Whether you’re a kid or an adult, summer just isn’t summer without great books! Recently, I shared a list of 15 diverse picture books that are perfect for summer reading. Today, I’m focusing on the “big kids” who are looking for chapter books. These multicultural reads just might inspire your child to hide under the covers with a flashlight so that they can keep reading after bedtime.

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15 Multicultural Chapter Books That Are Perfect Summer Reads

Yasmin the Gardener by Saadia Faruqi and Hatem Aly

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The Yasmin series is perfect for new readers who are ready to tackle simple chapter books.

When Baba announces that it’s the perfect time to plant a garden, Yasmin wants to know how she can help. Even though she does everything she can think of for her plants, they still wilt. How will she figure out how to be “a good mama” to her plants?

Includes Urdu vocabulary, fun facts about Pakistan, and a garden activity. (Recommended for ages 5 – 7, #ownvoices)

Related Post: The best diverse easy reader chapter book series for kids

Stories from Around the World: Tales of Friendship and Loyalty

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This set of 4 short chapter books is the first thing my kiddo started reading once we were officially done with the school reader for the year. Some of the stories are funny, while others feature mystery and magic. It’s hard to choose my favorite in the set, but it’s probably The Terrible Chenoo, an Alonquian tale about a clever woman who convinces a frightening monster that he’s actually a long lost relative. Additional stories in the set are from South Africa, Chile, and Russia. (Recommended for ages 6 – 8)

Related Post: 8 engaging chapter books about American Indians for kids ages 8 – 12

Julian’s Glorious Summer by Ann Cameron

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This series is an oldie but goodie, and my family loves giggling at the misfortunes Julian gets himself into. He’s is always getting himself into hilarious trouble because of the stories he invents.

When his best friend Gloria gets a bicycle, Julian doesn’t want to admit that he’s afraid of learning to ride. Instead, he tells Gloria that his father is keeping him working from sun up to sun down with a long list of chores. When his father finds out about the fib, he decides to test how long it will take Julian to admit the truth. (Recommended for ages 7 – 9)

Lola Levine and the Vacation Dream by Monica Brown and Angela Dominguez

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I’ve recommended books in this series before, because my kiddo can’t get enough of them!

Big vacations don’t usually happen for the Levine family. But when Daddy sells a lot of his paintings at an art show, they can finally take a trip to Peru, where Lola’s mother grew up.

Lola can’t wait to spend time with her Tía (who she’s named after.) She’ll finally be able to eat one of the sweet Peruvian mangoes Mom talks about all the time, and maybe she’ll even get to pet a llama! (Recommended for ages 6 – 8, #ownvoices)

Related Post: 8 diverse chapter book series for early readers

Nikki and Deja by Karen English and Laura Freeman

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When our library closed due to the pandemic, finding Karen English’s ebooks on the Libby app thrilled my son. Nikki and Deja are best friends who live next door to each other. Between school and home they spend tons of time together – but that doesn’t mean they always get along!

In this first book in the series, a new girl arrives on the block and in their class at Carver Elementary. She seems snobby, so Nikki and Deja decide to start a club without her. Their plan backfires, leaving them with a big problem to solve. (Recommended for ages 6 – 8, #ownvoices)

Dog Days: The Carver Chronicles Volume I by Karen English and Laura Freeman

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This was the first Karen English book that got my kiddo hooked on her work. While the Nikki and Deja books mostly focus on the girls in Ms. Shelby Ortiz’s class at Carver Elementary, the Carver Chronicles mostly focus on the boys of the class.

Gavin’s new at the school, which is always tough. At least he’s made a new friend in Richard. But when Richard comes over, the boys get in trouble almost right away. Soon, Gavin is spending all his time after school walking his great aunt’s annoying dog to earn money for something special that he and Richard broke.

I love how English’s books are funny, while giving gentle lessons about judging people too soon (without being preachy.) (Recommended for ages 7 – 9, #ownvoices)

The Buried Bones Mystery by Sharon Draper and Jesse Joshua Watson

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We’ve only read the first book in this chapter book series, but I know we’ll be reading more! Ziggy, Rico, Rashawn, and Jerome all live in the same neighborhood and love to hang out, yet they have very different personalities.

When the neighborhood basketball  court is destroyed, the boys decide to form a club called the Black Dinosaurs and solve mysteries. After building a clubhouse they can call their own, things get interesting. As they try to solve the mystery of the buried bones (without the adults around them knowing what they’re doing), they learn a lot about their community and Black history too. (Recommended for ages 8 – 12, #ownvoices)

The Phoenix on Barkley Street by Zetta Elliott

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After loving Zetta Elliott’s Dragons in a Bag series, we decided to start her City Kids series.

Carlos and Tariq love playing in the neighborhood playground, but when the big boys take it over, they have to find somewhere else to hang out. The yard of an abandoned house nearby seems like a great secret hide-out, until the boys discover that an ancient phoenix already lives there.

