Books
Sarah Ockler's 'The Summer of Chasing Mermaids' And 19 Other Summer Book Covers That Will Make You Want To Vacation Forever
Young adult author Sarah Ockler knows there's something magical about summer — just look at her most famous novel Twenty Boy Summer and now her latest release The Summer of Chasing Mermaids . She captures those summer love (or fling), barefoot in the sand, splashing in the waves, teenage summers that we all have glowing in sunshine in our memories.
June's The Summer of Chasing Mermaids definitely has that summer magic — it's even set in a small Oregon coastal town named after the mythical first mermaid ever. Elyse d’Abreau is the youngest of six songstress singers, until a tragedy takes her voice. (Starting to sound a little familiar, The Little Mermaid fans?) She travels from her home in Tobago to this Oregon town where she meets Christian Kane, a prince in the high school sort of way. Elyse forms an unexpected bond with playboy Christian, but things get super interesting when Christian's younger brother believes that Elyse is that mythical mermaid come to land.
Mermaids, sailing, beaches, and a summer romance? Yes, this is definitely a book you will need in your hand on your summer vacation this year. And you could practically put its cover as the visual under "summer" in the dictionary. Don't take my word for it; give it a look. And while you're at it, there are 19 other perfectly summer book covers you'll have to pry your eyes away from in order to, you know, actually read the book.
'Summer of Chasing Mermaids' by Sarah Ockler
The shells, the sand, the sea glass, the starfish, the open copy of Moby Dick — be still my summer loving heart. This cover is absolute summer perfection.
'This One Summer' by Mariko and Jillian Tamaki
Jillian Tamaki’s stunning cover illustration perfectly captures the childhood summer spirit that the whole book encapsulates. Can’t you just feel the energy of leaping off a dock into the ocean? I’m practically plugging my nose right now.
'The Summer I Turned Pretty' by Jenny Han
It’s really all about the glow on Belly’s face that makes The Summer I Turned Pretty’s epic summer cover. Oh and, for the record, #TeamConrad forever.
'The Vacationers' by Emma Straub
I have probably never said this sentence before, but I want to jump in and swim on this book’s cover.
'One Crazy Summer' by Rita Williams-Garcia
One Crazy Summer perfectly captures that sticky city summer heat with the ruddy background coloring. But seriously, if Rita Williams-Garcia wins any more awards we wouldn’t even know it.
'The End of Everything' by Megan Abbott
Megan Abott scored with two top-notch summer covers. In fact it looks like the left is the direct result of sitting out in the hot sun too long on the right.
'Summer Crossing' by Truman Capote
Grady’s “casual” beach outfit on this cover is absolutely everything.
'We Were Liars' by E. Lockhart
Forget the devastation and twists of the book and instead focus on this nostalgia-inducing image of BFF fun in the ocean with the cloudy feeling of being waterlogged and having too much sun.
'Juniors' by Kaui Hart Hemmings
Kaui Hart Hemmings, who also wrote The Descendants , is famous for putting her home of Hawaii front and center in her stories, but this cover is giving me so much travel envy that I now am mad at her. (JK, never Kaui. Never.)
'Single, Carefree, Mellow' by Katherine Heiny
I can’t even imagine a more summer cover than Single, Carefree, Mellow . It’s an embodiment of the three titular adjectives, even when Katherine Heiny’s short stories aren’t always. And also, what a great bathing suit top, I wonder where the fictional character bought it.
'All the Summer Girls' by Meg Donohue
The Jersey Shore manages to look far less clubby and far more relaxing in All the Summer Girls , and I am all. About. It.
'Tender Is the Night' by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Don’t you wish we could go back to the days when proper men’s swim attire looked like Tender Is the Night’s Dick Diver? Is it me? Even so, let’s all look into the South of France horizon with this glamorous couple.
'The Land of Love and Drowning' by Tiphanie Yanique
The Virgin Islands come alive on Tiphanie Yanique’s cover, and the silhouettes seem like they are moving to the rhythm of some unheard music that I desperately want to be a part of.
'Second Chance Summer' by Morgan Matson
How is it that every single book cover for Second Chance Summer manages to put me in the summer spirit for entirely different reasons? There’s the fun-loving, laughing, dockside cover. The bright, summer cabins and movies cover. And of course, the nostalgic, dreamy summer cover. Applause to everyone involved.
'Big Sur' by Jack Kerouac
Jack Kerouac may be best known for road trips down Route 66, but Big Sur , and its cover, will practically make you hear the sounds of waves in the Pacific Ocean. And hello, summer whites.
'The Disenchantments' by Nina LaCour
All I want is this rainbow t-shirt and the red sunglasses for my own road trip through the Pacific Northwest this summer just like The Disenchantments heroine Colby.
'The Last Summer of the Camperdowns' by Elizabeth Kelly
As a child of New England beaches, the lush dune grass with the top of a cottage peaking through immediately transports me to the National Seashore of Cape Cod, and there’s nothing more I could ask for in a summertime cover.
'Don't Fail Me Now' by Una LaMarche
I know, Don’t Fail Me Now hasn’t even come out yet, but I’m still head over heels for Una LaMarche’s newest cover. The sunglasses, sunbeams, smiling is perfection and the bright colors don’t hurt either. Basically, I want to be this cover model right now.
'Sleepaway Girls' by Jen Calonita
I have to admit that I missed out on the singular summertime pleasure of sleepaway camp, but still there’s something about Jen Calonita’s cover that tugs at my seasonal heartstrings.
