With a long summer stretching before us, most students quickly run out of things to do. On the days when you’re not chilling with your friends, working on summer assignments, or at your summer job, you may find the time to pick up one of these great books.

1. Along for the Ride By: Sarah Dessen

Along for the Ride is about a teenage girl named Auden who spends the summer at the beach with her father and his new wife. She gets a job at her stepmother’s store and meets Eli, who becomes her tour guide of the small beach town.

1. Return To Me By: Justina Chen

Return to Me is about a girl named Rebecca, who is just out of high school, and is looking forward to pursuing a career in architecture design at Columbia University. But as the end of school nears, her dad has accepted a job in New York, so her family has to move to the east coast. Then suddenly, her father leaves them, and Rebecca doesn’t know what path to follow. Now she must figure out what she really wants to do with her life.

1. The Daniel X Series By: James Patterson

The Daniel X series is about a boy named Daniel, who has the ability to create almost anything out of thin air, and even to turn himself into different animals. He is an Alien Hunter, protector of the Earth. With the help of The List, he is tracking down The Prayer, the alien who murdered his parents.

1. Hope was Here By: Joan Bauer

Hope was Here is about a 16-year-old girl named Hope who moves from New York City to Wisconsin with her aunt to be a waitress at the restaurant her aunt has been hired as a cook for. Then the owner of the restaurant, G.T, decides to run for mayor, and also becomes the father Hope never had.

1. Life of Pi By: Yann Martel

Life of Pi is a novel about a boy named Pi, whose family runs the local zoo in Pondicherry, India. He spends a lot of time around animals, and also has a broad knowledge of not only the great religious texts but of all literature, and has a great curiosity about how the world works. But when political changes rack India, his family decides to move, along with all the animals. Suddenly, their ship sinks, and only Pi survives, adrift in a lifeboat with a zebra, an orangutan, a hyena and a 450-pound Royal Bengal tiger named Richard Parker. This book was also recently made into a movie.

1.  The Ranger’s Apprentice Series By: John Flanagan

The Ranger’s Apprentice series takes place in a fantasy medieval world, were the kingdom of Araluen is broken into fiefs, and each fief is ruled by a lord, and protected by a Ranger. Fifteen year old Will doesn’t think he’s good at anything, and is surprised when he becomes the apprentice of the Redmount Ranger, Halt. But an old foe of the king has returned, and the country is in peril, and in need of Will’s help.