Now that school is out, it’s time for stay-at-home parents to begin contemplating a solution to the ever-vexing declaration, “Mom/Dad, I’m boooored.” You can always plug your young teens and older children into a summer sports program, or take them to the nearest water park or family fun center. But what if you could give them something that would keep them out of your hair for days at a time while simultaneously improving an essential life skill?

Let books be your greatest ally this summer. Reading is fun for kids, and good for them, too. It’s sort of like if M&Ms were actually vitamins. You can even convince your children that books are on the cutting edge of cool by having them do their reading on a Nook or Kindle or other E-reader.

To help get your kids’ summer of reading started off right, The Daily Herald recruited two local librarians, Laura Wadley of Provo City Library, and Orem Public Library’s Marilee Clark, to offer recommendations for young readers.

For readers ages 8 to 12:

“The One and Only Ivan” by Katherine Applegate

? Length: 320 pages

? Recommended reading level: Age 8 and up

Laura Wadley says: Ivan is a gorilla (“It’s not as easy as it looks”) whose “domain” is a small concrete enclosure in a shopping mall.  How he and his animal friends escape to a better life is the burden of this gentle story.

“Horten’s Miraculous Mechanisms: Magic, Mystery, & a Very Strange Adventure” by Lissa Evans

? Length: 272 pages

? Recommended reading level: Age 8 and up

Laura Wadley says: Stuart Horten is a bit of a pipsqueak — and it doesn’t help that his name is S. Horten — but his missing magician uncle has left him clues to the location of a treasure trove of magical oddments. If only Quince and the meanie Miss Jeannie don’t get there first.

“Chomp” by Carl Hiassen

? Length: 304 pages

? Recommended reading level: Age 10 and up

Laura Wadley says: When young Wahoo’s dad gets beaned by a frozen iguana, Wahoo becomes chief animal wrangler just in time to work with the dough-headed host of reality show “Expedition Survival!” — who runs off into the Everglades and gets lost.

“Planesrunner” by Ian McDonald

? Length: 269 pages

? Recommended reading level: Age 12 and up

Laura Wadley says: Everett Singh’s father is kidnapped on the streets of London, but not before he sends Everett a mysterious app: the Infundibulum. Following his father into the multiverse, Everett uses the Infundibulum to open a series of Heisenberg Gates into alternate realities. But even if he finds his father, will he be able to get back?

“Eye of the Storm” by Kate Messner

? Length: 304 pages

? Recommended reading level: Age 10 and up

Laura Wadley says: In the not-too-distant future severe storms occur daily. When Jaden Meggs is sent to stay with her meteorologist father for the summer, she finds a safe haven. Unfortunately, her safety may be at the expense of someone else’s destruction — and it may be her father’s fault.

For readers ages 13 to 17:

“Partials” by Dan Wells

? Length: 480 pages

? Recommended reading level: Age 14 and up

Marilee Clark says: Summer’s an ideal time for heart-pounding action and head-turning plot twists. “Partials” has that in spades. In a future, post-apocalyptic Eastern seaboard city, Kira Walker is a medic-in-training. With the world devastated by a mysterious disease and war with a hybrid race of humanoids called Partials, Kira is on a quest to save her people.

“The Scorpio Races” by Maggie Stiefvater

? Length: 416 pages

? Recommended reading level: Age 14 and up

Marilee Clark says: Puck Connolly and Sean Kendrick are both orphans. They are also both desperate to win the annual Scorpio Races, where local men ride magical, bloodthirsty horses that emerge from the sea every autumn. Sean’s a veteran in the races; Puck’s the first girl to have the audacity to enter. This is a masterful fantasy — subtle but thoroughly convincing, with enough exhilarating race action and slow-burning romance to satisfy readers of all tastes.

“Variant” by Robison Wells

? Length: 384 pages

? Recommended reading level: Age 13 and up

Marilee Clark says: If you haven’t read “Variant” yet, this summer’s the time to do it. The sequel, “Feedback,” comes out in the fall, and you’ll want to be ready for it. Benson is a 16-year-old foster kid who wins a scholarship to a prestigious boarding school. After being confined to campus, however, he finds there may be more danger than prestige at Maxfield Academy, and he begins to plot his escape.

“It’s a Mall World After All” by Janette Rallison

? Length: 256 pages

? Recommended reading level: Age 12 and up

Marilee Clark says: When I think of breezy, entertaining, funny summer reads, Rallison always comes to mind. She turns everyday teenage experience into madcap Lucille Ball-esque set pieces that will have you laughing out loud on the beach or by the pool. “It’s a Mall World” is my favorite, but any of her titles will tickle your funny bone.

“Everlost” by Neal Shusterman

? Length: 336 pages

? Recommended reading level: Age 12 and up

Marilee Clark says: The Skinjacker Trilogy opens with Nick and Allie, who find themselves in a limbo called Everlost after a fatal car accident. They struggle to make sense of this alternate afterlife and begin to figure out who they really are, and what the world they now inhabit is really about. Shusterman is masterful — able to blend rip-roaring adventure with explorations of big ideas like ethics and authority.