Young Adult

Telgemeier is the author of the wonderful graphic memoir Smile. She has crafted another winner here with a book that any middle/high school theatre geek can appreciate, and all of your teenage girls will gravitate to this delightful and funny graphic novel.

Don’t let cartoons like Calvin and Hobbes fool you: the vocabulary and situations in this collection of comic strips is a great way to boost reluctant readers’ interest and ability in reading. Of course, the cartoons are hilarious, too.

This is another recently published treasure that the fifth graders I am reading aloud to love. Boys especially want to know all about this story of 32 whaling ships that were trapped in the Arctic in 1871…with over 1200 people. If an Inuit ever warns you to watch out for the ice, I’d suggest you listen to her advice. Read this book and find out what happens to our frigid refugees.

Playfully subtitled “The Perils of a Paranormal Preteen,” this book is perfect for your reluctant fifth or sixth grade boy reader (almost a young adult novel – this is a good “tween” transition book). Fast-paced and fun, students particularly enjoy taking the “ESP” test. You’ll get a kick out of this, too.

Terrific coming of age story of a teenage Japanese-American boy during World War II. Wonderful for book discussions.

I must confess that I am a Cliff Clavin at heart, meaning that I adore filling my brain with all sorts of useless information. This book is a treasure mine filled with tidbits about musicians ranging from Beethoven to Woody Guthrie. I love it!

Grabbed this book because I liked the cover, and I was treated to a terrific story about an 11-year-old who meets a teenager who happens to be her estranged grandfather. One of the more clever takes on adults and kids switching places that I have ever read. Your middle school boys will delight in this book just as much as the girls.

If you want to get a reluctant boy into reading, show him a book with a mummy on the cover. You will be fascinated to learn about human remains uncovered in peat bogs throughout the United Kingdom and northern Europe. The photos are what keep kids opening this book, though. A great read for those interested in following the Indiana Jones path to archaeology.

Okay, I confess that the book is actually 288 pages, but it is big print and includes several appendices and illustrator Maxine Gadd’s gorgeous full-color art pages of various characters. Fantasy is all the rage right now, and I highly recommend this book for anyone who enjoys The Chronicles of Narnia series. What I like best about this book is the message of overcoming adversity and maintaining hope. Precisely the kind of book I like to see adolescents reading.

This is the perfect book to read aloud to a class of sixth graders after a break with the lights turned off. Place a flashlight under your chin and relate any of the seven creepy tales, all featuring strong female protagonists.

Nothing makes me happier than finding books that reluctant boy readers will enjoy. If you know a boy who hates reading, grab a book by Max Elliot Anderson. He, like me, hated reading growing up. We may share the same brain, as he thinks in terms of action. Reading this book was like watching a movie: fast and fun. Perfect summer reading.

A Newbery winner that fascinated me as a child, as it chronicles the adventures of a brother and sister who run away from home and live in the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

The best way I know to get boys to read is to give them a book they can put to good use, and this one does not disappoint. Filled with all sorts of tips for “aspiring MacGyvers,” the book is especially popular with boys who have short attention spans (which is most boys).

This book has led to some pretty fun discussions among middle schoolers. While the premise of a demon entering the body of a slacker teen makes for plenty of slapstick moments, the also book has a heartwarming message that resonates with teens. Life is precious and not to be wasted, and every teenager needs to know that. Great title, by the way.

My favorite of S.E. Hinton’s coming of age stories. She is an amazing writer, amazing because she writes young male characters so well.