Looking for the best books for tweens? From fantasy book series to stand-alone dystopian novels, check out this 5th grade book list and 6th grade books to read!
My son is a massive reader (like 100+ books a year, easily). Most of the books on this list, he will reread because he loves them so much. You will see a few on this list that are also on our 4th grade book list if you read that post, previously. Honestly, most of the books from 4-7th grade are interchangeable, especially if you have an advanced reader. But, we did try to our best to break down the reading list closer to age and reading content.
And, if you are looking for books geared towards middle schoolers (7th grade book list and 8th grade book list) that list is coming out next week!
Best Books For Tweens
I've broken the book list down for 5th and 6th graders by series and stand alone books. We read some of the stand alone books as read-aloud and they worked well for that!
10-12 year old book series
- Warriors (massive series so if your kid likes it, you are good for awhile)
- Keeper of the Lost Cities Series
- Wings of Fire (another large series and a great intro into dragons as characters)
- Heroes of Olympus Series (follows the Percy Jackson series but can also stand on it's own)
- Spy School Series by Stuart Gibbs
- Charlie Thorne Series (same author as Spy School and good for the same age range)
- Kane Chronicles by Rick Riordan
- The Underland Chronicles by Suzanne Collins (same author as Hunger Games but this series is written for the younger crowd)
- Fablehaven series
- Ranger’s Apprentice Series (really large series!)
- Dragon Watch Series by Brandon Mull
- Five Kingdoms Series by Brandon Mull
- Ascendance Series by Jennifer A. Nielsen
- Mark of the Thief Trilogy by Jennifer A. Nielsen
- Harry Potter Series
As you can probably tell, my son is a huge lover of fantasy series. He's read a bunch of them and these are the ones that he comes back to or will recommend.
Read Aloud's
- A Night Divided by Jennifer A. Nielsen
- Ghost Boys (may be too much for younger readers)
- Words on Fire by Jennifer A. Nielsen
- Wonder
- Refugee by Alan Gratz (if your kiddo likes this one, Alan Gratz has quite a few just like it)
- Echo
- The Scourge (another by Jennifer A. Nielsen but this one is a dystopian novel)
- The Thief Lord by Cornelia Funke
Jennifer Nielsen is really good! We first got introduced to her at one of the school's Scholastic book fairs. From there, I was able to get quite a few of her books at the library. Honestly, I could have added quite a few more of her books but wanted to cap the best books for tweens to something approachable. But, if your kid reads one by her and loves it, just keep going. She's fantastic.
Again, this 5th grade book list and 6th grade book list would still be *mostly* appropriate for 4th graders, but also, middle schoolers would still enjoy it.
Do your own research on what you think is ok for your child. I often check Common Sense Media and Plugged In for details (especially as we branched into the next age group) if I'm not pre-reading the titles before giving them out.
p.s. Don't forget to check out the 4th grade book list if you haven't. There's some titles on that list, that my son (who is 14) still goes back and rereads because he loves them.
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