Summer Reads 2026 from Publishers Weekly Publishers Weekly

Change of Plans

Sarah Dessen (Simon & Schuster)

In Dessen’s bighearted, delightfully layered romance, a recent high school graduate’s summer is upended when last-minute changes see her spending two weeks at her emotionally distant mother’s lakeside vacation home. Seeking distraction following a breakup and a cellphone mishap, the teen immerses herself in the rural town’s laid-back, vividly realized atmosphere, finding new love along the way. The result is a fortifying portrayal of a vulnerable protagonist reckoning with her skewed self-perception.

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Medicine Wheels

Byron Graves (Heartdrum)

After his mother is arrested, a teenager moves in with his grandparents on the Wolf Creek reservation, where he helps organize against a pipeline, prepares for a skateboarding competition, and navigates first love, events conveyed via organic dialogue and fully fleshed out characters. Skateboarding sequences carry electric energy, and the well-wrought activism plotline underscores challenges faced by Indigenous communities, adding depth to Graves’s memorable and heartfelt portrait of finding balance on and off the board.

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Rebellious: The Story of Keith Haring in 12 Pictures

Michael G. Long (Norton)

Across this exuberant and uplifting biography, Long chronicles the journey of activist and artist Keith Haring from rural Pennsylvania unknown to international star. Scans of Haring’s works shape the narrative, which introduces him as an unrepentant creative who crafted vibrant pieces addressing social injustice for “hundreds of millions of everyday people.” This lively nonfiction work encourages teens to more closely observe and engage with their surroundings as a means to spark creativity and connection.

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The Secret World of Briar Rose

Cindy Pham (Kokila)

A cynical teen stumbles through a portal that transports her into a fabled princess’s psyche in this cathartic debut, a queer fantasy riff on “Sleeping Beauty.” Not all is as it seems in the princess’s sunny subconscious, which YouTuber Pham relays via evocative prose that intercuts present-day events with chapters chronicling the legend of the slumbering royal. Psychologically complex characters navigate a hope-fueled, twist-riddled plot, coalescing in an empathetic story of identity, forgiveness, and mental health.

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To Dance the Moon and Stars

Tasia MS and Barbara Perez Marquez (Joy Revolution)

A high priestess-in-training living in a kingdom where dancing is forbidden struggles to reconcile her responsibility to her family’s legacy as servants to the gods with her passion for dance. Readers will be transfixed by the lush botanicals, glowing lanterns, and shimmering stars of Perez Marquez and debut creator MS’s dazzling graphic novel romantasy, whose visuals are influenced by Indian dance forms.

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Young World

Soman Chainani (Random House)

A teen’s attempt to impress his crush kicks off a series of events that result in his being voted into the White House in Chainani’s exhilarating YA debut, throughout which characters sling profane humor and jockey for power by leveraging popular-kid or mean-girl energy. A cloak-and-dagger climax turns this campy thought experiment into a madcap thriller and a searing, uncanny reflection on what can happen when one confronts the status quo.

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