I created this category to save you from mistakes I made when I chose books from the large 8 – 12 age category on Amazon for my daughter only to realize later that she was either not mature enough to read them or they contained difficult vocabulary for her. If you are looking for safer bets this is it. My son read the books on this list in 2nd grade and he was fine with them unless noted.
I suggest you also check the category My Daughter in 2nd Grade or My Son in 1st Grade. My son is a good reader and a lot of the books he read last year are perfectly suitable for second graders as well.
Always check the previous age categories to see if there are titles my kids haven’t read yet. Many books have a wide age range and I tried to place them in the lowest possible age category (i.e. in the age group when I thought kids could read the book on their own, not listen to it.)
♥♥♥Spirit Animals For a list of books in this series click here. He called it the best audio book ever. He listened to the first three over the summer on his iPod and when we got back home, he read #4 without a problem. He started reading #5 but 20 pages into the book he said it was not as exciting as the other books. So we put the rest on hold until later this year. These books are probably at a 3rd grade level and are not the easiest.
♥Power of the Fire Dragon (Dragon Masters #4) My son was excited the fourth book of his favorite series from 1st grade came out over the summer and finished reading it in no time.
♥♥♥The Sasquatch Escape He LOVED it as did my daughter when she was in 2nd grade. For a list of books in The Imaginary Veterinary series click here. He asked me to get all the other books in the series. He is reading one after another.
♥♥♥Giants Beware! (graphic novel) Check out its sequel here. Both my kids (7 and 9) loved it and asked me to get the sequel Dragons Beware.
♥♥Sidekicks (graphic novel)
♥♥Mr Gum and the Biscuit Billionaire The second book in Mr. Gum series, check the reviews here. My son seems to like this series a lot. For a list of books in this series click here.
♥♥The Knights of the Kitchen Table Check out other titles in the Time Warp Trio series here. For a complete list click here. My son read several of them and liked them.
♥♥The Pirate Who’s Afraid of Everything My son really liked this one and asked if it is a series. There is another one coming out in February 2016: The Pirate Who’s Back in Bunny Slippers
♥♥Benjamin Pratt and the Keepers of the School For a complete list of books in this series in order click here. He has read 2 so far.
♥♥♥Zita the Spacegirl (graphic novel trilogy) You can find the titles and reviews here. He read all three almost in one sitting.
♥♥Dinosaur Habitat I read it to my kids when they were 5 and 7 and they loved it.
The following two has almost no words but my son just fell in love with graphic novels and they are a welcome break from books he has to focus on.
♥♥♥The Stonekeeper Another graphic novel, my son read it in one sitting and asked for sequels. It turned out his sister (age 9) also fell in love with this series and both of them read all books that came out so far and were really sad to learn that they have to wait for the 7th until next year. For a list of titles in the Amulet series click here. Before you give this to your child to read, read a few reviews–if your child is very sensitive, you might want to wait because of the content (parents die in the first book I think). My daughter usually does not like any stories with something so serious happening but she was totally okay with it here and devoured all the books.
♥The Princess in Black and the Perfect Princess Party
♥Explorer: The Mystery Boxes (graphic novel)
♥♥Jellaby (graphic novel)
♥♥♥Lunch Lady and the Cyborg Substitute: Lunch Lady #1 This is a graphic novel both my kids fell in love with. They read the whole series and every time I brought a new book from the library they fought over who was going to read it first. For the list of books in this series click here.
♥♥♥Cardboard (another graphic novel my son loved)
♥♥♥Jacob Two-Two Meets the Hooded Fang He also read other Jacob Two-Two’s adventures: Jacob Two-Two-‘s First Spy Case Jacob Two-Two on the High Seas
♥♥Target Practice For a list of books in the Cleopatra in Space series click here.
♥♥♥Mr Gum and the Dancing Bear
♥♥♥Binky the Space Cat (graphic novel) For a list of books in the Binky series click here. He read all of them.
♥Hereville: How Mirka Got Her Sword (graphic novel) For a list of book in the Hereville series click here.
