozy middle grade reads published in the last few years that will warm your heart.
A Spoonful of Time by Flora Ahn
A middle grade novel in which time travel, family recipes, and family secrets collide.
There’s something almost magical about the way Maya’s grandmother cooks–and although Halmunee may be losing her memory, she always knows how to make the most delicious gimbap. Maya doesn’t remember her family’s old life in Korea, but she learns new recipes and stories when they cook together–stories that Maya’s mom would prefer stayed in the past, especially if they involve Maya’s father.
One summer day, as Maya and Halmunee are making patbingsu, something unbelievable happens: a single delicious bite transports Maya and Halmunee back in time, into the memory itself. Halmunee explains that their family has the ability to time travel through food–and Maya can do it too, if she practices.
As she eats her way through the past, Maya tries to unravel the mystery of what life was like in Korea, and what really happened to her dad. She learns that time moves in ways she couldn’t imagine . . . and that sometimes, families keep secrets to protect the ones they love.
Just Gus by McCall Hoyle 
A boy and his dog learn that they are better together.
Gus is a livestock guardian dog with one job—protecting his farm from coyotes and foxes. He likes keeping the sheep, the chickens, and his humans safe, and he’s very good at it.
One day, Diego and his dad come to visit the farm, and Gus immediately connects to the small boy. They both like to sit still and enjoy the quiet, and Gus can tell that Diego likes being around a gentle giant of a dog, that it helps relieve the boy’s constant worry.
When Gus detects the scent of a bear in the woods, he rushes to protect his flock, injuring his leg in a fight with the dangerous beast. Wounded, Gus needs to rest and heal away from his sheep, so he doesn’t risk reinjuring his leg. Diego suggests Gus come home with them to the North Carolina coast.
Suddenly, Gus is thrust into a new world of saltwater and sand and neighbors who don’t appreciate the presence of a large guard dog, like the neighbor who reminds Gus of his first owner—the junkyard man with the heavy boots.
Gus realizes Diego might need a friend as much as his sheep need a protector, but if he can’t learn to control his instincts, like barking and patrolling the neighborhood, Gus might lose his chance to stay in his new home. If he can’t protect the farm or his boy, Gus worries he might never find his place in the world.
Just Gus is a tender story of belonging and of two friends who learn they are better together than they were alone.
Unsinkable Cayenne by Jessica Vitalis
When her unconventional parents finally agree to settle down in one place, twelve-year-old Cayenne’s dreams come true—but the reality of fitting in is much harder than she imagined. Acclaimed author Jessica Vitalis crafts an unforgettable historical novel-in-verse about belonging, family, and social class for fans of Lisa Fipps’s Starfish and Jasmine Warga’s Other Words for Home.
Cayenne and her family drift from place to place, living in their van. It hasn’t been a bad life—Cayenne and her mother birdwatch in every new location, they have a cozy setup in the van, and they sing and dance and bond over campfires most nights. But they’ve never belonged anywhere.As Cayenne enters seventh grade, her parents decide to settle down in a small Montana town. Cayenne hopes that this means she will finally fit in and make some friends. But it turns out that staying in one place isn’t easy.
As her social studies class studies the Titanic tragedy (the wreckage has just been discovered and her teacher is obsessed), Cayenne sees more and more parallels between the social strata of the infamous ship and her own life. Will she ever squeeze her way into the popular girls’ clique, even though they live in fancy houses on the hill, and she lives in a tiny, rundown home with chickens in the front yard? Is it possible that the rich boy she likes actually likes her back? Can she find a way to make room for herself in this town? Does she really want to? Maybe being “normal” isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.
Unsinkable Cayenne is a character-driven novel-in-verse about family, friendship, first crushes, and fitting in.
Ways to Make Sunshine by Renée Watson, Niña Mata (Illustrator) 
Ryan Hart loves to spend time with her friends, loves to invent recipes, and has a lot on her mind—school, self-image, and family. Her dad finally has a new job, but money is tight. That means changes like selling their second car and moving into a new (old) house.
But Ryan is a girl who knows how to make sunshine out of setbacks. Because Ryan is all about trying to see the best. Even when things aren’t all she would wish for—her brother is infuriating, her parents don’t understand, when her recipes don’t turn out right, and when the unexpected occurs—she can find a way forward, with wit and plenty of sunshine.
