The Best Books for Pre-Teen Boys

My son, Kye, is in middle school and is in 6th grade. He has helped me put together this list of books for boys who are tweens and preteens.

He might be able to help you figure out what books boys like at this age and which are good for your middle-schooler to read. Many of these books will be great for girls, too!

Individual Books for Middle School Boys

My son likes to read book series, but he also likes to read books on their own. Here are his favorite things.

The Wind in the Willows

By Kenneth Grahame

.A great book for all ages, Kye says. If you like animals that talk, this book might be for you! It's likely that you read this book as a child, and if you liked it, your child might like it too. The Wind of the Willows is a book that I hope you enjoy.

Wonder

By R. J. Palacio

Review: This is a good movie and a good book. As far as I know, there are more now. If you like this book (or the movie), check out those too. Some people are having a hard time and it's OK to be different. I hope you enjoy it. I think it's a good book and made moving to a new school a little less stressful for me.

Mom's note: We read this book for my book club first, and I thought Kye would enjoy it, too. It doesn't just stop bullying, but it also encourages being unique and being a good friend to other people. I think it's a good idea to watch the movie with your child because there are a few scenes that may need to be talked about more. We all cried when we saw it.

Restart

By Gordon Korman

Kye's review: This is a great book! Action, adventure, and a little bit of mystery are all mixed together in a great way in this book. Keep moving until the end of the book. I couldn't put it down myself! Because there are so many different characters in this book, you can relate to or learn from a lot of different things about them. I think this book is great for you or your child. Austin Kennedy makes the story interesting, so you won't get bored with this book. It's true, this book is great. Please, if you want to read something good, get this book.

The Wendals

By Austin Kennedy

Kye's review: This book can make you cry, but I thought it was good. This shows that some people are having a hard time in their lives. You should try to think of good things instead of bad things when you're having a hard time, because that can have bad consequences.

Pie in the Sky

By Remy Lai

It is one of my favorite books. A lot of people say that it's good for young people, but I haven't yet let my son read it. I don't think I'm ready for him to read something so heavy. I think it's a great idea to read the book together so that you can talk about the darker parts as they come up.

The Giver

By Lois Lowry

The Giver is part of a series, but I haven't read any more than the first one, so I put it in the category for single books. It was also made into a movie, but I've heard it was bad. I don't want to ruin my perfect picture of this book by watching a bad movie version of it.

The One and Only Ivan

By Katherine Applegate

Kye: Mom thinks this story is great, but it didn't make the top 20. A lot of people aren't interested in it. It's possible that this book isn't for you if you like depressing stories that are also heartwarming, but this might be the book for you!

I have heard great things about this book, so I've added it to Kye's reading list. He hasn't read it yet. Several people have told me to watch it with my family on Disney+, so I'm excited for him to read the book before we watch the movie together.

Series of Books for Middle School Boys

As a parent, I love that my son likes book series. Who doesn't love a good TV show? After reading Twilight and all of the characters, I had a moment of sadness because there were no more stories about their lives after that.

So far, these are some of Kye's favorite shows. He loves them and so do his sisters.

Dog Man

By Dav Pilkey

Review: If you like the Captain Underpants or Diaper Baby books by Dave Pilkey, then you'll like this one, too! To me, it's better than Captain Underpants. It's even written by the same person! It has both good and bad people, and of course a lot of humor. I hope you enjoy this book! (Why don't you understand? A dog digs, oh, come on!

Mom's note: As I said in the previous post, this graphic novel is a great way for siblings to bond because my son reads this to his younger siblings on a regular basis. Middle-grade boys love potty humor, and these kinds of books tend to have a lot of it. That's part of the fun, and it helps keep some of the fun around as they get older and start to think more "serious."

Because Kye is so good at reading, we've found that some series are worth owning the physical book copy of instead of just downloading on his Kindle Paperwhite. This is one of those must-have collections, though.

Harry Potter

By J.K. Rowling

You should know about Harry Potter if you haven't seen the movies. Kye's review: If you haven't, you should. Still, it's still a great series, even though my sister is a huge Harry Potter fan and takes away all the fun. Afterward, you can always read the books.

Who doesn't watch movies? Grownups might want to read this, too. It's always a good idea to read, and it will keep you or your child reading for a long time. Unless they run away from you, you won't run out of books soon. So, then, that's a problem!

My first plan was to keep these books for my kids to read when they were 11 because that's when the series starts. Honestly, I haven't read them. But when Universal asked us to come to their theme parks, we rushed to read them as quickly as we could so that our kids could enjoy the Wizarding World of Harry Potter as much as possible.

I thought Kye would love these books. As a matter of fact, our 7-year-old daughter at the time, Britt, became completely obsessed with all things Harry Potter. Even though she's almost 9 years old, she still listens to the audiobooks over and over again. She's also reading the illustrated books.

A character gets older and darker as the book or movie is read or watched. This is true for younger people who are watching or reading the book or movie. Our five-year-old watched all of the movies with us and did great. She also likes Harry Potter, which is why we let her watch them.

It's a good idea to go with your family to see this movie because it's best to be there to give a hug during scary parts and help talk through difficult parts.

As a parent, I like to use the good vs. evil storyline to talk about how we fight against sin and Satan in our own lives. I know that some Christians don't like the magical elements in the stories, but we tell our kids that it's just a story and we like to make up stories ourselves. We don't think there's anything wrong with having fun with the stories!

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