Best Book Club Books for Middle Schoolers
Do you want to host a successful middle school book club? It all begins with your choice of book. Check out these fantastic options of book club books for middle school.
Hosting a Middle School Book Club
Book clubs add a social dimension to reading.
They can draw in reluctant readers with the promise of lively discussion, fun activities, and great snacks!
(Check out this list of Engaging Book Club Activities for Students.)
Book clubs can also form connections between book lovers and deepen the understanding of the chosen book.
Before hosting a dynamic book club, you must complete step 1: choose the book.
This list of the best book club books for middle school has sure-fire winners that are teen, tween, and teacher-approved.
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The Best Books for Book Club Kids
These books are top choices for any middle school book club.
The Mysterious Benedict Society
Two boys and two girls pass a series of tests to go on missions that require creative and talented children.
This is the first book of four by Trenton Lee Stewart. Middle schoolers will love the TV series tie-in.
Wilder Boys
Two boys search for their father in the Wyoming wilderness, using their wits to survive and an old journal to track him.
The book by Brandon Wallace is thrilling, plot-driven, and appeals to those who love survival stories.
The Spiderwick Chronicles
This is another book series that has inspired a streaming series.
A set of siblings discover a magical faerie world parallel to their own. The world is both magical and dangerous!
Esperanza Rising
Are you looking for book club books for middle school that feature strong female leads?
This immigration story has a spirited and determined female protagonist.
Flora and Ulysses
Kate DiCamillo is a fantastic and imaginative author, and this book is a prime example of her work (it even won the Newberry medal).
This quasi-graphic novel about a girl and a superhero squirrel is an excellent choice for 6th graders or reluctant readers.
A Long Walk to Water
This moving book by Linda Sue Park is based on a true story.
It tells the story from two alternating viewpoints: two 11-year-olds in Sudan. Their stories come together amazingly.
Fish in a Tree
Ally, a creative and intelligent girl, has been fooling her teachers into believing she can read.
Over the course of the story, not only does she learn that dyslexia is nothing to be ashamed of, but she learns to appreciate who she is.
This book is a great pick to underline that a learning disability does not equal low intelligence.
Harry Potter
I know what you’re thinking, “Surely every kid will read the Harry Potter series on their own?”
Maybe.
But there is a reason these books are so popular. J.K. Rowling creates a world children want to inhabit–and discuss!
This set of Books 1-3 could be used for a whole season of middle school book clubs. Get ready for a lively discussion!
Add in quizzes (“What house would you be in?”), games, and even a movie viewing, and your book club will be the most popular middle school club!
The Chronicles of Narnia
This beloved series by C.S. Lewis has captured middle schoolers’ imaginations for generations.
All the books are wonderful, but The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe is the classic (and has a faithful movie version).
The Unteachables
This laugh-out-loud book by Gordon Korman tells the tale of the worst class in school paired with the worst teacher.
The results? A little mayhem and a lot of surprises.
Number the Stars
Set in Copenhagen during WWII, a young girl bravely acts to save her family and friends.
This is a beautiful history-literature crossover book.
Hatchet
Gary Paulsen’s tale of a 13-year-old’s survival in the wilderness (with only his hatchet) is a time-tested winner for a middle school book club.
This heart-pounding story does not disappoint.
Out of My Mind
This is the story of an eleven-year-old girl with cerebral palsy who refuses to be defined by her disability.
Wonder
This graphic novel about a boy with facial differences inspired the Choose Kindness movement and a major motion picture.
The One and Only Ivan
Based on a true story, Ivan is a captive gorilla who forms an unlikely friendship with a baby elephant.
This novel by Katherine Applegate has themes of kindness, friendship, and the power of art.
Wings of Fire
Calling all lovers of fantasy worlds…and dragons!
This fantastical world created by Tui Sutherland is complete with warring tribes of dragons, mysterious prophecies, and a quest for freedom.
The Last of the Really Great Whangdoodles
Here is another fantasy book about a land of magical creatures and the quest of three children to reach Whangdoodleland.
The Lightning Thief
Zeus, king of the gods, suspects Percy Jackson has stolen his lightning bolt.
Can Percy and his friends track down the lightning bolt and bring peace to Mount Olympus?
Middle schoolers will learn their Greek mythology with this engaging series by Rick Riordan.
The Wild Robot
How could a robot survive in the wilderness? This page-turner by Peter Brown will ignite middle schooler’s imaginations!
Restart
Gordon Korman gets another book on the best book club books for middle school with this novel about fresh starts.
Chase fell off the roof and now has no memory. How can he reinvent himself when he doesn’t remember who he was?
Front Desk
Ten-year-old Mia Tang works the front desk at a motel where her immigrant parents clean rooms.
But the family has a secret: they hide immigrants. And Mia has a secret of her own: she wants to be a writer.
This is a great book club book for sixth grade.
21 Middle School Book Club Books
These book club books for middle school will make book clubs popular among students and spark lively discussions.
With this list of books, you have plenty of excellent choices for your next middle school book club.
