Great Books for Boys

Search the Catalog Title (exact) General Keyword Title Keyword Author (Last, First) Subject Audio Book Periodicals Video DVD

(suggested grade levels are in parentheses)

Author Title and Summary

Adventure

Dahl The BFG: An orphan and a nice giant team up to stop other giants from gobbling up children.(3^rd-5^th)

Dahl The Twits: The misadventures of two, trouble making tricksters. (3^rd-5^th)

Gould Rex: Book 1 in the Time Soldiers Series. Four friends discover a time portal and travel back to the time of the dinosaurs. Special graphics make this book come alive. (2^nd-4^th)

Juster The Phantom Tollbooth: Milo is bored until a tollbooth appears in his room.(4th and up)

Kjelgaard Big Red: A boy and his dog meet many challenges in the wilderness. (4^th – 6^th)

Korman The Contest (Book 1 of the Everest Series): Trouble faces the youngest expedition ever to climb Mt Everest. (4^th – 6^th)

Korman The Deep (Book 1 of the Dive Series): Four friends discover a sunken treasure ship, but have a challenge to keep what is rightfully theirs. (4^th – 6^th)

Myers Patrol: An American Soldier in Vietnam: a frightened soldier faces combat. (4^th – 7^th)

Sachar Holes: A family’s bad fortune sends a boy to a correctional camp for a crime he didn’t commit (4^th and up)

Scieszka Knights of the Kitchen Table (Book 1, Time Warp Trio) 3 friends are sent back in time by a magic book where they meet dragons, wizards and the Knights of the Round Table.(2^nd -4^th)

Young Winchell Mink: A bullied boy is switches bodies with his pet turtle which sets off a series of bizarre adventures. (3^rd-6^th)

Animal Adventure

Hunter Into the Wild (Warriors series) A house cat joins a group of feral cats for adventure. He must become a brave warrior when the group gets in a turf war with a rival gang.

Jacques Redwall (series): A young mouse must rise above his fears to save his friends. (4^th – 7^th)

Lasky The Capture (Guardians of Ga'Hoole series) Young owls are being abducted from their homes to be brainwashed by other owls and used for mysterious purposes. (4th -7th)

Family

Blume Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing: The first in a set of books that humorously deals with the highs and lows of being around a little brother. (4^th –6^th)

Jukes Like Jake and Me: Jake and his stepfather find they have something in common. (2^nd – 4^th)

Kraft Lenny and Mel’s Summer Vacation: Two boys set out to do nothing during their summer vacation in spite of their parents efforts otherwise. (2^nd – 4^th)

Manes Be A Perfect Person in Just Three Days: Tired of troubles at home and school, Milo decides to try a book that promises he’ll be a perfect person in three days. (3^rd – 6^th)

Mikaelsen Countdown: Two 14 year-old boys meet by short wave radio. One is a NASA payload specialist the other a herder in Kenya (5^th – 8^th)

Fantasy

Abbott Secrets of Droon Series: Three friends find adventure in the world of Droon when they discover a secret doorway in the basement. (2^nd to 4^th)

Alexander The Book of Three: Taran sets out on a troublesome mission to save Prydain from evil(3^rd-6^th)

Almond Skellig : Unhappy about troubles in his family, Andrew retreats to the garage and discovers a door to another world. (3^rd-6^th)

Barron Lost Years of Merlin Series: A young boy who has no memory of his past realizes he has special powers that lead him into fantastic adventures. (4^th and up)

Gannett My Father’s Dragon: A boy plans to rescue a dragon that is being unfairly used by lazy animals. (3^rd-6^th)

Rodda The Forests of Silence (Book 1 in the Deltora’s Quest Series) Young Lief must find seven jewels for the magic belt of Deltora to stop an evil lord from trying to take over. (3^rd-6^th)

Humorous

Brown Flat Stanley: (A Stanley Lambchop Adventure) After a bulletin board flattens Stanley, he finds advantages in his new form. (2^nd – 4^th)

Coville Aliens Ate My Homework (Alien Adventure Series): A miniature spaceship lands with five aliens needing help to capture an intergalactic criminal. (3^rd – 6^th)

McMullan Have a Hot Time Hades: (Book 1 in the Myth-O-Mania series) Hades gives his view of the heroes in Greek myths.(4^th – 7^th)

Pilkey Captain Underpants (series) A school principal unknowingly changes into a super hero.

(4th grade reading level, but these titles would also appeal to younger listeners)

Pilkey Ricky Ricotta’s Giant Robot(series) A mouse saves a giant robot from his creator. (2^nd –4^th)

Pinkwater The Hoboken Chicken Emergency: Arthur heads out to get a turkey for Thanksgiving and comes home with Henrietta, a 266 lb. Chicken with a mind of her own. (4^th grade reading level, this title would be a fun read-a-loud for Kindergarten – 3^rd grade)

Proimos Johnny Mutton, he’s so him: Nothing goes as expected for this sheep in human clothing.

