The best books for 13 year old girls include The Inheritance Games, Cinder, Legend, Divergent, The Book Thief, Heartstopper and The Summer I Turned Pretty: gripping young adult reads that are a good fit for new teens.
The best books for 12 year old girls include Wolf Hollow, Starfish, Other Words for Home, Echo, Guts, Inkheart, Hello, Universe and When Stars Are Scattered: moving, adventurous upper middle grade novels and graphic novels for growing readers.
The best books for 12 year old boys include The Hobbit, Refugee, The Red Pyramid, Ranger’s Apprentice, Artemis Fowl, Lockwood & Co., The Westing Game and The Giver: gripping adventures and thought-provoking classics for middle schoolers.
The best books for 11 year old girls include Front Desk, El Deafo, Nevermoor, Keeper of the Lost Cities, Out of My Mind, A Wrinkle in Time and Merci Suárez Changes Gears: middle grade novels with brave heroines, real friendships and plenty of adventure.
The best books for 11 year old boys include Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief, Hatchet, Holes, New Kid, The Last Kids on Earth, Wings of Fire and Restart: action-packed, funny and meaningful middle grade novels and graphic novels.
The best books for 7 year old girls include Judy Moody, Clementine, Dory Fantasmagory, Isadora Moon, The Critter Club and Mindy Kim: funny, heartfelt early chapter books with relatable heroines that help second graders read independently.
The best books for 7 year old boys are funny graphic novels and fast early chapter books like Dog Man, The Bad Guys, The 13-Storey Treehouse, A to Z Mysteries, Eerie Elementary and Who Would Win? that turn second graders into independent readers.
The best books for 6 year old girls include The Princess in Black, Owl Diaries, Zoey and Sassafras, Ivy + Bean, Yasmin and Ada Twist, Scientist: funny, brave stories with short chapters and plenty of pictures that build first-grade reading confidence.
The best books for 6 year old boys are funny early readers and short illustrated chapter books such as Hi! Fly Guy, Press Start!, Dragon Masters, Ricky Ricotta’s Mighty Robot and Dinosaurs Before Dark, balanced with laugh-out-loud picture books for read-aloud time.
The best books for 5 year old boys mix big humor, bold pictures and simple text: Elephant & Piggie, Pete the Cat, Dragons Love Tacos, Creepy Carrots!, Frog and Toad and Mercy Watson are proven favorites for read-alouds and first independent reading.