Spring fever has settled in on Air Academy High School, and soon enough, summer will be upon us. To some, reading in the middle summer is the last thing on a teenager’s to do list. But for those of us who love nothing more than to sit in the hot summer sun and enjoy a quality book, I have a list of the best couch cuddlers. Like everyone, I struggle with finding those truly fantastic books to read, but I’ve asked around for suggestions and given a few of my own personal favorites! These books try your emotions and test your perspectives; and trust me, in the end, they’re all worth it.

The Cuckoo’s Calling

The police ruled Cuckoo’s death a suicide, but her boyfriend and her brother suspect murder. This crime fiction novel is truly a nail biter. J.K. Rowling is known most famously for her Harry Potter series, and if you liked her creativity and plot lines the first time, why not try something new for a change?

The Roar

A low reading level book, The Roar is about an animal plague that causes animals to go crazy and kill everyone. The governments respond by putting everyone behind a gigantic concrete wall at a latitude in the northern hemisphere of the world. What happens to a mass population in isolation? What limitations will become the tipping point? Due to overpopulation, children begin to mutate and are being used by the government for something that is over everyone’s head; but why? Read it and find out!

Catcher in the Rye

Holden Caulfield gets kicked out of Pency, an all boy’s boarding school (and trust me this isn’t the first school he’s been expelled from), but before he goes home to break the news to his already-let-down parents, Holden decides to take a long weekend alone to himself in New York City. As one of my personal all-time-favorites, I can guarantee you that in this book are words which take you back in time. By the time I finished, J.D. Salinger had me convinced I was born to live in the 60’s. Catcher in the Rye is one of those books you can just pick up and read over and over again, from any point in the book. Open it up from anywhere, middle, beginning, end, it doesn’t matter, and wherever you are is the best part of the book. It’s that good.

The Book Thief

Imagine a book where Death is the narrator. Death tells the story of a girl in Munich who is scrounging for survival, or moreover, learning how words possess a kindred friendship that offer refuge in the midst of World War II.  With words, Liesel is saved. The movie rendition of The Book Thief received great ratings, but personally, I would prefer to read the book first. It’s always better that way.

Looking for Alaska

We’re all teenagers, and it’s hard NOT to relate to a boy who is stuck in the middle of a teenage romance while trying to grow up at the same time. (Warning: book contains mature themes). Miles Halter attends a boarding school and, as Kayla Wiitala says, “That’s about all you can really know going in to the book because it’s all based on something that happened in the very beginning, but I can’t tell you because then it will spoil the whole book.” So just read it.

The Fault in Our Stars

Hazel and Gus are starcrossed teenage lovers who find each other in the darkest of times. Just as their own worlds are caving in, they find each other in a cancer support group in the Literal Heart of Jesus (you’ll understand me when you read it). The two terminally ill teenagers will no doubt have you crying your eyes out in no time. John Green creates characters who become so real in your imagination that you feel like they’re your best friends and you wish you could do something to help them, but you can’t because they’re just letters assembled together to form a name on a page in a book that inevitably ends.

But how? In tragedy? In hope? In happily ever after? Find out for yourselves this summer! Happy Summer Kadets!