This book combines fantasy, city life, and life lessons about standing up to bullies in a compelling way. (Recommended for ages 7 – 10, #ownvoices)

Related Post: 13 diverse children’s books about dragons

How Tía Lola Saved the Summer by Julia Alvarez

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This is the perfect chapter book for our quarantine summer, when many summer camps are closed.

Miguel isn’t thrilled that another family is moving in with them for the summer. But when Tía Lola announces that they’re going to have their own summer camp – and a magical one at that – things start to look up. Lola has to assure the younger children that the scavenger hunt that starts the camp won’t be scary. But that doesn’t mean it can’t be mysterious! (Recommended for ages 8 – 12, #ownvoices)

The Little Human by Marti Dumas

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What makes better summer  reading than a chapter book about mermaids? Though Dumas’ book is inspired by The Little Mermaid, you’ll find strong women and girls in this story.

Ten year old Amaya loves the ocean, and she’s an excellent swimmer. She longs to swim in the ocean, but her parents remind her that’s different from swimming in a pool. When her father finally gives her permission, she suddenly finds herself in much deeper waters than she was expecting. Amaya knows her father will be worried if she doesn’t emerge from the ocean right away, but there’s so much to explore.

There’s so much to love about this book. The way that Dumas blends science into  a fantasy story. The refusal to paint any character as purely good or purely evil. And, of course, mermaids! (Recommended for ages 8 – 12, #ownvoices)

Dacytl Hill Squad by Daniel José Older

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This series has an unusual but oddly compelling premise. Set in New York during the Civil War, a group of children from the Colored Orphan Asylum are kidnapped by an evil magistrate.

Magdalys and a few of her friends who managed to evade being captured run away, settling in the Dactyl Hill neighborhood of Brooklyn. Black and brown New Yorkers have created a safe haven there, and the children soon join their Vigilance Committee. As they ride the backs of dinosaurs, they search for their missing friends and plot how to take down Magistrate Riker.

This is a complex book that blends historical figures with fantasy, starring children who manage to find bravery in the midst of their own fears and doubts. (Recommended for ages 10+, #ownvoices)

The Parker Inheritance by Varian Johnson

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Kids can sometimes have trouble understanding that in the timelines of our nation’s history, Jim Crow segregation ended not that long ago. The Parker Inheritance, a mystery novel of sorts, helps bring that truth home. Fans of books filled with clues like The Westing Game will love this one!

Candice’s grandmother was the first Black city manager for the small city of Lambert, South Carolina. But she was pushed out of her job after she did something no one in town could make sense of. Candice doesn’t understand either, until she finds a letter addressed to her grandmother about Siobhan Washington, a young Black woman who was forced out of Lambert in the 1950’s. Candice has to know more.

The letter promises a reward to anyone who can solve a puzzle related to the injustice Washington experienced. As Candice and her friend Brandon investigate, they not only uncover ugly truths about Lambert’s past. They also see how the legacy of racism continues in the community today. (Recommended for ages 10+, #ownvoices)

Related Post: 18 powerful children’s books about race and racism

Mango Delight by Fracaswell Hyman

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Seventh grade is hard for most kids. When you add in being one of the few girls who doesn’t have a cell phone (in a school where the mean girls group is called the Cell Belles), it’s even harder. At least heroine Mango Delight has a best friend who is cell phone-less. When that changes, her friendship with Brook changes rapidly too.

After an accident with Brook’s cell phone, Mango finds herself suspended from track, her favorite thing. She’s soon wrestling with jealousy, feeling responsible for her parents’ money problems, and wondering whether it’s okay to use someone who’s hurt you. (Recommended for ages 10+, #ownvoices)

The Only Black Girls in Town by Brandy Colbert

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Another novel about navigating changing  middle school  friendships, Colbert’s book stars Alberta, who’s always been the only Black girl in her grade in their small California  beach town. When  a new family moves onto the street, Alberta is delighted to find that they’re Black and that the daughter is also 12!

At first, it’s not clear how much sunny Alberta and goth Edie will have in common. But Alberta soon finds that Edie can understand things that her best friend Laramie can’t. When Laramie starts cozying up to a mean girl who’s always made Alberta’s life miserable,  she’s baffled. But a set of journals that Edie finds in her attic provide an engrossing distraction, as both girls try to solve a mystery of who wrote them. (Recommended for ages 10+, #ownvoices)

One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia

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Delphine, Vonetta, and Fern have been raised by their father and grandmother in New York ever since their mother Cecile left them. But in the summer of 1968, Papa decides its times for them to get to know their mother. The girls fly out to Oakland, hoping to finally experience all the things a mother is supposed to provide.

But Cecile makes no secret of the fact that she didn’t want the girls to visit. When they ask for breakfast, she tells them to go down to the Black Panther Party’s summer camp. The girls are used to their southern grandmother’s efforts to make them act “respectable” in public, so at first much of what they learn from the Black Panthers is jarring. Gradually though, the messages of self respect and power for the people shape the girls’ understanding of who they are, and who their mother is. (Recommended for ages 10+, #ownvoices)