After struggling to find a good booklist for my middle school kiddos – I created one.
They say Necessity is the Mother of Invention. And as much as I love wandering the stacks of the library, it really helped to enter those stacks with a good booklist in hand for my middle school kiddos. I am not generally a fan of tween or teen literature as the themes can sometimes be problematic, and there are plenty of amazing stories for this age group to enjoy. After struggling to find direction or a solid reading list, I simply decided to create one. Well, actually two.
The lists below are divided by gender (not because I am old-fashioned but rather because I recognize that boys and girls do develop differently and at different rates). Still, you obviously will find a lot of overlap.
I have tried to include books of a variety of lengths and difficulty levels. For instance, Bunnicula and the Magic Treehouse books are being “taught” in the third-grade class so they are much simpler reads, but we also have books like The Hobbit, The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, and Maniac Magee, which are more advanced in content and difficulty level. Those are being taught in junior high Classes. The titles my kids and I recommend are loosely organized by difficulty level. The ones we have not yet read are not organized.
The Boy’s Booklist
Ralph S. Mouse and Runaway Mouse (Beverly Cleary)
Ramona Collection (Beverly Clearly)
*Ottis Spofford (and anything else by Beverly Cleary)*
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Matilda, James and the Giant Peach, Marvelous Medicine (Roald Dahl)
Stone Fox (John Gardiner and Greg Hargreaves)
Bunnicula (James Howe)
Fudge-a-mania and Superfudge (Judy Bloom)
*Diary of a Wimpy Kid series (Jeff Kinney)*
Charlotte’s Web, Stuart Little, and Trumpet of the Swan (E.B. White)
Old Yeller (Fred Gipson)
Shiloh (Phyllis Reynolds Naylor – my boys said it was okay)
Jackie and Me – Baseball card series (Dan Gutman)
Rangers Apprentice series (John Flanagan)
The Chronicles of Prydian (Lloyd Alexander)
Redwall Series (Brian Jacques)
Johnny Tremain (Ester Forbes)
Hunter Brown – The Code Bearers series (The Miller Brothers)
Mysterious Benedict Society series (Trenton Lee)
*Rush Revere series (Rush Limbaugh)*
Kane Chronicles (Rick Riordan)
*Percy Jackson series (Rick Riordan)*
*Harry Potter series (J.K. Rowling)*
Spiderwick Chronicles (Tony DiTerlizzi)
Tuck Everlasting (Natalie Babbitt)
The Chronicles of Narnia Series (C.S.Lewis)
The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle (Hugh Lofting)
How to Train a Dragon series (Cressida Cowell – These books are much better than the movies)
StarWars Boba Fett “A Clone War Series” (Terri Bisson)
The Boy in the Stripped Pajamas (John Boyne- In truth, my son didn’t like but I loved it)
*Maniac Magee (Jerry Spinelli)*
Wonder (R.J. Palacio)
*The Hobbit (J. R. Tolkin)*
Gilgamesh (This is the first epic ever written)
A Wrinkle in Time (Madeleine L’Engle)
Peter and the Star Catchers series (Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson)
White Fang and Call of the Wild (Jack London)
* indicates that our sons REALLY liked these books
Recommended by other trusted parents,
but not “Boy Child Hackett-Tested”
Cheaper by the Dozen (Franks Gilbreth)
Canterbury Tails (Geoffrey Chaucer)
Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of Nimh (O’Brein, R.)
