Are you looking for good middle-grade books for your tweens and children, or yourself? This reading list will assist you with finding the latest and classic middle school and children’s books. We’ve got everything from fun and silly to books that delve deeper into critical topics, mystery, suspense, and so much more if you’re searching for top books for middle school students to read this summer.
It can be difficult to persuade middle-schoolers who struggle with reading to pick up a book. Middle schoolers are in the midst of a phase of life marked by puberty, feelings, and a growing sense of the world beyond their tiny part in it. Middle school students may use reading to discuss the world and difficult subjects from the safety of their own homes. It will also make them think objectively and creatively while school is not in session. Using books with ideas they can connect to at a time when they’re having a hard time figuring out who they are is one way to involve them.
Selecting books for boys can be difficult, particularly with too many technological distractions such as apps and video games to contend with. These books on our list of best books for middle school boys, on the other hand, are perfect for your tweens and teenagers, even hesitant readers. To keep the pages turning, there’s high adventure, mystery, action, personal struggle, and comedy. You’ll also find excellent role models for boys in the form of relatable characters who lead the way with honour, bravery, and compassion.
1. The Invention Of Hugo Cabret By Brian Selznick
The Invention of Hugo Cabret’s lavish, enthralling illustrations immediately lures readers in. However, they provide many aspects that are easy to overlook at first sight. The story’s text is very close. It immediately attracts readers, but as the novel progresses, a complicated storyline emerges. Hugo is a 12-year-old boy living a secret life in a Paris train station in the 1930s, and the art and words work together to immerse readers in his world. Hugo Cabret is a literary and artistic achievement that is a part graphic novel, part flipbook, and part movie.
2. Hoot by Carl Hiaasen
There’s nothing like cheering for the underdog to draw a child into a story, and Hoot’s protagonist is bombarded on all sides. Roy is a new student at the academy. He’s struggling with bullies his own age, but he still has to compete with adults who may be described as bullies. Mother Paula’s All-American Pancake House is hellbent on demolishing a vacant lot that happens to be home to a pair of miniature burrowing owls. Middle schoolers are enthralled by this amusing, entertaining ecological mystery, and cheering for the hero is what ropes them in.
3. The Underland Chronicles by Suzanne Collins
Suzanne Collins wrote The Underland Chronicles before the Hunger Games trilogy. This five-book series is less gritty than the Hunger Games, but it’s almost as engaging for middle school readers. The series follows the exploits of a young boy who crashes into a manhole and finds himself on adventures in the city’s underbelly. All of this is taking place as life on the street continues as normal. The Underland books would enthral anybody who fantasizes about a different world.
4. Frank Einstein and The Antimatter Motor: Book One by Jon Scieszka
Jon Scieszka has written a number of fantastic books and series for boys. He’s concerned with encouraging more young boys to learn. His new Frank Einstein graphic novel features his signature engaging text and drawings. It also manages to incorporate science, technology, text, and art into a single book that children would find difficult to put down. The author even runs a brilliant website called guysread.com, which is jam-packed with great tips for getting boys to learn. It is a must-visit site.
5. Wonder by R.J.Palacio
The tale of Auggie, a boy born with facial deformities, is told by six different narrators. Wonder describes his efforts to blend in, or at the very least not stand out. Auggie is homeschooled until fifth grade, where he transfers to a public school and is thrust into the spotlight for the first time. His journey is brilliantly told from many angles, and it will provide all children with an understanding of how other children see them.
6. One for the Murphy’s by Lynda Mullaly Hunt
In One for the Murphys, a novel about a young teen in the foster care system, Carley discovers herself after losing her dad. Readers will be drawn in by her difficulties in finding who she is and what really matters. Carley ends up in the Murphys’ busy home after some difficult encounters with her mother and stepfather. She discovers peace and an identity that she has never had before.
7. The Breadwinner by Deborah Willis
This story takes place in Afghanistan and revolves around an 11-year-old girl and her family. They are robbed of everything they own by the Taliban. When her father is jailed, Parvana devises a scheme to pass herself off as a boy in order to help her family. The Breadwinner is the first of a three-book series that will pique the interest of young readers.
8. Eight Keys by Suzanne Lefleur
Many changes await Elise when she reaches middle school. Her friendships aren’t the same, she’s being bullied, and her family relationships seem to be off. And, on her 12th birthday, she gets a mysterious key. Things start to get complicated when she discovers it opens one of the eight doors in the barn behind the home. Elise’s experience coping with many transitions will be beneficial to children going through similar experiences. Eight Keys is also a perfect choice for middle school students because of its excitement and readability.
9. Ungifted by Gordon Korman
A middle school disobedient student ends up in a gifted program, where he doesn’t belong for a number of causes. His adventures end upbringing humanity to a school where students’ IQ scores take precedence over everything else. Gordon Korman is an excellent middle school author. Ungifted is one of his many fast-paced, thought-provoking, and well-written books for this age group.
