No More Dead Dogs by Gordon Korman

This is a great, fast read. It is about a boy who will not lie. And when his English teacher asks for an essay on the book they just read, he tells the truth about how much he hates it. Because he refuses to change how he feels about it he gets detention and ends up helping with the play based on the book. It's not only a fun read, but it can lead to an interesting discussion on friends and truth.

Reading Level: grade 3 & up

Charlie Bone by Jenny Nimmo

My family has enjoyed reading this series of books. Charlie Bone is a boy who is invited to a special school because of his hidden talent. There he makes friends and enemies and discovers new things about his family.

At first glance these books are a lot like the harry potter series: boy with unruly dark hair finds out he possesses some magic; uses it to fight against evil, etc. But these are much lighter reading; they don't seem to delve into the darker stuff as much. Also the typeset is pretty large and spaced which makes for easier reading as well. They are fun and exciting without too much drama.

Reading Level: grade 4 & up

Roscoe Riley Rules by K.A. Applegate

This book reminded me a lot of Junie B. Jones. Only it's a boy and he has better grammar. Roscoe narrates the story from his time-out corner and it is written the way he thinks. There are several of these books that go through different rules that Roscoe's had to learn. My kindergartner checked these out and read them. And my 4th grader loved them and even quotes them now. Easy to read chapters and fun.

Reading Level: grade 1 & up

Gender: boys & girls

Read-out-loud

Sideways Stories From Wayside School by Louis Sachar

My second grader introduced me to this book. And now we have all read it. It is a silly book about a school that was built with only one classroom on each floor, instead of 30 classrooms on one floor. The chapters are short (about 1-3 pages each) and they cover each one of the students in the class. It has timeless details about school like mean teachers, gross lunch, recess, etc.I think that all kids would be able to relate to some of the students and it's funny.


Reading level: grade 2 & up

Gender: boys and girls

Read-out-loud