Reluctant Readers

Beyond Diary of a Wimpy Kid

In some ways, it feels to this librarian like the book publishing industry is finally waking up to the fact that elementary school boys are fiction readers, too. Girls have long been hooked on spunky female characters like Junie B. Jones, Judy Moody, and Clementine. With the success of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series, publishers realized that boys are also looking for characters to love and follow in a series. Judy Moody's brother Stink got a spin-off series, and a slew of other new series emerged for elementary school-aged boys. Here are some fiction series recommendations for boys. They are grouped by grade level, but these are just recommendations. Reading levels and personal interests vary, and the main goal is to get our boys reading. I tried to stay close to the realistic fiction genre of Wimpy Kid. Later in the year I will post my recommendations on fantasy and sci fi series for boys and girls. Enjoy!

Series Books for Boys in Grades 2 & 3

Big Nate series by Lincoln Peirce
Captain Awesome series by Stan Kirby
Roscoe Riley series by Katherine Applegate
Stuey Lewis series by Jane Schoenberg
Alvin Ho series by Lenore Look
My Weird School series by Dan Gutman
Stink series by Megan McDonald

Series Books for Boys in Grades 4 & 5

The Strange Case of Origami Yoda series by Tom Angleberger
39 Clues series by various authors
Alex Rider series by Anthony Horowitz
The Lemonade War series by Jacqueline Davies
Hank Zipzer series by Henry Winkler & Lin Oliver
David Mortimore Baxter series by Karen Tayleur

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These websites offer information about hooking reluctant readers:

Greenwood Laboratory School

ReadKiddoRead

Scholastic

Reading Rockets

On these pages you will find lists of books recommended for reluctant readers:

Monroe County Public Library

City of Loveland Library

Common Sense Media