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6th graders and books


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What were your 5th/6th graders favorite books?

I'm not necessarily looking for classics; more something that will grab the attention of my book hating 11 year old girl child (who loves all things magic, ghouls, fantasy, blood, guts, and gore).

 

So far I've got:

 

Anne of Green Gables

Harry Potter

The Giver

 

Any more?

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Running Out Of Time, or anything else by Haddix

 

Percy Jackson

 

The Headless Cupid/Egypt Game/Velvet Room (Zylpha Keatley Snyder)

 

Daddy Long Legs, maybe? It's all written in the style of letters to a mysterious benefactor.

 

The Teacher's Funeral/Here Lies The Librarian - Gregory Peck

 

Schooled - kid growing up homeschooled on a defunct hippy commune is thrown into modern day 8th grade.

 

The Great Brain

 

Charlotte Sometimes - a boarding school bed takes a girl back and forth through time.

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My kids' very favorites have included:

 

Master Puppeteer by Kathleen Paterson*

Trumpeter of Krakow by Eric Kelly*

Lord of the Rings by Tolkien

 

Hittite Warrior* is another with loads of blood and gore and the atrocities of Molech worship. It takes place in the time of (Biblical) Deborah and Judges.

 

The Warriors series (already mentioned) is excellent too. There are several related series; if she reads this, make sure she begins with book one of the original Warriors series, Into the Wild.

 

How are you on Harry Potter?

 

LOL, my kids do read contemporary fiction but have an appreciation for the writing styles and more sophisticated storylines and inferences of earlier authors. However, they would n.e.v.e.r. willingly read something like Little Woman or Tom Sawyer unless forced to for school.

 

If it makes a difference, I read the * books out loud.

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My kids' very favorites have included:

 

Master Puppeteer by Kathleen Paterson*

Trumpeter of Krakow by Eric Kelly*

Lord of the Rings by Tolkien

 

Hittite Warrior* is another with loads of blood and gore and the atrocities of Molech worship. It takes place in the time of (Biblical) Deborah and Judges.

 

The Warriors series (already mentioned) is excellent too. There are several related series; if she reads this, make sure she begins with book one of the original Warriors series, Into the Wild.

 

How are you on Harry Potter?

 

LOL, my kids do read contemporary fiction but have an appreciation for the writing styles and more sophisticated storylines and inferences of earlier authors. However, they would n.e.v.e.r. willingly read something like Little Woman or Tom Sawyer unless forced to for school.

 

If it makes a difference, I read the * books out loud.

We're all HP buffs here. Lol.

At least yours willingly read SOMETHING - this one doesn't read unless it's assigned. Every year I spend a mighty amount collecting the latest children's and preteen hits, as well as the classics. No go. Not with her :tongue_smilie:.

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We're all HP buffs here. Lol.

At least yours willingly read SOMETHING - this one doesn't read unless it's assigned. Every year I spend a mighty amount collecting the latest children's and preteen hits, as well as the classics. No go. Not with her :tongue_smilie:.

 

Just to be clear, my kids do not sit around and read all day. I would not want to give anyone a false impression of what goes on at my house!

 

17yodd literally used to read 100s of books each school year. It may have been when she was forced to read Scarlet Letter a few years ago for lit that she decided she's never reading again and has since read very little over what is required. (On the flip side of that, she spends time researching whatever interests her online, writing creatively, and watching educational youtube videos, so all is not lost.)

 

13yods has never been a big reader. However, he couldn't put down LOTR a few years ago, and it's remained one of his favorites. He's totally into a new series, I brought home the second book last night, and he read 160 pages. This is NOT typical. He sounds much more like your girl in that I have to find things that interest him, otherwise he doesn't care about reading.

 

Good for you for working hard to keep up your dd's interest. :grouphug:

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Some of my ds11's favorites...

 

Harry Potter (series)

Diary of a Wimpy Kid (series)

Percy Jackson (series)

Kane Chronicles (series)

Sons of Olympus (series)

Inkheart (trilogy)

Dragon Rider

Odd and the Frost Giants

The Invention of Hugo Cabret

The Strange Case of Origami Yoda (series)

Nathaniel Fludd: Beastologist (series)

Aliens on Vacation

 

He's just started The Headless Cupid (Zilpha Keatley Snyder, series), and seems to be enjoying it very much. And he is interested in The Sea of Trolls series.

