2012 Kids' Reading List: 8 to 11 Years
Help your kids discover the joy of reading—and build your home library—with this list compiled by the ALA-Children's Book Council and the Association for Library Service to Children.
By the American Library Association
Original Content | August 02, 2012
Kelly Barnhill
336 pages
Can an ordinary boy solve the mystery of disappearing children—before he becomes one of them?
Nic Bishop
48 pages
Frogs who eat snakes, frogs with see-through skin, frogs who live for months at a time buried in dried mud—who knew frogs were so fascinating?
Kate DiCamillo
208 pages
A fortune teller predicts an elephant will help Pete find his sister, and a magician performs an incredible trick in this fable-like tale.
Jeanne DuPrau
288 pages
Lina and Doon live in a world with no sun. Light comes from a generator which is starting to fail. Can they find a way out?
Adam Gidwitz
256 pages
Warning! This is not your average fairytale. Read only if you want to know the true, funny, creepy, tragic, heroic story behind Hansel and Gretel and other fairytales. You have been warned!
Charise Mericle Harper
144 pages
Seven-year-old Grace prides herself on her teeny-tiny superpower of knowing how people are feeling, but when she tries to help a neighbor feel better, her good intentions backfire.
Jennifer L. Holm
208 pages
In 1935, eleven-year-old Turtle moves to Key West, where she learns the trials of boy cousins and the wonders of sugar apple ice cream.
Norton Juster
272 pages
When Milo goes through the Phantom Tollbooth, he discovers a land where watchdogs have actual clocks, the Mathemagician rules the land of numbers, and “Whichs” are not so wicked.
Ellen Levine
40 pages
In this retelling of a true story, Henry “Box” Brown escapes from slavery by being mailed in a box to free Philadelphia.
Grace Lin
304 pages
Following directions from a grateful gold- fish, Minli sets out on a quest to Never-Ending Mountain in hopes of changing her community’s fortunes.
Lenore Look
176 pages
Alvin’s worst fear has been realized—camping! Can his night-vision goggles, water purifying tablets and heavy-duty flashlight keep him' 'safe from the great outdoors?
Cynthia Lord
224 pages
An autistic brother, a parapalegic boy, and a new friend teach Catherine that the rules of normal behavior are not as important as friendship and acceptance.
Megan McDonald
192 pages
In true Nancy Drew form, Judy sets out to solve the case of the missing puppy.
Patricia C. McKissack
48 pages
After a young boy is stolen, his father and the Mother Elements who raised him search the earth to find him again.
Patricia MacLachlan
160 pages
Four dogs and a cat can’t fill the hole left in their family when the father leaves...or can they help the family find the magic?
Wendy Mass
304 pages
When he receives a mysterious locked box left to him by his deceased father, Jeremy begins a journey to find the keys to unlock the meaning of life.
Kadir Nelson
96 pages
Fans of baseball can spout statistics and list their favorite players, but some of the greatest players of the game were never really famous.
Katherine Paterson
208 pages
Two lonely children create a magical kingdom, and declare themselves king and queen, in the woods by their homes.
Sara Pennypacker
160 pages
Third-grader Clementine gains several unique hairstyles, confronts friendships issues, and helps banish pesky pigeons from the front of her apartment building.
Louis Sachar
272 pages
Stanley Yelnats carries the burden of the family curse brought upon by his no-good-dirty-rotten-pig-stealing great-great-grand-father, which brings him to a memorable summer at Camp Greenlake.
Jon Scieszka
106 pages
Growing up with five brothers, piles of comic books and lots of free time gave Jon Scieszka plenty of accidents, jokes and misadventures to write about.
Brian Selznick
533 pages
Beautiful drawings help to tell the story of a orphan secretly living inside the walls of a Paris train station.
Shel Silverstein
208 pages
This poetry collection includes more than 130 never-before-seen poems and drawings.
Rebecca Stead
208 pages
Twelve-year-old Miranda must unravel a puzzle involving increasingly strange notes with a mysterious warning that seem to defy the laws of time and space.
Rita Williams-Garcia
240 pages
In 1968, three young sisters are sent to live with the poet mother who abandoned them years before and have trouble adjusting to her bohemian lifestyle and Black Panther' 'involvement.
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Printed from Oprah.com on Friday, May 24, 2013
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