Best Books that 10 Year Old Boys Will Like

Unlike 25 or 30 years ago, the fiction choices for young adult readers are rich and plentiful. Many more exceptional fiction books of interest to boys now exist than ever before.

"Parents of 10-year-old boys faced with nightly required reading logs are accustomed to hearing "Mom, Dad, there's nothing to read. What am I going to read?"

Michael Chabon's Summerland immediately springs to mind as one of the best YA / teen books that I have ever read. Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson's Peter and the Starcatchers is also a critically acclaimed book for this age group. But what parents and educators would like to see their boys read is often very different from what the vast majority of boys want to read.

When asked what type of books they most like to read, the majority of 4th and 5th grade boys prefer non-fiction. Space, science, 100 grossest things that annoy your sister, almanacs, WWII . . . the list of preferred non-fiction is as varied and long as the list of favorite fiction is narrow and incredibly short.

So, for those boys at a solid 5th-6th grade reading level, here are some ideas for the next book for their 15 to 20 minutes of nightly required reading, tested and approved by real-life boys who generally shun fiction.

Please note: In my original version of this hub, I had a great list of links to amazon.com for easy purchasing and wish-listing. Unfortunately, amazon.com and the State of Illinois don't see eye-to-eye on sales taxes; therefore, amazon has ended its business relationships with all Illinois affiliates. For equally quick links to these titles at barnesandnoble.com (which does have affiliate relationships in Illinois via Google's affiliate program) please click here. Thanks!

The Lightning Thief
by Rick Riordan
The first book in the 5-book Percy Jackson and the Olympians series introduces Percy as a 12-year-old who discovers he is a demigod, the son of a mortal woman and an Olympic god. Sent to a summer camp for demigods, he and his friends set out to prevent war between the gods.

Pendragon Series
by D.J. MacHale
With 10 books in the series, a prequel book and other ancillary reading, the popular Pendragon series can fill reading logs for almost an entire school year! The series begins with everyday 14-year-old Bobby Pendragon, who is suddenly handed a mission by his Uncle: to protect space and time from a demon determined to end the human race. Equally surprised to learn that he is a member of an exclusive group of mysterious people called Travelers, Bobby continues to learn more about this epic battle over space and time as this series unfolds.

The Cryptid Series
by Roland Smith
Let's let a boy from Amazon.com give his review of this book:

"THIS BOOK IS THE BEST BOOK I HAVE EVER READ. IT'S FULL OF MYSTERY AND ACTION. IT'S FUNNY! THE MAIN CHARACTERS ARE GRACE AND MARTY WHO ARE TWINS AND NEAR THE END OF THE BOOK THERE IS A BIG SUPRISE!"

Our fiction-averse son loved this series equally. Definitely worth a try.

Boy at War
By Harry Mazar
The 14-year-old son of an officer on the USS Arizona witnesses Pearl Harbor. Mistaken as an enlisted man, he is ordered into action to help with rescues during the chaos following the attacks. The first book of a World War II series that any boy (or girl) interested in history and/or WWII will love.

Al Capone Does My Shirts
by Gennifer Choldenko
Told from the viewpoint of preteen Moose Flannagan, this Depression-era tale chronicles his life as the child of a prison guard on Alcatraz, where Capone was incarcerated. At the time of the story, prison guard families lived on Alcatraz, with the children taking the ferry to school in San Francisco. Moose's father lands a coveted job on Alcatraz so that Moose's austistic sister can attend a special school. Unfortunately for Moose and his family, his sister, whose condition is kept secret, is denied admittance to the school, and life on Alcatraz begins to unravel for the Flannagan family. This serious topic is handled with such compassion and--at appropriate moments--humor that Choldenko's story wins the hearts of history-enthused boys. This is a great introduction to serious topics and to the issues at the heart of the depression.

A Long Way from Chicago
by Richard Peck
Mr. Peck brings the Great Depression to life with chapters that resemble short stories of summer visits with a larger-than-life grandma in rural Illinois during the Great Depression

Among the Hidden (The Shadow Children Series)
by Margaret Peterson Haddix
This 7-book series is popular with boys, girls and school curriculums. Haddix's series explores the world of the hidden, the third-born children who exist illegally in a world that only allows two children per family, thirds being killed upon discovery,

The Harry Potter Books
by J.K. Rawling
This set of 7 books has captivated a generation of readers, boys and girls alike. For anyone not sure on the premise, the series follows the adventures of young wizard Harry Potter as he, his Hogwarts School friends and other members of the wizarding world prepare to battle the evil Lord Valdemort. A true good-versus-evil, boy-becomes-man adventure. Great gifts as a set or one book at a time.