Note: Today’s post comes to us from Deborah van der Linde, a librarian and children’s literature expert! Read on for fun suggestions to read with your kids!
Not a little kid, but definitely not old enough for the Young Adult section unsupervised. Tweens, from about fourth to eighth grade, are sometimes a tough group to find books for. If you know where to look, it gets easier!
I absolutely love the quality and variety of books available to kids this age. There are some truly creative, interesting, and highly enjoyable books available for the 9 – 12 year old crew.
It can sometimes be hard to balance, as kids this age are almost teenagers, and maybe want to start reading in that level (YA) – which can be tricky when they don’t necessarily have the maturity for the subject matter found in YA.
Read on for suggestions sure to keep your kids glued to their books:
George’s Secret Key to the Universe
by Stephen and Lucy Hawking
George’s new neighbors, a scientist and his daughter, take him on an adventure through space and time. The scientist’s super computer, Cosmos, is the power behind all this scientific exploration. Written by the world-renowned scientist, Stephen Hawking, and his daughter, Lucy, this book is a kid-friendly and fun explanation of how our universe works.
The Blackthorn Key
by Kevin Sands
Christopher, a young apprentice apothecary, must solve a murder mystery before it arrives on his own doorstep. Christopher must figure out the a secret that goes beyond just London; this hidden menace could destroy the world! This is the first in a series of books.
The Mystery at Cranberry Farm
by Lynn Manuel
This is the book that hooked me on reading – and I am still a mystery fan to this day. Three siblings visit their aunt in the Okanagan Valley, amid the Canadian Rockies. While there, they follow clues and solve puzzles to figure out what happened to a family treasure.
The Lockwood & Co series
by Jonathan Stroud
Interestingly, this author takes our world and changes one element, developing a riveting world sure to draw readers in. In these books, ghosts are real, and the stories revolve around a set of ghost hunters. Stroud creates just enough eeriness and spookiness to make the stories suspenseful and slightly scary, while at the same time managing to keep them light and fanciful. Sure to draw in any reader who enjoys ghost stories, or adventures.
The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents
by Terry Pratchett
This story is fantasy at its best, and is a very unique twist on the Pied Piper theme. SciFi writer Pratchett brings kids into Discworld with Maurice, a talking cat who commands a band of highly educated rats. They run a slick money-making scheme, until they stumble upon a town that could prove their undoing.
Happy Reading!
Deborah is a librarian, mother of two and military wife. She has a masters of Library and Information Sciences, and is completing a Masters of Education. She has been working with libraries and literacy initiatives for the last decade, and is now establishing the blog, Poppies and Prose, which offers book reviews for adults and children, aimed, though not exclusively, at the Canadian military community. She currently lives in Quebec City and manages the historic Morrin Centre Library.
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