Arts

In this book originally published in the 1950s, young Peggy Grahame meets ghosts and gets involved in a mystery as she explores her family's ancestral estate.

Written with elementary school students in mind, this book tells the story of Sammy Lee, a Korean-American kid who discovered competitive diving when he was a kid. But he couldn't practice much: His Fresno, Calif., hometown was segregated, and "colored" people were restricted to one day a week at the public pool — which was then drained, cleaned, refilled and off limits until the following week.

Washington Post columnist for kids John Kelly offers these selections as a fun alternative to the usual summer reading-list fare.

The police have captured career criminal Montmorency. In the process he has been grievously wounded and it is up to a young surgeon to treat his wounds. During his recovery Montmorency learns of the city's new sewer system and sees in it the perfect underground highway for his thievery.

This story, recommended for fans of Harry Potter, tells the adventures of sorcerer Ged and the difficult tests he must face before he can attempt to re-establish the balance of power in his world.

In this summer book pick for kids, a boy grows tired of his apprenticeship to a magician which seems to consist mainly of polishing wands and washing rabbits.

"First catch your dragon" is the initial step in this loopy tale of Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III, "a smallish Viking with a long name." Read an excerpt from this title, part of our summer reading picks for kids.

Author Jon Scieszka is intent on producing books that are an antidote to the dusty titles that populate summer reading lists. Here, kid-lit characters come to life when a summer reading list from school is accidentally put inside a magic book.