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The Candymakers, Wendy Mass, 6th grade chapter books, books for boys, books for middle school boys,

Josh in 6th Grade Shares His Favorite Books

Posted on April 4, 2012May 28, 2024 by Pragmatic Mom

Book Recommendations for 6th Grade by 6th Grade Boy

HI! My name is Josh and I’m 11 years young in the 6th grade. I just happened to come across your website as I was searching for some books. I looked over a few of your lists and I found some very interesting books! I thought that I could send in some recommendations, but I found most of mine on one of your lists! I saw The Mysterious Benedict Society on a list which is my all-time favorite book! I’ve also read Savvy, which is my 3rd favorite book. So here are a few books that I just want to recommend.

The 1st book is The Candymakers by Wendy Mass. It’s about 4 kids that are competing in an annual competition to launch a candy out into stores across the world. The book is filled with mystery and suspense. I would definitely recommend this to any child from 5th to 8th grade. Another book that I’d recommend, is The Name of this Book is Secret by Pseudomys (can’t spell first name) Bosch/ Rafael (forget the last name. The thing I loved the most about that book was the narration. I also liked the books The Genius Files by Dan Gutman and The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin.

Thank you for letting me share! Please respond!

—————-
Hi Josh,

I would love to post on your list. Can you give me your 10 favorite books in the order of how much you like them? Ask your mom if I can post it. I would use your email as the intro about you and would not use your last name for internet safety reasons. I like your book choices by the way. The Candymakers is great!

Mia

—————-

Thank you! She said yes. Here they are in order:

1. The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart*

2. The Candymakers by Wendy Mass*

3. Savvy by Ingrid Law*

4. The Name of This Book is Secret by Pseudonymous Bosch*

5. The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin

6. The Genius Files: Never Say Genius by Dan Gutman

7. The Girl Who Could Fly by Victoria Forester

8. The 39 Clues series by Rick Riordan

9. How to Survive Middle School by Donna Gephart (I think there might be a few books with that title)

10. Diary of a Wimpy Kid series by Jeff Kinney*

—————

Josh,

I wanted to suggest more chapter books for you to try. You gave me 10 so I want to return the favor.

There is a new Mysterious Benedict Society coming out! My 6th grade daughter and I are very excited about it!

The Extraordinary Education of Nicholas Benedict (The Mysterious Benedict Society) by Trenton Lee Stewart

I thought Cosmic by Frank Cottrell Boyce was a little like The Candymakers. You might really like it.

I’ve always loved Mudville by Kurtis Scaletta

The Case of the Deadly Desperados by Caroline Lawrence is also right up your alley. It’s a Western action-adventure set in 1862 but it has a comic book non-reality feel and the 12-year-old lead character, P.K. Pinkerton is very subtlely autistic.

Time Snatchers by Richard Unger. My 6th grade daughter likes most of the books on your list. She read this book that was meant for me first and gave it a thumbs-up as a thrilling action-adventure.

Dead End in Norvelt by Jack Gantos. The winner of the 2012 Newbery Award, it’s a small-town quirky mystery novel. I think you might like it! I did!

Holes by Louis Sachar. I’m assuming you’ve read this but if not, my daughter recommends it for you.

As Easy as Falling Off the Face of the Earth by Lynne Rae Perkins I liked this book but my daughter did not. I think it was too boyish for her. An unlikely adventure story when Ry finds his summer camp is closed on his way to said camp:

Wait

The train was moving. Ry could hardly tell at first, but now he knew. It was gaining speed, and he wasn’t fast enough to catch it. He had only gotten off for a minute, just to make a phone call—and now it was gone. He was in the middle of nowhere, alone.

Maybe it was the middle of nowhere, but to Ry, it felt like the beginning of something. Something that would take him in cars, planes, boats . . . over an ocean and back. Something like an adventure.

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These two books have a Dairy of a Wimpy Kid quality to them.

Tales of a Sixth Grade Muppet by Kirk Scroggs

Middle School, The Worst Years of My Life by James Patterson

* My 6th grade daughter also liked this book.

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10 thoughts on “Josh in 6th Grade Shares His Favorite Books”

  1. Ann says:
    April 4, 2012 at 8:18 pm

    What a great exchanges!!!

    Way to go Josh! Your picks are awesome!!!

    I can’t wait until my kids are ready for these books!

    Reply
    1. Pragmatic Mom says:
      April 4, 2012 at 9:51 pm

      To Ann,
      I agree. Josh, great book list! Thank you!

      Reply
  2. Josh says:
    April 4, 2012 at 8:29 pm

    Thank you so much!

    Reply
  3. Craftwhack says:
    April 5, 2012 at 11:45 pm

    I think this is one of my favorite posts ever on this blog. It’s so awesome to see a kid write in all excited about books! You’re going places, Josh. You made a whole lot of moms out there happy by contacting Pragmatic Mom with your book picks. Oh, and thanks for the recommendations.

    Reply
    1. Pragmatic Mom says:
      April 9, 2012 at 4:12 pm

      To Craftwhack,
      Thanks so much! I hope more kids will offer up their favorite books. I will happily post on all of them!! He has awesome book picks too!

      Reply
  4. Josh says:
    April 6, 2012 at 8:58 am

    Thank you!

    Reply
    1. Pragmatic Mom says:
      April 9, 2012 at 4:13 pm

      To Josh,
      I’d love to post more on books that you like. Feel free to email me anytime you want to be my guest author. And your friends are welcome too, even if they don’t love to read.

      Reply
  5. Josh says:
    April 11, 2012 at 10:16 pm

    Woah. Thank you so much! I have more in mind! I’ll make sure I tell them also.

    Reply
    1. Pragmatic Mom says:
      April 12, 2012 at 7:43 pm

      To Josh,
      I am excited for more lists from you!!! Please keep them coming!

      Reply
  6. Josh says:
    May 9, 2021 at 3:55 pm

    Josh here! I just remembered that this blog post existed and went searching for it! Thank you for letting me share my favorite books nearly a decade ago, it meant a lot and still does now. Hope you’re doing well!

    Reply

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