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Summer Reading Programs for Kids 2025: Book It, Barnes & Noble, and More

Help encourage your kids to read this summer with the following free programs that offer some small incentives if they complete a reading goal and/or challenge:

  • Book It! Summer (Free Personal Pizza) – “Use the BOOK IT!® Mobile App to set goals, track progress, and redeem rewards. During the summer months of June, July, and August, any child that meets their parent-set reading goals can earn a free Pizza Hut® single topping Personal Pan Pizza®* from participating locations.”
  • Barnes & Noble Summer Reading Program (Free Book) – “Participation is a fun and easy way for kids to earn free books. They simply read a designated number of books – library books, books borrowed from friends or books bought at Barnes & Noble – write about their favorite part in our Reading Journal, and bring a completed Reading Journal to a Barnes & Noble bookstore. Children then choose their free book from the books listed on the Reading Journal and collect their free book from a store near them during July and August.”
  • Half Price Books Summer Reading Camp ($5 off) – “During the months of July and August campers can visit their local HPB with their completed reading logs to receive $5 Bookworm Bucks which are good for $5 off anything in store.” Need to live near a physical Half Price Books location.
  • Books A Million Summer Reading Adventure (Free Dog Man Backpack) – “Choose any four books from the summer reading adventure feature in-store or online. Write about the books you’ve read in your summer reading adventure logbook. Show your completed logbook to a store associate to receive your free backpack.”
  • Chuck E Cheese Reading Rewards (Free Play Points) – “Valid at participating locations. Limit 1 certificate per child, per day. Certificate must be presented at time of checkout. Redeem this certificate and get 10 FREE Play Points with any food purchase.”

Of course, check out your local library as well. We just completed our first summer library haul this week, me included! Last summer, the kids scored a couple of free pizzas and a free book each from Barnes & Noble, and I felt it was a fun and worthwhile activity.

YMCA Free Summer Memberships For Teens (Nationwide but Targeted)

Parent of a teen? It can be tricky to find a place for your young teens in the summer time. Check your local YMCA chapter as many are offering free summer YMCA membership for teens. Some are for specific grades, like entering 7th or 8th graders. Here are some example locations:

(Hat tip to FreeBFinder)

The YMCA can be a safe space for your teen to socialize as well as have access to gyms, pickleball/basketball courts, heated pools, fitness centers, and in-person and virtual live-stream and on-demand exercise classes.

If this really interests but nothing is shown online, I would still call your local YMCA, as some locations may not list their participation in on their websites. They may also offering discounted teen memberships, along with affordable leadership programs and/or lifeguard training. The YMCA can be a great source of first-time jobs for older teens.

Planet Fitness High School Summer Pass 2025: Free Gym Membership For Teens

Planet Fitness is running the High School Summer Pass again in 2025, which is a free gym membership for teens ages 14-19 to work out at any of its more than 2,500+ locations throughout the US and Canada. Valid from Saturday, June 1 through Saturday, … [Read the rest]

Bilt Mastercard: Rent Rewards w/ Any Landlord (June 1st Rent Day / Accor Hotels Transfer Bonus)

Update for Rent Day 6/1. For Rent Day on 5/1, Bilt Rewards is offering the following additional perks. If you are a renter, this program offers steady stream of free monthly points and a variety of promotional perks. They also recently announced … [Read the rest]

Groupon: Costco New Membership $65 w/ $50 Costco Shop Gift Card

Groupon has a limited-time deal on new Costco Gold Star or Executive Memberships. There are two options. Offer expires June 22, 2025. $65 for Gold Star Membership Package 1-year Gold Star Membership (normally $65 by itself) Membership … [Read the rest]

Merrill Edge + BofA Preferred Rewards = Up to $1,000 ACAT Transfer Bonus, Improved Credit Card Rewards

Updated May 2025. Merrill Edge is the self-directed brokerage arm formed after Bank of America and Merrill Lynch merged together. They are currently offering an increased cash bonus of up to $1,000 for moving "new money" or assets over to them from … [Read the rest]

Bank of America Unlimited Cash Rewards Card Review: 2% Cash Back for First Year (Up to 3.12% With Preferred Rewards)

New limited-time offer. The Bank of America Unlimited Cash Rewards Card is the most simple, straightforward, no-annual-fee credit card in the Bank of America line-up. If you are a Preferred Rewards client, you can increase the cash back earned by … [Read the rest]

Bank of America Customized Cash Rewards Card Review: 6% Cash Back in One Category for First Year (Up to 8.25% with Preferred Rewards)

New limited-time offer. The Bank of America Customized Cash Rewards Credit Card is the "3-2-1" cash back rewards credit card in the Bank of America line-up. If you are a Preferred Rewards client, you can increase the cash back earned by 25% to 75%. … [Read the rest]

CIT Bank Platinum Savings Deposit Bonus 2025

This offer is EXPIRED. I successfully received my $300 deposit bonus on top of the normal interest within the 60 days of deposit (actually 56 calendar days). I held for 60 days for simplicity, but other readers have confirmed the bonus arrived … [Read the rest]

More Details on Warren Buffett Stepping Back

I'm not sure how many of you follow Warren Buffett and Berkshire Hathaway closely, but here are a couple of significant updates as a follow-up to the 2025 Annual Shareholder Meeting where he announced that he was stepping down as CEO at the end of … [Read the rest]

Aeroplan® Credit Card Review: 75,000 Bonus Points (Worth $937 in Travel)

Improved offer. The Aeroplan® Card is the Air Canada co-branded credit card for US customers, issued by Chase. If you fly Air Canada regularly, this card makes the experience better in many different ways. If you don't fly Air Canada regularly, … [Read the rest]

Big List of 529 College Savings Plan Promotions: 529 Day 5/29 2025

College savings plans that are looking to grow assets tend to have promotions on May 29th, aka "529 Day". I started gathering up these bonuses from various plans even before having kids, and eventually consolidated them into one single plan. The … [Read the rest]