Books for Reluctant Middle-School Readers

By Luisa LaFleur, The Children’s Book Review
Published: October 19, 2012

Encouraging little kids to read can be easy—snuggle up at bedtime with a good picture book, take trips to the library or visit your local bookstore. But what happens when little bookworms turn into book-averse pre-teens and adolescents?

One of the more daunting tasks of parenthood is asking children to do what they may not like doing but what they have to do. Although my children are still young enough to enjoy snuggling at bedtime with a good book, I wondered what might happen in a few years when they have required reading assignments that they may not want to do. It made me remember how I got my youngest one to take prescribed medication that he hated—I had him pick out the flavor (bubble gum, strawberry, watermelon) at the pharmacy when we went to fill the prescription. Although he still protested about taking his medicine, he at least took comfort in the fact that he had chosen the flavor and that it wasn’t nearly as bad as the non-flavored version. And thus, the reason for this post. Sometimes, it’s more important to engage children in the process rather than force them to act.

Following are some books that pre-teens will surely enjoy because of their irreverent characters, intriguing situations or simply contradictory messages. They are sure to entice even the most reluctant pre-teens.