Over the years, I have fallen into the habit of buying extra copies of books I love so that I can give them away. I’ve stockpiled Darcy Frey’s “The Last Shot,” E.B. White’s essays and Rohinton Mistry’s “A Fine Balance.” There’s great joy in discovering a book and even greater joy in pressing it on someone and telling them, “I loved this. And so will you.”

This year’s summer books section is all about recommendations — from our critics, from readers and from four distinguished Minnesota writers.

Kate DiCamillo (above), two-time Newbery winner and the Library of Congress’ national ambassador for young people’s literature, recommends “The Year of Billy Miller,” by Kevin Henkes, because, she said, “it is sweet and funny and true.”