Summer Reading For Parents

Disclaimer by Renée Knight

Coined the "Gone Girl" of this summer and named a New York Times bestseller, Reneé Knight’s mystery page-turner has emerged as one of this season's must-read books.Step into the world of Catherine Ravenscroft as she discovers a novel in her home and quickly recognizes herself as the protagonist. The book, Catherine finds, titled "The Perfect Stranger," reveals a secret that she's has been keeping for 20 years, and the disclaimer “Any resemblance to persons living or dead” is crossed out with red ink. As she relives her worst nightmare, Catherine attempts to figure out who wrote the book and must face a past she planned on keeping buried forever.

Girl at War by Sara Novic

Entrapped in warfare as the former Yugoslavia dissipates and her world rapidly flips upside down, 10-year old Ana Juric is violently separated from her parents in Croatia and pushed into the center of the conflict as a child soldier. Juric’s narration flips between her traumatic childhood and a decade later in 2001, when she is attending NYU and spending time with her younger sister, who has already been in the United States for years. In this heartbreakingly beautiful story, Novic seamlessly ties Juric’s experiences in Croatia with her time in New York City and brings facets of her life, both familiar and foreign, to life in this stellar debut novel.

In the Country by Mia Alvar

In Mia Alvar’s debut short story collection, nine “exiles, emigrants, and wanderers” make their way from the Philippines and scatter across the globe from the United States to the Middle East. In moving stories of loss, displacement and compassion, readers follow a pharmacist in New York as he smuggles drugs to his sick father, a dedicated Filipina teacher in Bahrain, and others on their journeys around the world.

In The Unlikely Event by Judy Blume

After a 17-year hiatus, young-adult author Judy Blume has emerged with a new novel for adults set in Elizabeth, New Jersey in the 1950s. With Mimi Ammerman, a ninth-grade Jewish girl, as the protagonist, Blume, who also grew up in Elizabeth, sticks closely to her own life story in her latest novel. Focused on a small community in suburban New Jersey, Blume unpacks the intricacies of resilience in the face of tragedy while taking readers in a time machine back to the Cold War era.

The Light of the World: A Memoir by Elizabeth Alexander

Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Elizabeth Alexander unpacks her grieving in a painstakingly beautiful narrative following the premature death of her 50-year-old husband. While continuing to raise two sons and persevering in the face of a devastating loss, Alexander attempts to find meaning in tragedy in this raw memoir.The Light of the World explores the meaning of loss in the context of marriage, love and motherhood.

Listen to Your Mother: What She Said Then, What We're Saying Now edited by Ann Imig

Listen to Your Mother is an honest, hilarious and at times, heartbreaking collection of short stories from moms all over the country. With contributors like Jenny Lawson and Jennifer Weiner, both #1 New York Times bestsellers, this anthology explores the intricacies of motherhood in its purest forms. Hitting topics like infertility, empty nesting, LGBTQ parenting, step-motherhood and so many more, moms of different racial, ethnic, gender and age backgrounds write about their shared experiences of motherhood in this important read.

Primates of Park Avenue: A Memoir by Wednesday Martin

It seems like everyone's talking about Wednesday Martin's anthropological study /memoir about her experiences in parenting among Manhattan's Upper East Side superrich (the film rights have already been acquired.) After relocating from downtown in search of a good public school for her son, Martin quickly discovers that just a few miles north exists an entirely different society than the one she previously knew. From navigating the complex social hierarchy to deconstructing Lululemon mania, the Midwestern-born author joins adds her voice to the current pop culture fixation the UES elite.

Re Jane by Patricia Park

When Jane lands herself a new life as an au pair for two Brooklyn academics and their adopted Chinese daughter she is thrilled to be leaving her aunt and uncle’s home in Queens, and quickly becomes enticed by the world of food co-ops and feminism. However, when Jane Re, a half-Korean, half-white orphan, returns to Seoul following an unexpected family tragedy, she is forced to reconnect with family and explore where she truly belongs. In "Re Jane," Patricia Park captures audiences with her energy, edge and original debut novel.

Saint Mazie by Jami Attenberg

Loosely based on the life of Mazie Phillips, “Queen of the Bowery,” Attenberg brings the beloved icon’s swagger back to life through a deep character exploration in "Saint Mazie." Mazie ruled Manhattan’s Lower East Side with charisma and charm during the Great Depression era, selling tickets at the historic Venice Theater on Park Row and notoriously aiding the homeless with a quarter and piece of advice. Made famous in a 1940 profile piece by Joseph Mitchell in The New Yorker, the heavy drinker and larger-than-life legend lives on in this nostalgic trip back to old New York.

Sick in the Head: Conversations About Life and Comedy by Judd Apatow

In a compilation of interviews with some of the most influential comedic voices of this generation, Judd Apatow has stitched together an anthology of anecdotes and insights into the lives of A-list comedians, actors and writers. From Jon Stewart to Lena Dunham, Apatow includes conversations dating back to 1983 (when he was just a comedy-obsessed teen) with the likes of Jerry Seinfeld and others that are guaranteed to leave you laughing. Among the celebrated cast in "Sick in the Head" are notables such as Chris Rock, Larry David, Mel Brooks and Louis CK.

The Star Side of Bird Hill by Naomi Jackson

Jumping from Brooklyn to Barbados, Naomi Jackson’s breakout novel follows the lives of young sisters Phaedra and Dionne, after they are displaced from their New York City home to live with their grandmother in Bird Hill, Barbados for the summer of 1989. In this beautiful coming of age story, Jackson tactfully explores the intricate relationship between the children’s grandmother, Hyacinth, a midwife and devout follower of Obeah, and Phaedra and Dionne. Jackson’s characters drive the plot forward as Phaedra, Dionne and Hyacinth learn to live with one another in the sisters’ new home.