Anna-Jane and the Endless Summer by Paige Classey

 

Anna-Jane is excited to return to summer camp where she will see her best friend and enjoy being one of the older campers. The summer starts off as usual, but takes a dystopian turn when the camp is cut off from outside communication and no one shows up to pick up their kids. The campers and counselors are on their own, first to survive, and finally to figure out if it is safe to venture outside of the camp to discover what has happened to humanity. Middle school kids love survival stories, and Alone by Megan Freeman has been a big favorite in the last few years. Like Alone, this book is a novel in verse that has a fast-moving plot that will keep readers in suspense right up to the end. The book balances issues of friendship and crushes with the larger issues of how groups of people act in a crisis. This is going to be a big hit in middle school libraries and is highly recommended.