Do not miss "The Cat on the Mat is Flat" and "The Big Fat Cow that Went Kapow" these look like regular young reader novels but are really Dr Seuss-esque rhymes with surprize endings, they even include some new vocabulary words, like shonky and wonky, By Andy Griffin of the "Butt Wars" fame
Babymouse by Jennifer Holm, a "graphic novel" series that is fun funny and lets kids read the bubbles. Babymouse is also a character who's imagination knows few bounds and is written by an award winning author.
Stink and Judy Moody are two series written by Megan McDonald, I don't like how the siblings treat each other but good lessons are usually learned in each story. A big plus for this one is the actual page layout, they got it right especially for the kids with the visual processing challenges, the font size is great, and they still have pictures. Stink is a little easier read than Judy so that would be the place to start.
Short books that are still thought provoking for the middle school student might be "Missing May" by Rylant, On My Honor" by Bauer, "Stone Fox" by Gardner, "Witness" by Hesse, "Love That Dog"and "Pleasing the Ghost" by Creech, "Skeleton Man" by Bruchac, "The Cay" by Taylor and "Skinny Bones" by Park. All of these offer things to talk about and could definitely be book report material.
Books in verse are another option for the reluctant reader, two of those above are also in this category. The poetry offers fewer words per page and insists on accurate word selection but all of these still tell a story that is easy to follow. "Out of Dust" by Hesse, I prefer "Witness" personally but it does fall into this verse category. "Dead on Town Line" by Conner, our mother/daughter group enjoyed this one but all felt it wasn't finished, a great start none the less. Ellen Hopkins has a series of books, these are teen/young adult novels that are filled with trauma, angst, suicide, drugs, and sex. Not for the faint of heart but they do pull you in and keep you reading. My favorite in this category is "Make Lemonade" by Wolfe, an amazing story that reads like elegant prose yet is all in verse. It is a trilogy so there is more if you like it.
Do I have to mention "Wimpy Kid?" The original was actually written for adults but no one would publish it for grown-ups, so they went with the kid option. The lexile is actually listed at 950 I believe for the first novel, which can be quite a stretch for the struggling reader, but if they ask to read it, hand it over. They will work though the hard bits just because they want to be like everyone else, and it is funny.
Action packed stories also pull these reluctant readers in and keep their interest high enough that plowing through the words is worth it. "Alex Rider" takes the cake in this category with a near death experience every 10 pages. Lots of explosions, death, mayhem, and violence put this in the teen category but my girls were just 9 when they started listening to these and they loved them, even my sensitive one was not bothered by all the blood and guts but seems to easily understand that it was all make believe. The current best selling "Percy Jackson" series by Riordan is another fast paced winner,
Books in journal, letter, diary or IM format also seem to appeal to those allergic to books. The Myracle series TTFN, TTYL, L8R G8R, and BFF is worth a look, I did get tired of all the whining and lack of action, they didn't do anything except chat and text, but it has some young girl teen appeal. For the much younger set the Dear America series is coming back, these are diaries or journals of historical characters that were very well done and I never understood why they quit publishing them. "Regarding the Sink" by Klise is a fun one and this author has several titles that fall into this category, her stories are told by not just letters but newspaper clippings, receipts, bills, post-its, and messages. Myers "Monster" is another with this visual appeal and don't miss "The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian" by Alexi, it's a real gem. Older kids for both those last titles.
My brain is slowing so you will have to start with those and I will find others later.
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