I tutor a 5th grade boy and the main thing we focus on is reading and comprehension. There are a ton of really great books out there for boys – full of adventure, courage, and honor. We started off reading the Chronicles of Narnia and are currently somewhere in the middle of Voyage of the Dawn Treader. That means we have two more to go and then we’re done. We’ll probably finish them by the end of the school year. The books I see him come in with from school are fluff and nonsense, and the reading level is much lower than I know he’s capable of. So, I pillaged a few summer reading/school lists online and came up with my own list.
I would love your input if you can think of any other really great books for boys. I have read more than half the books on this particular list. The others have a strong reputation. I’m leaving off the Harry Potter series on purpose, not because I don’t like it, but because the whole idea gives him nightmares. I promised him I wouldn’t make him read them.
Here goes!
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by Robert Louis Stevenson
by Eoin Colfer
by Roald Dahl
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
by Roald Dahl
by Deborah Howe
by Gary Paulsen
The Bad Beginning (A Series of Unfortunate Events #1)
and the rest of the series
by Lemony Snicket
by Lynne Reid Banks
The Redwall series
by Brian Jacques
(this series in itself could keep us busy until he’s in high school. There are upwards of 14 books, if my memory serves me!
by Sid Fleischman
by Johann D Wyss
(if I remember correctly, this has a lot of really descriptive paragraphs that could get boring quick for a boy with a short attention span)
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What else have you got for me?
Xapa to the World 
If HP gives him nightmares, then Artemis Fowl will as well ….. so will a couple more books on here, as they are scary in certain places and somewhat depressing at times. I like Rick Riordan’s stuff, but that’s got a buncha action and can be scary as well. -__-
He said the first movie gave him nightmares. It was the only one I promised him we wouldn’t read. There are some very scary things in Narnia, but he seems to do alright with them. I think we’ll just have to play it by ear with the others. I was also thinking of the Mouse on a Motorcycle. Isn’t that the name of it? I can’t remember if that’s Dahl or Cleary.
I haven’t read Artemis Fowl, so I’m probably going to read that first before he and I read it together. We have some time 🙂