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Eion Colfer is a popular author many children enjoy. The Artemis Fowl series is fun. Colfer has written a number of other books as well.

 

My 13 yr old just finished Jurassic Park, and The Lost World. There are some Crichton books that aren't appropriate for the age, but those are fine, if a bit tense. No sexual references, and kids are featured in both books. My dd spends a great deal of time looking for 'big fat books', and the look of those made her swoon even before she cracked one open.

 

I don't know if these fall into the Twaddle category. lol I'm perfectly fine with a certain amount of Twaddle.

Edited by LibraryLover
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  • 4 weeks later...

My 13 yr old just finished Jurassic Park, and The Lost World. There are some Crichton books that aren't appropriate for the age, but those are fine, if a bit tense. No sexual references, and kids are featured in both books. My dd spends a great deal of time looking for 'big fat books', and the look of those made her swoon even before she cracked one open.

 

Just a heads up, Jurassic Park and The Lost World frequently use the "f" bomb. Crichton can't seem to write without it. :glare: If you are ok with the frequent use, then they are great books. At our home, they would have to be read alouds, though, where I can skip that.

 

Dd's favorites seem to mirror much of what has been said.

 

Harry Potter & Percy Jackson

 

Both have also liked

The Books of Bayern series, begins with The Goose Girl

The Enchanted Forest Chronicles, begins with Dealing with Dragons

The Tail of Emily Windsnap (dd 11 just read these this year and has already reread them)

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Some possibilities are:

 

Charlie Bone series by Jenny Nimmo

 

Skulduggery Pleasant series by Derek Landy. A good introduction to this would be to listen to the audio book of the first in the series. The narrator was excellent.

 

Someone already mentioned Eoin Colfer—my daughters really like his book Airman.

 

Erica in OR

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My son loved reading the Percy Jackson books and now is really into the Kane Chronicles books by the same author as well as the The Heroes of Olympus that is a continuation of Percy Jackson.

 

He also enjoyed The Last Dragon Chronicles by D'Lacey.

 

Recently he started reading The City of Ember which is a good book and I enjoyed the sequels, but the 3rd book "The Prophet of Yonwood" is a real slog and more of a prequel.

 

My dd who is starting 4th/5th had some issues with vision so isn't really reading long books yet, but loves audio books and the above are also some of her favorites.

 

They haven't read the actual series of the Hunger Games, but have listed to all of the audiobooks extensively.

 

Oh and they recently asked me to do the Septimus Heap series as read alouds and so far we're all enjoying them.

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We are currently reading aloud Ranger's Apprentice.

We loved all Rick Riordan books (Olympians, Romans, Egypt series)

Fablehaven series (oldest and myself)

Narnia series

Artemis Fowl (oldest and myself)

 

And a plug for my friend's first published book The Wild Wood by Julie Nelson. It's YA and nature magic based. My ds will be reading it next. He's reading Uglies series right now. Might be a bit much for 5th grader. He's an advanced reader and advanced emotionally, too.

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My younger dd (as well as my 11 yr old ds) like the Sisters Grimm books by Michael Buckley.

 

:iagree: My 10 yr old hated to read until her teacher last year started reading the sisters grimm to the class. They did not finish the 2nd book so she wanted me to get it. This summer I bribed her to read the series and wow...she has found a love of reading through the books. She asked the other day "mom, when I finish book 9 what series will I read next?".

 

I have enjoyed reading them too....:lol:

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We are currently reading aloud Ranger's Apprentice.

We loved all Rick Riordan books (Olympians, Romans, Egypt series)

:iagree: with this too...my DH is reading the Rangers app to us after dinner....we all groan when he only reads one chapter. Very good series.

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We are currently reading aloud Ranger's Apprentice.

We loved all Rick Riordan books (Olympians, Romans, Egypt series)

:iagree: with this too...my DH is reading the Rangers app to us after dinner....we all groan when he only reads one chapter. Very good series.

 

:bigear: I am taking notes for my dd for this year also....hope people keep them coming

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