I’m pleased that since our last update of books my 5th grade son read through the end of November, he’s (well… we’ve) managed to read another dozen. The key is that:
- He has to read at school.
- His teacher has a read-aloud book.
- He’s assigned 30 minutes of reading homework 5 days a week.
- We try to read 20 minutes at night on the nights he’s not assigned reading homework.
- I am picking new, fun books mixed up with books in a series that he’s enjoyed.
- I read out loud to him 15 to 20 minutes a night as part of his 30-minute reading homework.
- His school does a March Madness reading competition which gets him reading.
I’m also trying to find similar books to what my son likes which include action adventure fantasy like Percy Jackson, funny notebook novels like Timmy Failure, and gaming contests like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
p.s. Related Posts:
5th Grade Books from 5th Grade Boy
My 5th Grade Son Blogs on Books!
Diversity Picture Books for 5th Grade
23 Great Picture Books for 5th Grade
Books for Boys 5th Grade: Spy Chapter Book
Chapter Books to Support 4th Grade or 5th Grade Immigration Unit
5th Grade Chapter Books to Make Social Studies Exciting
Top 10: Picture Books for 5th Grade
Books for 5th Grade and 6th Grade
Books for 4th Grade and 5th Grade
Best Chapter Books from My 5th Grade Daughter
Top 10: Best Standalone Books for 5th Graders by 5th Grade Girl
5th Grade Books my 5th Grade Son Recommends
In which I extract a sentence from my son for each book. My comments are in italics.
Julius Zebra: Rumble with the Romans! by Gary Northfield
Super funny. Can’t wait until the next one. [notebook novel, ages 6 and up]
This is a really fun book for kids who like cartoon illustrations that break up the text. Think Madagascar, the movie, Meets Ancient Rome. The zebra in the movie reminds me a little of the zebra in this book.
Unusual Chickens for the Exceptional Poultry Farmer by Kelly Jones, illustrated by Kathie Kath
Really goofy story about chickens. I thought it was a really funny book. [middle grade, ages 8 and up]
A great diversity pick in which the mom and daughter just so happen to be Latina but that’s not the point of the story. This is a story told in letters with a magical realism twist. It’s a fun read and reminds me of Love, Ruby Lavender.
Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson
This is my book group book at school. It’s a very intense book about slavery and it’s very good. [middle grade, ages 9 and up]
I haven’t read this book (yet), but my middle daughter also read it in 5th grade and raved about it. In fact, she went on to read most of the books Laurie Halse Anderson wrote.
The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster
This is the read-aloud book but the teacher isn’t done with it yet. [middle grade, ages 9 and up]
I loved this book as a child and I’m glad that my kids are reading it in 5th grade as the class read aloud. My middle daughter thought it was boring but my son likes it so far. It should be noted that my middle daughter does not like fantasy or action-adventure.
The Brilliant World of Tom Gates by Liz Pichon
Very funny and cool. [notebook novel, ages 6 and up]
I thought this was similar to the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series but my son disagrees. However, this book will appeal to fans of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid as it has a similar look and feel and is also funny. It’s one of the closer comparisons but in a good way.
Mr. Lemoncello’s Library Olympics by Chris Grabenstein
A great second book that makes your mind confused. [middle grade, ages 8 and up]
My son likes Willy Wonka-like books and this one fits the bill. It’s just as much fun as the first book.
The Eternity Code (Artemis Fowl series) by Eoin Colfer
This is another great adventure with Artemis Fowl. [middle grade, ages 8 and up]
I really like the Artemis Fowl character and series but some of the books are better than others. I liked this one where Artemis Fowl gets outsmarted at the beginning of the book and has to plot revenge with the help of the LEAP.
The Opal Deception (Artemis Fowl series) by Eoin Colfer
I didn’t like this one as much but it was still a good book. [middle grade, ages 8 and up]
This wasn’t my favorite Artemis Fowl book either but perhaps it’s because we just kind of hate Opal Koboi, the bad “guy” in the book, and she has the upper hand throughout most of the book.
Last Stop on Market Street by Matt de la Peña*, illustrated by Christian Robinson
*Matt de la Pena has been accused of sexual misconduct by three women.
A very sweet book about a curious boy and his grandmother as they go to a soup kitchen. [picture book, ages 4 and up]
I am trying to get my son to read the age-appropriate Newbery winners each year.
365 Days of Wonder: Mr. Browne’s Book of Precepts by R. J. Palacio
A bunch of cool quotes and stories from different perspectives. [quotes with short two-page stories, ages 8 and up]
We both really loved Wonder and have read all the follow-up stories. If you only read one follow-up story to Wonder though, you have to read the Julius story which is NOT this book. You can purchase the Julius story separately as an eBook which is what we did, or purchase the three short stories in a book (which wasn’t available before when we bought the eBooks). Auggie & Me contains the Julius story. If you must read every word R. J. Palacio wrote, continue on with 365 Days of Wonder.
The Zodiac Legacy: The Dragon’s Return by Stan Lee and Stuart Moore, illustrated by Andie Tong
An awesome sequel with twists and turns at every corner. [middle grade, ages 8 and up]
Fans of Percy Jackson will like this diversity action-adventure series from Marvel Comics genius Stan Lee. He creates an action-adventure series in which superpowers derived from the Chinese Zodiac can be placed into various humans, both good and bad. Naturally, the fate of the world rests in the hands of the good guys, a team headed up by Jasmine, an Asian American young woman with the strongest powers. When the good team starts to fall apart, Steven, an Asian American boy, must find a way to keep his team together.
