How quickly end-of-school euphoria subsides into "I'm bored. I have nothing to do." The kid who only weeks earlier couldn't wait to escape the classroom now reacts to suggestions of "Why don't you go for a bike ride?" or "Mow the lawn" as if he's simply traded one jail for another. Diving into a good book alleviates summer malaise, but parents need to be sneaky. A straightforward "Here, read this" will likely result in eye rolls and avoidance. But place enticing-looking children's and young adult novels in strategic locales -- beside the Wii remote, underneath the snack cabinet -- and it could lead to a wonderful sound parents haven't heard since summer vacation began: silence, also known as the absence of complaints. This should last until the final page is read. Then it's time to spring for sleepover camp. Here are a few suggested boredom and complaint slayers: JULIA GILLIAN AND THE ART OF KNOWING
by Alison McGhee, illustrated by Drazen Kozjan (Scholastic Press, 288 pages, $15.99, ages 7-12)
Minneapolis writer Alison McGhee includes plenty of hometown landmarks in her perceptive, welcoming story of a 9-year-old girl dealing with her own summer doldrums. Julia Gillian's parents, both teachers, are working toward graduate degrees, leaving little time for picnics at the Lake Harriet rose garden and other typical family activities.
Their attempt to encourage their daughter to read more backfires when the book she chooses seems to be building to an unhappy ending (she suspects the "broken old dog" in the story isn't going to make it), and Julia decides she's better off hiding the anxiety-producing volume on the fire escape instead of finishing it. Readers will enjoy navigating Julia's colorfully described south Minneapolis neigh- borhood -- and will get an irresistible craving for Quang Restaurant strawberry bubble tea -- as she gradually learns to face her fears.
BIRD LAKE MOON
by Kevin Henkes (Greenwillow, 179 pages, $15.99, ages 8-12)
Many readers know acclaimed author/illustrator Henkes only for his blanket-carrying, purple plastic purse-wielding picture-book mice. But Henkes is also a gifted novelist; this latest in his line of quiet, powerful fiction for middle graders involves two boys spending the summer at a Wisconsin lake. Twelve-year-old Mitch goes with his mother to live at his grandparents' lake house after his parents separate. Ten-year-old Spencer's family returns to their vacation home for the first time since his older brother drowned there six years earlier. The narrative's charged atmosphere, like a sky heavy with storm clouds, eloquently conveys the boys' emotions both before and after they meet and share what haunts them.
PRINCESS BEN
by Catherine Murdock (Houghton Mifflin, 344 pages, $16, ages 10-14)
This novel-length fairy tale may seem like a departure for Murdock, whose previous books "Dairy Queen" and "The Off Season" featured Wisconsin farm girl D.J. trying out for -- and making -- her high school football team. But whether in a helmet and shoulder pads or velvet frocks, D.J. and Princess Ben (short for Benevolence) both cut similar sturdy, delightfully complex figures.
Unlike Disney's Snow White, 15-year-old Ben has never sat around hoping someday her prince will come. But after her parents die in a ruthless surprise attack, presumably orchestrated by a rival kingdom, Ben's aunt, Queen Sophia, decrees that her sloppy, free-spirited niece start acting like proper royalty and prepare to receive suitors. When the queen locks her away in a dungeonlike bedroom to break her will, it only serves to aid the recalcitrant princess's discovery of a magical tower, opening her to a world of possibilities beyond her aunt's narrow agenda.
