The mind like most everything can get rusty when not in use. But you may think, "Aren't our minds always working?" Indeed but the young mind on summer vacation is far from academic thought and therein lies a grave issue that parents and teachers have been trying to combat.  Hence why "Brush of Truth," a book app for 8-12 year-olds, is cutting the cost of the app for the summer.

Julie Laundry Laviolette, author of "Brush of Truth," says "A book app is a great way for kids to read on-the-go, because they can access their reading material on a smartphone or other touchscreen. With a book app, kids and moms can always have reading material with them."

Similar to the "Choose Your Own Adventure" series that was popular in 1990s amongst children, this app lets the chooser decide how the story unfolds. The story behind the app is that of two tweens who discover an enchanted paintbrush, which ends up being the key to great adventures.

The app is available for $.99 on iPad, Kindle Fire and many other smartphones and tablets.

This app appears to be one way of countering "summer slide," a term referring to summer academic decline.  Laviolette said, "Studies show that "summer slide," when a child regresses academically outside of school, is more serious than we realize, because students who start school behind struggle to catch up throughout their education."

"Brush of Truth" is one of thousands of educational apps for children and parents who want to go beyond merely providing on-the-go entertainment for their children. According to the author and education researchers, summer reading is an instrumental part of ensuring that a child retains what he or she studied during the academic year as well as important preparation for the upcoming school year.