My 12 year old son claims to not be a fan of reading. Somehow, he managed to read 54 books during the past nine months anyway. Here is a complete list of everything he read during his 6th grade school year along with his a highlight of his favorites broken up by genre.
I’m one of those crazy people who regularly reads more than 100 books per year. My 6th grade son isn’t quite as big of a fan of reading, but he still managed to read 54 books this year. He read 15 non-fiction books assigned for school, 12 fiction books assigned for school, 15 fiction books that he selected himself (and then read for school), and he listened to 12 audiobooks or read alouds. I have divided these titles by subject/genre. All titles are listed with links to goodreads page and his favorite title in each category are further highlighted with a short review.
Manga/Graphic Novels
- When Stars are Scattered by Victoria Jamieson – When a graphic novel wins the National Book Award, you know it’s good. This story about a boy growing up in a refugee camp in Kenya is told in a way even kids who claim to “hate reading” won’t be able to put down.
- New Kid by Jerry Craft
- My Hero Academia books 1-5 by Kohei Horikoshi
- One Dead Spy by Nathan Hale
- Lafayette by Nathan Hale
- Treaties, Trenches, Mud and Blood by Nathan Hale
- The Roanoke Colony by Chris Schweizer
- Trickster by Matt Dembicki
Horror/Adventure
- The Silver Eyes by Scott Cawthorn – My son loves video games and got really excited about reading the entire Five Nights at Freddy’s series. Recommend these books for reluctant readers who enjoy the game.
- The Twisted Ones by Scott Cawthorn
- The Forth Closet by Scott Cawthorn
- Into the Pit by Scott Cawthorn
- Fetch by Scott Cawthorn
- Treasure Hunters by James Patterson
- Danger Down the Nile by James Patterson
- Secret of the Forbidden City by James Patterson
- Sasquatch Escape by Suzanne Selfors
Science Fiction/Fantasy
- Space Case by Stuart Gibbs – Most of the books at the bottom of this list were audiobooks/read alouds. I’m claiming Space Case is his favorite because this is a humorous Sci-Fi series that my son read himself without complaint. And my son often complains about reading books with his eyeballs.
- Spaced Out by Stuart Gibbs
- Waste of Space by Stuart Gibbs
- The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
- An Absolutely Remarkable Thing by Hank Green
- Enders Game by Orson Scott Card
- Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
- The Deathly Hollows by JK Rowling (finished this series at very beginning of school year)
Literary Fiction
- The Giver by Lois Lowry – I know this grouping of books is a bit random, and this particular title is mainly my son’s favorite because it’s the closest to Sci-Fi (which is his favorite genre). This is however a VERY GOOD middle grade dystopian book that forces kids to think about a lot of important questions about humanity/society.
- Ghost Boys by Jewell Parker Rhodes
- No Fixed Address by Susin Neilsen
- Call of the Wild by Jack London
- Black Ships Before Troy by Rosemary Sutcliff
- The Wanderings of Odysseus by Rosemary Sutcliff
- Epic Fail by Pablo Cartaya
Literary Nonfiction/Historical Fiction
- Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson – My son did a year long study of this book as a part of his language arts. It’s a really good revolutionary war story that he was engaged with all year.
- The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind by William Kamkwamba
- A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park
- Refugee by Alan Gratz
- Epic Fails: The Age of Exploration by Ben Thompson
- Ranger in Time: Long Road to Freedom by Kate Messner
Historical Nonfiction
- Turtle Island by Eldon Yellowhorn – Since my son used an actual history textbook this year, he didn’t read as many history books as his older brother. He did, however, really enjoy listening to this book about Indigenous Americans before colonialization as a read aloud. This “own voices” book is less known than “Before Columbus” but I would recommend it over the better known title if you want your kids to read about indigenous US history
- Shh, We’re Writing the Constitution by Jean Fritz
- King George by Steven Sheinkin
- Alexander the Great: A Wicked History by Doug Wilhelm
- Two Miserable Presidents by Steven Sheinkin
Scientific Nonfiction
- Garbage by Donna Latham – Of all the topics my son studied in science this year, learning about trash was his favorite.
- The Boys Body Book by Kelli S Dunham
- Canals & Dams by Donna Latham
- Planet Earth by Kathleen M Reilly
- Energy by Kathleen M Reilly
- Weather and Climate Change by Laura Howell
- Industrial Revolution by Carla Mooney
New Schooling 