question/request for recommendations

[Jen]

Hi all,
I got a few donations to buy new books for my little free library and was hoping I could get your collective advice. I am pretty well-stocked up on literary fiction, non-fiction, and books for preschoolers-kindergarten age and younger.

I'm looking to get a few teen/YA and middle grade books. These are not areas I'm familiar with since I read very little YA and no middle grade books.

So, can you give me any recommendations for books that you think will be popular for teen and middle school readers? I have some cash donations so some of them can be newer series or books but older classics are also fine.

[Nicole D.]

Little House box set? Chronicles of Narnia box set.
Nancy Drew/Hardy Boys?
The Boxcar Children
Harriett the Spy
From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basel E. Frankenwiler

[Jen]

Thx. I actually have a set of Nancy Drew from when I was a kid but there is no way I'm giving those away.

[Book Concierge]

Karen Hesse's novels are very good for the Middle grades / Junior Hi level - start with Out of the Dust

Another good YA author is Elizabeth Wein - start with Code Name Verity

And my 14-year-old niece loved Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell

[Joi]

Books I loved as a kid-
I agree with Nicole, From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler is a great one
The View from Saturday
Ella Enchanted
A Little Princess
Bud, Not Buddy
The Watsons Go to Birmingham - 1963

More recent kid books (boyfriends mom works at an elementary school)-
Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library
Diamond Willow
Peter Nimble and His Fantastic Eyes

Plus series starters might be a good thought is the kids keep reading the rest of the series!
The Hunger Games, Divergent,MatchedThe Selection

And of course my all-time favorite: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

[Jen]

I knew I could count on all of you! Thanks! I've been debating on whether to buy a few classics or newer books. My fear is that something like the Harry Potter may just sit there indefinitely because they have all read them already.

I'm creating a wish list with all these suggestions so I can redder back to it later on!

[Tien]

I'm chiming in with a favourite series I read way back when ;p

Song of the Lioness

It's currently on the top of my mind because the author is coming to Australia for an event and I'm so excited!!! There's no way I'm missing out on meeting her :D

[Kimber]

YA:

Inkheart (disappeared from my Little Free Library pretty fast)
Holes
The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants
Howl's Moving Castle

And these are not quite middle school age books, but are more 3rd/4th grade level. They're popular with kids who are transitioning from picture to chapter books (at least in the program I tutor in):

Babymouse Queen Of The World
Bad Kitty for President (There's a whole Bad Kitty series)

[Jennifer]

Wonder I think this is a pretty universally well-loved book. A couple years old. Middle grade. Almost 4.5 stars on GR.

Rainbow Rowell Writes YA and adult fiction. Lots of fans out there of her work. I've read Eleanor and Park, Fangirl and Carry On. All excellent all YA.

[Sara]

Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson is a good YA novel and series starter. I think Hatchet is another good one. Ohh, and I always recommend The Wolves of Willoughby Chase. Its an older one, but I loved it. And my kids did too when I introduced them to it.

Other suggestions:
Big Nate: In a Class by Himself
Diary of a Wimpy Kid
Bunnicula
Magic Treehouse
Any title by Kate DiCamillo
Anne of Green Gables
Little House on the Prairie

[Cora]

Sara wrote: "Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson is a good YA novel and series starter. I think Hatchet is another good one. ."

I want to second Steelheart and Hatchet. Those were some of my middle school aged son's favorites. Other series he really like were Fablehaven and Artemis Fowl.

More books he has recently added to his book shelf:
The Zodiac Legacy: Convergence
Loot
Masterminds
The Lightning Thief

My daughter (she is 10) likes:
Smile
Where the Mountain Meets the Moon
The World According to Humphrey
National Geographic chapter books (like National Geographic Kids Chapter Books - 4 Book Set)

My 8-year-old son likes:
The Who is... Where is... What is... series (like Who Was Bruce Lee?, Where Is the Grand Canyon?, and What Is the Super Bowl?)
Woof

[Karin]

Popular with my y/a children through their teens:

The Hunger Games
Across the Universe plus the other 2 books in that series.
The Lightning Thief and that series (I don't like them one bit, but they are very popular)
anything by Richard Peck, and highlights include A Long Way from Chicago and A Year Down Yonder (note the second is an award winner) about the same kids/place
The Teacher's Funeral : A Comedy in Three Parts
The River Between UsHere Lies the Librarian and then for younger readers, the books he wrote about the mice

Eragon and sequels; my son, who is not a big reader, read every single one, and some are over 800 pages.

The Mother-Daughter Book Club and series; my girls loved these, and each book ties into a classic book beautifully.

y/a books by Scott Westerfeld. All three of my kids and all of my nieces and nephews liked his Leviathan series; my girls and I read all of his Uglies series.

My eldest really liked the Artemis Fowl books Cora mentioned.