Encyclopedia Brown Series (Donald Sobol)
Schooled (Gordon Korma)
A Single Shard (Linda Sue Parks)
The Golden Goblet (Eloise Jarvis McGraw)
Call it Courage (Armstrong Sperry)
Mad Scientist Club series (Bertrand Brinley – newly back in print)
The Black Stallion (Walter Farley)
Little House on the Prairie series, esp. Farmer Boy (Laura Ingalls Wilder)
Swiss Family Robinson (Johann D. Wyss)
Robinson Caruso (Daniel Defoe)
Sugar Creek Gang series (Paul Hutchens)
The Boy’s Book of Adventure (Michelle Lecreux and Celia Gallais)
My Side of the Mountain series (Jean Craighead George)
Fabelhaven series (Brandon Mull)
Jinx (Sage Blackwood)
Dark is Rising series (Susan Cooper)
The Graveyard Book (Neil Gaiman)
Princess Bride (William Goldman)
The Joey Pigza series (Jack Gantos – main character has ADHD)
Hardy Boys (Franklin W. Dixon – originals)
Indian in the Cupboard Series (Lynne Reid Banks)
A Long Walk to Water (Linda Sue Park)
Roll of Thunder, Hear my Cry (Mildred Taylor)
The Phantom Tollbooth (N. Juster)
The Girl’s Book List
Ralph S. Mouse and Runaway Mouse (B. Cleary)
Ramona Collection (Beverly Clearly)
Ottis Spofford (and anything else by Beverly Cleary)
Harry and Beezus (B. Cleary)
Bunnicula (James Howe)
Fudge-a-mania and Superfudge (Judy Bloom)
The Puppy Place series (E. Miles)
Ready, Freddy: Homework Hassles (Abby Klein)
Nate the Great (M. Sharmat)
Horrible Harry (Susy Kline)
Curious George (M & H.A. Rey)
Junie B. Jones (Barbara Park)
Diary of a Wimpy Kid series (Jeff Kinney)
Charlotte’s Web, Stuart Little, and Trumpet of the Swan (E.B. White)
The Kingdom of Wrenly (Jorden Quinn)
Wild Rescuers (S. Plays)
Mysterious Benedict Society series (Trenton Lee)
*Harry Potter series (J.K. Rowling)*
The Chronicles of Prydian (Lloyd Alexander)
Resistance (Jennifer A. Nielsen)
Rescue (Jennifer A. Nielsen)
A Night Divided (Jennifer A. Nielsen)
Nancy Drew (Carolyn Keene)
Ink heart (Cornelia Funke)
The Princess in Black (Shannon & Dean Hale)
Smile (Raina Telgemeier)
Judy Moody series (Megan McDonald)
The Royal Diaries (i.e. Cleopatra, Catherine, Anastasia, Isabel)
Percy Jackson and the Olympians (Rick Riordan)
Charlotte’s Web (E.B. White)
Stuart Little (E.B. White)
The Penderwicks (J. Birdsall)
The Vanderbeekers of 141 Street (K Glaser)
The Rise and Fall of Mount Majestic (J. Trafton)
The Giver (L. Lowry)
Number the Stars (L. Lowry)
The Chronicles of Narnia Series (C.S.Lewis)
The Best Worst Christmas Pageant Ever (Barbara Robinson)
A Long Walk to Water (Linda Sue Park)
Little Women (Louisa May Alcott)
The Secret Garden (F. H. Burnett)
Wonder (R.J. Palacio)
Peter and the Star Catchers series (Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson)
The Hunger Games (S. Collins)
*The Hobbit (J. R. Tolkien)*
Rise Up (Virtues devotional from Blessed is She. I was a contributing author)
All You Have (Blessed is She Lent devotional)
Not read yet (or not super loved) by My Daughters, but really loved by others
Redwall Series (Brian Jacques)
Watership Down (R. Adams)
Anne of Green Gables (L.M. Montgomery)
Little House on the Prairie series, (Laura Ingalls Wilder)
Pippi Longstocking (Astrid Lindgren)
The Moffats (E. Estes)
The Fantastic Family Whipple (M. Ward)
The Willougbys (L. Lowry)
The Last of the Really Great Whangdoodles (J. Edwards)
The Book of Boy (C. Murdock)
The Phantom Tollbooth (N. Juster)
****This post contains affiliate links. For more of books and how stories can help the development of virtue at all ages, check out my conversation with fellow author, mother, and grandmother, Tina McAllister-Smith here.