This summer, Seattle’s own WNBA team, the Seattle Storm, is launching a new literacy initiative: Power Forward Readers. Aided by PEMCO Insurance, the goal is to reach more than 8,000 students this summer through library partnerships and community events, with additional programming planned throughout the school year to help prevent summer learning loss.
Page Ahead is a proud partner! Through fan book drives and donations from the Storm and PEMCO, we’re helping build home libraries for kids who might not otherwise have books of their own to choose from and keep.
“When kids see Storm players talking about the books they love, reading starts to feel exciting instead of like a school assignment,” said Susan Dibble, Page Ahead’s executive director. “We’re glad to be part of a partnership that makes reading feel like something worth celebrating.”
Join us on August 14
The Storm will be hosting their inaugural book drive for Page Ahead at the game on August 14 against the Portland Fire, and we’d love to see you there! Volunteers will be collecting donations outside the arena, and inside, we’ll have a “Sponsor-a-Book” table where you can browse a variety of titles and choose one to sponsor, contributing directly to a child’s home library in our community.
Whether you stop by before tip-off or pick up a book during the game, you’ll be helping put a book directly into a Seattle kid’s hands.
We’re grateful to the Storm and PEMCO for putting books into kids’ hands this summer, and for using their platform to show young readers, especially those who see themselves reflected in Storm players, that reading is worth celebrating.
At Page Ahead, we spend our days thinking about how to get great books into kids’ hands. So, we asked the people who make that work possible to share a book that’s on their own nightstands this summer.
Kids learn to love reading by watching the adults around them do it. These selections are what we’re enjoying as readers, because modeling that love of reading is part of how we build a culture of literacy too.
Nicole (board member) has been reading the Dungeon Crawler Carl series by Matt Dinniman. She says, “The story follows an ordinary man named Carl and his ex-girlfriend’s cat, Princess Donut, who are forced to survive a deadly, intergalactic game show after Earth is destroyed and transformed into a massive dungeon. It’s an incredibly engaging series I’ve really enjoyed diving into this summer.”
Laura (staff) just finished The Fortunes of Jaded Women by Carolyn Huynh. It’s a family dramedy about a Vietnamese family that was cursed to never find love, happiness, and to never have a son in their lineage. The story is about them trying to reconcile with each other and all the drama that comes with it after receiving news from a fortune teller that the curse will be broken this year.
Annabel (volunteer) is reading Kaho’olawe: The True Story of an Island and Her People, written by Kamalani Hurley and illustrated by Harinani Orme. This gorgeously illustrated picture book tells the story of one of the main Hawaiian Islands, Kaho’olawe, which was inhabited by Polynesian peoples for more than 1,000 years. Once World War II began, the U.S. Navy used the island as a training and test bombing site. The bombings continued until the 1990s, when Native Hawaiians and their allies convinced Congress to stop and begin a long cleanup and restoration process. Today, Kaho’olawe serves as a site for traditional Hawaiian ceremonies and a training ground for Aloha ʻĀina — the Hawaiian term for “love of the land” and environmental stewardship.
Debra (staff) read Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro for her book group this month. She says, “Set in a not-too-distant dystopian future, this story about Klara, an Artificial Friend, and her friendship with her owner Josie, a sick teenager, is thought provoking, emotional, and a bit disconcerting. I’m excited to see this novel set as a movie this Fall!”
Lisa (staff) is currently reading The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley, a fast-paced thriller mystery about a woman’s missing brother and the secrets of the other residents.
Darren (volunteer) has been enjoying The Plunge by Chris Ballard. He says, “It’s a recently released deep dive (pardon the pun) on cold water plunging. The author explores the physiology, health benefits, community building, and science involved in this health craze. Whether you love cold water plunging or not (and I do), you’ll see what makes these folks tick and why they swear by it. Highly recommend!”
And proof the love of reading is contagious: Darren’s daughter, Hazel, age 10, just wrapped up I Am Rebel by Ross Montgomery. She says, “It’s about a farm dog in the 1700s who goes on a thrilling adventure to find his boy, who left to join the Reds in the American Revolution. Rebel makes new friends, explores new environments, and finds his true self, all while searching for his best friend. It is sooooo good!”
Fellow young reader Annie, age 10, has been busy this summer — working her way through the Hunger Games and Selection series, Twilight, Little Women, and Anne of Green Gables. Of the Hunger Games, she says: “It is very emotional but I can’t put it down. There are really sad parts but she writes so well that I just want to keep reading. It is so good!”
A Community Pick: The Correspondent by Virginia Evans
When three members of our Page Ahead community — staff member Debra, board member Christine, and volunteer Nance — all independently recommend the same book, it’s worth paying attention. Debra describes it as a bittersweet and emotional story of a woman who has spent her life communicating through letters. “It made me think and reflect on my own life, and I highly recommend. It also motivated me to send more mail to those I love.”
Join Our Summer Reading Challenge!
We’re not the only ones reading this summer, and we want to hear from you too. Read 12 books between now and September 2, and fill out our summer reading form for a chance to win a fun prize. Whether you’re working through a stack of mysteries, rereading old favorites, or finally getting to that book on your nightstand, every title counts.
School’s out, the sun is shining, and maybe the last thing on your child’s mind is cracking open a book. We get it. But here’s something worth knowing before the summer flies by: research shows that between 62% and 73% of elementary students lose reading ground every summer. By reading regularly over the summer break, kids can maintain or even enhance their reading skills.
The good news? It doesn’t take a lot. A few small habits, woven into your everyday routine, can make a real difference.
Before we dive in, if you’re looking for local summer reading programs, prizes, and library events near you, we’ve rounded up options from across Washington state in one easy resource.
Okay, let’s dig in.
Keep reading aloud, even if your child can read on their own.
This one surprises a lot of parents. Once kids can read independently, many families stop the bedtime read-aloud. But a 2026 study found that children who are read to nightly show stronger creativity and empathy, and kids read to daily are nearly three times more likely to pick up books on their own. So, keep going. It’s one of the best things you can do.
Let them choose what they read.
Graphic novels? Yes. Joke books? Absolutely. A book about bugs, trucks, or a kid detective who solves mysteries at summer camp? Perfect. When children get to choose, they actually want to read. And that motivation is EVERYTHING.
Make it part of the routine.
Reading doesn’t need its own special occasion. Tuck it in somewhere natural: after lunch, before bed, in the car. When it’s just part of the day, it stops feeling like homework and starts feeling like a habit.
Head to your local library.
Your library is one of the best-kept secrets of summer. Most branches offer free summer reading programs with activities, prizes, and events for kids. And there’s real research behind it. Children who participate in library summer reading programs show measurable gains in reading skills, with benefits that can last two years or more.
Read everywhere.
Road trip? Read the signs. Making dinner? Hand your child the recipe. Stopping for ice cream? Let them read the menu. Literacy lives in everyday life, and every little bit counts.
At Page Ahead Children’s Literacy Program, we make sure children across Washington, especially those who don’t have easy access to books at home, have something great to read. Through our Book Up Summer, Story Leaders, and Book Oasis programs, we’re putting free books directly into the hands of kids who need them most, so that every child can be a reader.