Ferris by Kate DiCamillo
A Heartfelt and Humorous Middle-Grade Coming-of-Age Novel About Family, Ghosts, and Growing Up
It’s the summer before fifth grade, and for Ferris Wilkey, it is a summer of sheer pandemonium: Her little sister, Pinky, has vowed to become an outlaw. Uncle Ted has left Aunt Shirley and, to Ferris’s mother’s chagrin, is holed up in the Wilkey basement to paint a history of the world. And Charisse, Ferris’s grandmother, has started seeing a ghost at the threshold of her room, which seems like an alarming omen given that she is also feeling unwell.
But the ghost is not there to usher Charisse to the Great Beyond. Rather, she has other plans—wild, impractical, illuminating plans. How can Ferris satisfy a specter with Pinky terrorizing the town, Uncle Ted sending Ferris to spy on her aunt, and her father battling an invasion of raccoons?
As Charisse likes to say, “Every good story is a love story.”
The Blossoming Summer by Anna Rose Johnson (Coming this July) 
When English thirteen-year-old Rosemary is evacuated to her grandmother in America at the start of World War II, she uncovers the family secret—they are Anishinaabe and passing as white.
Life in England is all Rosemary has ever known. . . but as WWII changes the world, no one’s life is left unscathed. Suddenly, she’s sent away to escape the devastation of London. Her grandmother’s house on Lake Superior is safe, but unfamiliar, especially as she discovers her parents have kept a tremendous secret.
Rosemary and her family are Anishinaabe—and no one is supposed to know.
Far from home but newly connected to a once-hidden part of her family, Rosemary develops a warm, close relationship with her grandmother… and a local boy whose love of gardening helps her to see the beauty in her unexpected circumstances. As Rosemary grows into her new life like a flower in bloom, she realizes that maybe she’s not as far from home as she thought.
Tender, sophisticated, and sweet, this is a beautiful story about memory, family, and identity. Rising Ojibwe author Anna Rose Johnson addresses the trauma of World War II and the legacies of hidden indigeneity alongside coming-of-age milestones like first crushes, new schools, and beginning to imagine the life you want.
Exactly one year ago today, my greatest author achievement was unlocked as SKYLIGHT, my debut middle grade fantasy novel, became officially published. I had high hopes and to be completely honest, the moment felt extremely surreal. Truthfully speaking, even a year later, it still feels like a dream to say, “I’m a published author!”
Lynne: It’s been in the works for a long time. Parts of it I wrote 10 years ago. The setting is made up from different coastal towns in Texas, including Indianola. That town was pummeled by two hurricanes in the late 1800’s and is now a ghost town. Much of the old town is now underwater. In the book, the main character, Max, is a sweet compassionate kid, but his father is an overbearing politician and car salesman. They also look alike. So when Max travels to the beach with his mother, it’s a welcome change from the pressures of trying to fulfill what others have planned for him – like being a football star.
Lynne: I watched documentaries, then got to meet octopuses at various aquariums, including Houston Zoo. At the zoo, I did a behind-the-scenes tour where I could meet them. In one instance, one of my hands was being pulled into a tank by an octopus while my other hand took pictures. The ones I met were Giant Pacific. They’re the ones most people think of even though it’s not the one in the book. They are huge. At the Houston Zoo, the octopus didn’t have a name so I named her Ursula. I used the same name in my book. Max thinks the octopus he finds looks like a deflated volleyball, so it’s smaller than the ones most people see in public aquariums.
Lynne: I’d written about mammals before but octopuses are so different. They’re good puzzle solvers. I was reading about their brains. It’s almost as if they have nine brains. There is a central brain, and each arm has its own brain. They can hunt for food with one arm while punching an animal with the other. They don’t have long lives. They live about 3 years. And they don’t grow up with examples, so their behavior has to be instinctual. Their fathers die after mating. Their mothers watch over the eggs then dies when they hatch.
Lynne: Max hangs out at the center. He’d grabbed post-storm debris for a makeshift tank while he searched for help. He meets Emmett, who suggests they take her to a beach house, which is the wildlife care center. Inside they see injured animals such as sea gulls, pelicans, and a sea turtle with a cracked shell. The center names the animals after book characters. They have a tank big enough to care for the octopus until she’ll be strong enough release back to the environment. Octopuses have escaped, so they have to weigh down the lid. They also have a lot of hatchlings. Some have hundreds, others have tens of thousands. Most will not make it which may be why octopuses have so many eggs.