♥Ghosthunters and the Incredibly Revolting Ghost (toward the end of 2nd grade?) For a list of books in the Ghosthunters series click here.
♥♥♥Owly For a list of books in the series (graphic novel) click here.
♥♥♥Marty McGuire. He asked for the sequels and read them immediately: Marty McGuire Has Too Many Pets! and Marty McGuire Digs Worms!
♥♥♥The Mouse and the Motorcycle He read the whole trilogy (Runaway Ralph and Ralph S. Mouse)
♥♥♥Akiko on the Planet Smoo For a complete list of books in this series click here.
♥♥♥The Chocolate Touch
♥♥♥Dragonbreath #1 For a list of books in this series click here. My son read all the books in this series.
♥♥♥Platypus Police Squad: The Frog Who Croaked He refused to play games with us (which he loves) because he wanted to finish reading this book (he read it in one sitting). He read the other books in this series as well. For a list click here.
Copper (graphic novel collection)
The Princess in Black and the Hungry Bunny Horde
The Knights of the Kitchen Table #1 (Time Warp Trio)
Treasure Hunters For a list of books in this series click here. He read the whole series.
Mission Unstoppable For a list of books in The Genius Files series click here. He read the whole series as did my daughter in 4th grade.
Classic Starts™: The Three Musketeers
The Haunted Library For a list of books in this series click here.
The School is Alive! For a list of books in the Eerie Elementary series click here. He read the whole series.
Circle of Heroes I started reading The Familiars series to my kids several months ago but we read only two books and now Matous picked up the third installment and eagerly read it on his own–he can’t wait to read the next one! For a list of books in this series click here.
Into the Land of the Unicorns Matous loves books by Bruce Coville because they are full of adventure. He is in love with this Unicorn series and has read several of the books despite their size. For a list of books in this series click here.
This Side of Magic He read the whole Keyholders series. For a list of books click here.
Sir Fartsalot Hunts the Booger You can imagine how he loved this one! Definitely good for boys!
Lunch Lady Another graphic novel series that seems to be popular. For a complete list click here.
Deltora Quest #1: The Forests of Silence For a list of books in this series click here.
The Hero’s Guide to Saving Your Kingdom My son read this book and its sequel.
The Day My Butt Went Psycho My son read it in 2nd grade.
The following list of titles and series contains books Matous read over the summer (before he entered the 3rd grade)
Jinx For a list of books in this series click here. He read the first two books and is planning to read the last one.
The Dragonet Prophecy For a list of books in the Wings of Fire series click here. He read the whole series.
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone He read four Harry Potter books in about three weeks. Unfortunately we could not find the fifth one in Europe but he is planning to read that one now, at the beginning of 3rd grade.
The Secret Zoo For a list of books in this series click here.
The Dragon in the Sock Drawer For a list of books in the Dragon Keepers series click here.
Palace of Dreams He finished the last book of The Familiars series. For a list of books in this series click here.
The Hero’s Guide to Being an Outlaw He loved the last book of his favorite series.
Belly Up For a list of book in the FunJungle series click here.
Poached For a list of book in the FunJungle series click here.
The Wishing Spell For a list of books in The Land of Stories series click here.
Books I read to him or he listened to on CD
The Misadventures of the Family Fletcher (vocabulary is not easy)
The Watsons Go to Birmingham–1963
The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting Boy
Crenshaw My son was the only one who enjoyed this audio book in the car so maybe it is not for everybody.
Fablehaven I think we listened to 3 books so far. they are very long. It is a very nice series and we loved the first one but as you read (or listen) further, the adventures are somewhat similar, just with new monsters, etc. My son would like to continue reading it but the rest of the family is kind of tired of it. 🙂 But I definitely recommend the first one and then you can decide if you want to read further.
Dragon Slippers Both my kids loved it and we are about to finish the last book of this trilogy. For a list click here.
Dealing with Dragons For a list of books in the Enchanted Forest Chronicles series click here. Both my kids asked for the sequels.
Floors For a list of books in this series click here. My kids listened to the audio book when they were 8 and 10.
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