We all want our students to love reading, right? Like anything else, our passion for authors and books has a way of spreading to the students. And let’s face it, nothing feels quite as awesome as leading a student to just the right book! I have provided 40 titles from incredible authors that are some of the most popular choice novels for middle school students out there.
So whether you already have an extensive classroom library or are a teacher new to young adult literature, I hope you will find some inspiration from my infographic. Honestly, there wasn’t enough space for the multitude of excellent authors out there writing for middle school readers!
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Gary Paulsen
The Car – An awesome coming-of-age story! Fourteen-year-old Terry takes an unexpected road trip with an older hitchhiker and his biker friend.
Woods Runner – For kids who like history, thirteen-year-old Samuel’s parents are taken prisoner during an attack on their home (Revolutionary War era info included). He must go into survival mode to find and rescue them.
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Theodore Taylor
Sniper – A suspenseful tale of Ben, who must deal with a killer on a wildlife preserve while his parents are away. Don’t let this novel go overlooked!
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Ben Mikaelsen
Touching Spirit Bear – The book’s opener draws in reluctant readers. A young teen’s life is changed after he is sent to a remote Alaskan island in exchange for a prison sentence.
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Erin Hunter
Warriors, Seekers, Survivors – These are the names of three novel series kids love written by Erin Hunter, who is actually six different writers! They write together to put out these AMAZING animal fantasies in prolific fashion. Cat lovers will obsess following the stories of four clans of wild cats in the Warriors novels, which begin with Into the Wild and then Fire and Ice.
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Mike Lupica
Bat Boy, Summer Ball, True Legend, Travel Team – Any book from Lupica hits the mark with sports lovers, but these four are class faves. The first two are baseball stories and the second two are basketball-related. Struggling readers do great with Lupica’s Comeback Kids and Game Changers Series, with lots of titles to grab them, such as Two Minute Drill.
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Kwame Alexander
The Crossover Series – Some of the best choice novels for middle school come from this talented author! The Crossover, a trio of novels-in-verse, is an instant pick for students with a passion for basketball and soccer. Beyond sports, issues around growing up, family problems, and tough choices will resonate! Alexander’s language is vivid, gripping, fast-paced, and fun to read. Students can’t get enough!
7. Sarah Dessen
Keeping the Moon, Just Listen – Dessen’s writing captures so much about our students’ emotional concerns—dealing with friendships, rumors, negative body image, dysfunctional family situations, ETC. But she also can inject lightheartedness as needed. Girls easily get hooked on this author.
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Sharon Draper
Tears of a Tiger – A very intense, riveting novel that draws in reluctant readers. Draper uses journals entries, letters and conversations to tell the story of Andy Jackson, whose drinking and driving resulted in the death of his close friend. The novel’s climax, Andy’s suicide, is a sad and thought-provoking ending.
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Paul Langan
Blueford High Series – There are tons of short novels in this series, set in an urban high school, that are high in drama and action, yet easy to read. The Bully is a great one to recommend as a starting point. Langan’s novels have mostly male protagonists, so the boys like these titles. Anne Schraft is another Blueford High author, who writes title with mostly female protagonists. Lost and Found is a great first choice.
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Ann M. Martin
A Dog’s Life – Your sensitive dog-lover types will fall for this story about a stray puppy going through the ups and downs of life.
Everything for a Dog – This book picks up the story of one character from A Dog’s Life, adds two human characters with their own storylines, and brings it all together magnificently. An awesome read for animal lovers!
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Caroline B. Cooney
The Face on the Milk Carton, Wanted, Fatality – These mystery/suspense titles are some of the most popular books in our class library! For middle school readers, I can’t recommend them highly enough! Cooney weaves teen angst, kidnappings, theft, romance, family issues, (you name it!) all into irresistible page-turning stunners.
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Joan Lowery Nixon
The Séance, A Deadly Game of Magic, Spirit Seeker – Nixon writes suspense that draws in young readers. The chapters end in cliff hangers. More popular with the girls, probably due to her mostly female protagonists.
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Lois Duncan
Killing Mr. Griffin – Kids are intrigued by this thriller in which high school students kidnap their English teacher because they don’t like him. Though they only meant to hurt him, he ends up dying, and they become involved in a gruesome cover-up.
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April Henry
Girl, Stolen – This amazing author provides a page-turning read in this thriller, in demand by students! A kidnapping plot with a blind protagonist (victim) and a high school dropout abductor. Your more sophisticated readers will enjoy The Girl Who Was Supposed to Die, The Body in the Woods, and The Night She Disappeared.
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James Patterson
Middle School: The Worst Years of My Life Series, I Funny Series – These are the books my “rebellious readers” will gravitate toward (mostly boys), and that’s okay! Patterson’s characters come in the form of middle school “misfits” and bullies, pictures keep readers interested, and some emotionally-charged plot twists help students feel connected as they read.
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Veronica Roth
Divergent – This big-time dystopian novel tells of the protagonist Beatrice, who doesn’t fit into any “factions” determined by the government. Though a lengthy read, it’s a favorite (along with its sequel, Insurgent) among stronger readers.
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James Dashner
The Maze Runner Series – Though many have seen the movies, students bring these titles to class to read! Even reluctant readers are willing to read the first book (a definite page-turner from the get-go), and are pleased with themselves for completing it!
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So there you have it, a sampling of some highly-acclaimed authors and choice novels for middle school. If you want to connect students with books they’ll love, check out a few for your own reading. Once you get started, you’ll be hooked, and on your way to becoming an expert in guiding student choices.
Thanks for reading!
You may be interested in these resources for student response to choice reading:
Hi, Joy! First, thanks for your consistently relevant and generous sharing – I appreciate it so much!
I thought I’d share a few favourites in turn:
Out of the Dust, by Karen Hesse (Free verse coming of age novel set during the Dust Bowl years – I can’t even describe how good this is, and how much my students love talking about it! Tragedy, resilience, loss, and redemption for a compelling family to bring students into a historically important setting!)
The Crazy Man, by Pamela Porter (Also an exceptional free verse coming of age novel. Set in rural Saskatchewan – it touches on so many issues to talk about! Prejudice about mental illness, immigrant families, parental stress, resilience, etc. SO GOOD!)
Ruby Holler, by Sharon Creech (Anything by Creech is my favourite – but this one is number one. It could be read earlier than middle school, but the coming of age genre, themes, and characters are perfect for grade seven and eight. It features a pair of twelve year-old twin orphans who have been neglected and abused at the poorly-run orphanage and in way too many foster homes. It’s filled with magical realism and is poignant yet humorous. The character growth is fun to track, as are the themes of family, parenting, trust, honesty, communication, etc.
I hope you have a chance to read some of these if you haven’t already!
Thanks so much for these ideas. I’m an Out of the Dust fan for sure, and also enjoyed Ruby Holler 🙂