25 Great Books for Boys
I often reference the decline of boys reading books, so I wanted to give teachers and parents some book ideas. With school holidays approaching, these can be a great list that you can take to your bookstore or library. (To save time, download your library’s app and reserve books)
Finding the right book is the key to transforming a kid who says they don’t like to read into a self-described “reader.” I find this to be especially true for boys.
To compile this list, I surveyed a wide range of 9- to 14-year-old boys, a mix of avid and reluctant readers. Here are the books the kids raved about because they had the perfect combination of suspense, action, and character drama, plus storylines so engaging they didn’t want to put them down. (Some of these have been on our bookshelf for a couple of years and have been read and reread ~The Rangers Apprentice was a hit with both of our boys.)
We hope that you find something for your young male readers. (Please note that girls may also love these books – my daughter enjoyed The Outsiders as her school text. I’m currently compiling a list that will appeal to girls.)
Approved favourites
- Geronimo Stilton series
- Captain Underpants series (Dav Pilkey)
- The Treehouse series (Andy Griffiths/Terry Denton)
- How to Train Your Dragon series (Cressida Cowell)
- Diary of a Wimpy Kid series (Jeff Kinney)
- The Ranger’s Apprentice series (John Flanagan)
- Harry Potter (J.K. Rowling)
- The 39 Clues series (various)
- Inkheart (Cornelia Funke)
- Percy Jackson series (Rick Riordan)
Oldies but goodies:
- Tales Of A Fourth Grade Nothing (Judy Blume)
- Frindle (Andrew Clements)
- The Dark Is Rising sequence (Susan Cooper)
- I Am David (Anne Holm)
- Storm Boy (Colin Thiele)
Classics
- Treasure Island (Robert Louis Stevenson)
- Journey to the Centre of the Earth (Jules Verne)
- The Chronicles of Narnia (C.S. Lewis)
New and exciting
- How to Save The Universe in 10 Easy Steps (Allison Rushby)
- House of Secrets series (Columbus and Vizzini)
- Jamie Reign series (PJ Tierney)
- The Dark Lord series (Jamie Thomson)
Something for older readers (can highly recommend these)
- The Outsiders (12+) (S.E. Hinton)
- To Kill a Mockingbird (12+) (Harper Lee)
- The Tomorrow series (12+) (John Marsden)
Last year we wrote an article about the most popular books in 2021. Click here to find more titles: Which are the most popular books for kids and young adults?
Check out our blogs for more ideas and tips.
Building a Classroom library that improves student literacy
5 Ways to Build Student Confidence
Boys Love LFB – Here’s what they have to say!
Something extra…
Watch this 2 minute clip on how former Google and Facebook employees are joining together to protect kids from social media addiction.
Brought to you by Tanya Grambower