The Hero’s Guide to Saving Your Kingdom by Christopher Healy
A really funny twist on the Disney princesses and princes. [middle grade, ages 8 and up]
Fractured fairy tales take a hilarious twist as the Prince Charmings in various Disney movies now have names and are surpassed by their princesses: Rapunzel, Snow White, Cinderella, and Briar Rose.
Loki’s Wolves by K. L. Armstrong
A cool Norse mythology book about the gods’ descendants. [middle grade, ages 8 and up]
I’m glad my son likes this series because it’s going to be a few more months until a new Rick Riordan book comes out. Still, I thought this was a copycat-light version of Magnus Chase. It’s not as funny and the characters are not as well developed. If you don’t mind the similarities in plot, this is a book series to fill in the wait time for a new Riordan book.
The Hero’s Guide to Storming Your Castle by Christopher Healy
I am in the middle of this book but I like it as much as the first one. [middle grade, ages 8 and up]
I think we are going to make it all the way through this series and that says a lot because we never finished Harry Potter or the Artemis Fowl series. Christopher Healy really has a gift for writing humor for kids. I think boys and girls alike will enjoy this series, which is a difficult feat to pull off!
Fifth Grade Books for 5th Grade Readers
I have a few more books in the wings for my son to read this year. To stretch him, I’ll be trying:
A novel in Verse about soccer (he plays club soccer) by Kwame Alexander called Booked comes out in April.
My son is excited to read this book. When I posted an Instagram photo of my son holding The Crossover, Kwame Alexander himself liked the photo and left a comment! My son was so amazed! It was a nice connection to the author that made my son want to read his new book even more!
Booked by Kwame Alexander
The Crossover by Kwame Alexander
Sequel to Calpurnia Tate
The Curious World of Calpurnia Tate by Jacqueline Kelly
My son loved the first book, but he’s reluctant to read the second one. I’ve read it myself and it’s good, but not quite as good as the first one. Still, I’m hoping we will read it together this year. Perhaps this will be summer reading.
The Marvels by Brian Selznek
My son liked The Invention of Hugo Cabret and I think he will like The Marvels with its plot twist and crazy, inventive house.
Mudville by Kurtis Scaletta
My son doesn’t play baseball but I think he will love this funny revenge-focused baseball story. I met Kurtis Scaletta at KidLitCon in 2012 and I, apparently, was the first person ever to go up to him and say, “Are you the author of Mudville? I LOVED that book!” Still love it!
The Hero’s Guide to Being an Outlaw by Christopher Healy
We have to read the last one in this trilogy!
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This is a great list! Now I want to read Julius Zebra. The cover looks funny, but I wasn’t totally convinced until I read your thoughts on the book.
And congrats on being encouraging with your 5th grade son towards reading. There are so many television shows, video games, internet distractions and more that might tempt a kid away from reading. The persistent, but gentle, not pushy approach that you’re taking seems the right way to go about reinforcing good reading habits..
Hi Sarah,
It’s so hard to get him off screens, that’s for sure. He does love bedtime reading. It’s our time to snuggle and read together. I wish he’d read during the day though!
These look great! We love the Hero’s Guide books. They are so funny.
Hi Mother of 3,
We are huge fans of Hero’s Guide books too. We just finished that last one and I was sort of panicking about what to read next. We read BOOKED and now we’re reading NERD CAMP.
Hi! I REALLY wish your son would read my book! I’m a teacher and a mom and my 4th to 6th grade students really liked my book. There’s a hero they can relate to, plus it takes place at the beach and in Yosemite…two places they LOVE. You can find it on Amazon and you’ll love the price!
JG’s by M.D.Marrone
Hi Maria,
I’ll suggest it to him! Thanks for the heads up.
Great, hope he likes it!
🙂 He’s at tough sell though I just got him to read You Can Fly: The Tuskegee Airmen, a novel in verse by Carole Boston Weatherford. He really liked it and it was so eye opening to see the vast amount of structural racism that African Americans faced (and still face).
I would love to know about follow up comments…
Hi Maria,
I think you can subscribe to the comments from this post.
It is hard to get much of a review from tween/teen boys, isn’t it? I try to get my son to write me a short review to add to my own when we read the same books, but the best I can get is 2 or 3 sentences 😉
I just wanted to point out that Loki’s Wolves came out a couple of years before Riordan’s Magnus Chase, but I agree with you about preferring Magnus Chase as it’s longer so better developed characters and story, and I like his humor.
Have you seen Red Sun by Alane Adams? It’s also a Norse mythology based fantasy/adventure, though not the same style as the other two. I didn’t like it as well, but my son thought it was better than Magnus Chase (I think length had something to do with it).
Hi Jennifer,
Thanks so much for your great book suggestion and for pointing out that Loki’s Wolves came out before Magnus Chase. My son is such a Rick Riordan fan that it’s hard to find more books like his. Most don’t have his sense of humor which is what I realize why he’s such a huge fan. I’ll tell him about Red Sun! Thanks so much!
Another great list! I teach middle school, and I don’t have some of these, so I will need to remedy that.
Thanks so much Kellee! I’ll let my son know! It might get him reading more and hopefully, giving sightly longer reviews!!
Thanks for the great list. Sharing with my daughter who is moving from 6th grade to 5th grade next year! Perfect timing.
Hi Cheryl,
Yay! I’ll tell my son and we will keep posting. He’s reading more than he’s ever had and wider range of books too which is making me so happy. I will wholeheartedly recommend The True Meaning of Smeckday by Adam Rex. We just finished it. It’s really funny; alien sci-fi, roadtrip, strong girl character in search of her mother who was abducted but nothing is too scary or sad. It’s just a really fun, funny story. It was made into a movie but it doesn’t follow the book closely enough.