(1^st – 4^th)

Roberts The Thumb in the Box: A village with no roads receives a fire truck from the government. This humorous story reveals how the community pulls together to deal with the issue. (3^rd – 6^th)

Sachar Marvin Redpost: kidnapped at birth?: Marvin is convinced he looks different from his family because he is the lost prince of Shampoon. (2nd -3rd)

Silberberg Pond Scum: A boy who enjoys pulling the wings off bugs, moves into a house guarded by creatures that live in a nearby pond. (4^th – 7^th)

Van Draanen Secret Identity: Tired of being called names by the class bully, Nolan becomes Shredderman.

Mystery

Adler Young Cam Jansen: Cam uses her photographic memory to solve mysteries.(1st - 3rd)

Hale The Chameleon Wore Chartreuse (Chet Gecko Series): Hired to find a classmates brother, Chet discovers a gila-monsters plot against the football team. (3^rd – 5^th)

Kehret The Stranger Next Door: Alex's finds himself unwelcome in the new town his parents' move to as part of the witness protection plan. Then his life is threatened. His clever cat helps solve the mystery and help him make a friend. (4th - 8th)

Roberts Absolutely True Story: A dream vacation turns into a nightmare when two kids join their irresponsible neighbors on a trip to Yellowstone. (4th - 7th)

Sobol Enclyclopedia Brown (series): These mystery books are set up so that the reader can solve the crimes along with fifth grade boy detective, Encyclopedia Brown. (2nd- 6th)

School

Gantos Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key: Joey learns to manage his ADHD with the help of people who believe in him. (4^th-6^th)

Gutman Get Rich Quick Club: A group of students create a club to become millionaires. (3^rd-6^th)

Gutman Miss Daisy is Crazy: (series) A second grade class is surprised by their unusual teacher.

(2^nd-4^th)

Lerangis Poof! Rabbits Everywhere (Book 1): Max only planned to perform a magic trick, but suddenly rabbits are popping up all over school. (2^nd-4^th)

Sachar Sideways Stories from Wayside School: Funny episodes from the 13^th floor of a school where the classrooms were accidently built sideways. (2^nd –4^th)

Smallcomb Last Burp of Mac McGerp:A fifth grade class tries to outwit a strict new principal(3^rd-6^th)

Science Fiction

Eliot The Transmorgrification of Roscoe Wizzle: A boy discovers that he is transforming into a bug as a result of eating at a particular fastfood restaurant. (3^rd –5^th)

Farmer The Ear, the Eye, and the Arm: A futuristic story of three children kidnapped to work in a mine. (4^th – 7^th)

Pratchett Only You Can Save Man Kind: Strange things begin happening when Johnny starts communicating with the alien warriors in his computer game. (5^th-8^th)

Williams Ancient Fire (Dragon Boy Series): A boy from the future, a girl from medieval Egypt, and an intelligent saurian from an alternative Earth join together in time and space travels. (5^th-8^th)

Sports

Bee Touchdown Pass (Book 1 in the Chip Hilton Sports Series): A star football player discovers an act of sabotage. (4^rd-6^th)

Brooks Woodsie (Book 1 of The Wolfbay Wings Series): Only Woodsie has faith in his hockey team after they lose some players to a rival team.(4^th –6^th)

Curtis Honus and Me: A Baseball Card Adventure: Joey loves baseball, but doesn’t play it well, finds a valuable card of Hall-of-Famer Honus Wagner and travels back in time to meet him. (4^th –6^th)

Korman The Chicken Doesn’t Skate: A humorous book about a hockey team’s mascot. (4^th –6^th)

Ritter The Boy Who Saved Baseball: A boy arrives on horseback to help a team win a baseball game that will save their town from developers. (5^th –8^th)

Slote Finding Buck McHenry: Jason believes the school custodian is a famous baseball pitcher and tries to get him to coach his Little League baseball team. (3^rd – 6^th)

Miscellaneous

Schwartz Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark: Stories of ghosts and witches and some modern stories. (4^th-6^th)

Spinelli Maniac McGee: After his parents die, McGee’s life turns legendary; he amazes people with his athletic and other feats. (4^th-6^th)

Series Wall:

Pokemon (2^nd-4^th)

Spongebob SquarePants (3^rd – 5^th)

Star Wars Series (3^rd-6^th)

Nonfiction

031 Guinness Guinness World Records

031.02 Masoff Oh, Yuck! The Encyclopedia of Everything Nasty (4^th-8^th)

153.9 Romanek Aha! The most interesting book you’ll ever read about intelligence (4^th-8^th)

398.2 Shannon Stories to Solve (4^th-6^th)

597.773 Brandenberg To the Top of the World: Adventures with Arctic Wolves (3^rd – 6^th)

616.8 Fleischman Phineas Gage: A gruesome but True Story About Brain Surgery (5^th and up)

A Service of the City of Midland

BooksForBoys

SW 4/06

Youth Services Book Recommendations