Also, my son loved
Elizabeth Singer Hunt's books are great for boys (and girls, but boys are harder to please) in the middle school years

I'm just barely scratching the surface here. All of these were liked by other family members, et al.

[Karin]

Nicole wrote: "Little House box set? Chronicles of Narnia box set.
Nancy Drew/Hardy Boys?
The Boxcar Children
Harriett the Spy
From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basel E. Frankenwiler"

Narnia is still very popular today. Nancy Drew/Hardy Boys have often been dumbed down, but see if you can find copies like the originals. Harriett the Spy and Mixed Up files are still great; my kids liked these.

[Karin]

This is re: Sara's suggestions, but when I tried to click reply, my things were all blue and italicized for no reason and I couldn't fix it.

Yes, Big Nate is great with the early reading crowd!

Anne of Green Gables, a must. With that I also suggest Daddy-Long-Legs & Dear Enemy

[Karin]

Tien wrote: "I'm chiming in with a favourite series I read way back when ;p

Song of the Lioness

It's currently on the top of my mind because the author is coming to Australia for an event and I'm so excited!!..."

If you get older titles, be sure to get updated covers. One thing I learned from one of our Children's Librarians is that kids are not going to check out old looking covers no matter how good the books are.

[Susie]

The How to Train Your Dragon series is fabulous! My son loves Enid Blyton novels too, and anything written by Roald Dahl is always a winner.

[Elizabeth (Alaska)]

Rick Riordan's series Percy Jackson and the Olympians is much liked by boys grades 6-8. Maybe girls, too, but I know the boys like it. Last Christmas I took quite a lot of books to a local school library and the 6th grade boys were all over those.

[Jenni Elyse]

YA makes up most of what I read, but I always hate this question because:

1) I'm not a parent, so I don't know what kids are into, lol
2) I hate limiting things based on age because I think it depends on the person
3) I don't know what someone else will like

With that being said, my favorite YA series are as follows and maybe it will be helpful:

1. Harry Potter series
2. Twilight Saga
3. The Infernal Devices by Cassandra Clare
4. The Immortal Instruments by Cassandra Clare
5. The Hunger Games trilogy
6. Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins
7. Graceling Realm trilogy by Kristin Cashore
8. Cinder by Marissa Meyer (I haven't read the others yet)
9. Into to Dark trilogy by Bree Despain
10. Everneath trilogy by Brodi Ashton
11. Defy trilogy by Sara B. Larson
12. Stitching Snow by RC Lewis
13. Not in the Script by Amy Finnegan
14. The Dark Divine trilogy by Bree Despain
15. Wonder by RJ Palacio
16. You are Special by Max Lucado
17. Fox in Socks by Dr. Seuss

[Jen]

Thanks everyone. I've created a list so I can keep an eye open for all the titles you mentioned when they come up at library sales.

[Amy]

Jen, I struggle so much with this question. I have three boys, 13, 11, and almost 6. I have the foremost authority on what middle school boys will read, especially if they are not readers. Also, my kids won't touch the series other kids are into, Narnia and the Lightning Theif are still sitting untouched. For older elementary, there is Andrew Clements and Adam Gutman and my kids have read everything from both these authors, especially the back in time baseball adventures and the million dollar books. Million Dollar Throw was brilliant. As they are getting older, Matt Christopher, particularly the Little League Series, and all of the Mike Lupica books. My kids devour these for Middle School. These are all sports themed - it's true. The there is Louis Sachar, Holes, the boy in the Girls bathroom, etc. other favorites will take me a minute.. Rebecca Stead, when you Reach Me, Liar and Spy, also the Brige to Terabithia is well loved. Today Jaden took to school "guys read sports" from the Guys Read Series (typical) and Shain took Shoeless Joe Baseball Card Adventure. He and I are reading together the Paperboy, and I ordered for him four books that qualify for his historical fiction book report. So those three precede Harry Potter II, our other read together, which happens before sleep away camp. My thirteen year old would be appalled that I'm telling you we read together still, at my insistence, but we are in the middle of Harry Potter V. I know they are poor readers, and I don't want them to miss a magical minute of any of it. Plus I like sharing some thing in common with these athletes, and getting them turned on to a good story. We read in middle school, the Giver Quartet, and Lois Lowry is big for boys and girls. Also Tuck Everlasting in 6th grade. To Kill a Mickingbird us 8th. Kids like the Book Theif, the Hunger Games Series, the Divergent Seriies, and the Maze Runner Series in Middle to High School. I'll Give You the Sun was this years Community Wide read. I hope that helps. Ian eagerly awaiting what other people are getting their middle school boys to read. Anything to hook these guys...

[Amy]

My phone meant to say Dan Gutman...

[Amy]

Also I realized, middle school and high school girls - the fault in our stars. That was a biggie...