To say my boys are avid readers is an understatement. They LOVE reading. My husband and I both concur that we never read as much as our boys do when we were their age. Books just weren’t fun when we were kids.
My boys still run around with friends whenever they get the chance, but we live far out from most of them, so it doesn’t happen every day. When they have downtime, they grab a book. They each have their own 5 shelf bookcase that holds their most treasured tales.
I asked them, if they could recommend books to other 10–12-year-old boys, what would they suggest? This list is what they recommended.
Let me preface this with we are selective. The books my boys have read were either recommended by trusted friends or we read detailed reviews online about the book before they began reading it.
I encourage you to research each title you are interested in to decide if it will be a good fit for your children. Our tastes in stories may not be the same as your family. However, all of these stories have strong main characters that work together to protect their family and friends. Even if it is from fairies or Greek mythological creatures.
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Top Books for 10–12-year-old boys from 10–12-year-old boys –
1. Last Kids on Earth Series – Max Brallier
2. Percy Jackson Series – Rick Riordan
3. Candy Shop Wars Series – Brandon Mull
4. Fablehaven Series – Brandon Mull
5. Five Kingdoms Series – Brandon Mull
6. Alcatraz vs. the Evil Librarians Series – Brandon Sanderson
7. Dragonwatch Series – Brandon Mull
8. Spirit Animals – Brandon Mull
Each book in the Spirit Animals series is written by a different author. My 10-year-old has loved them all, but the first book is written by Brandon Mull. I think it’s safe to say we are Brandon Mull fans.
9. The Spiderwick Chronicles – Tony Diterlizzi
10. Diary of a Wimpy Kid Series – Jeff Kinney
11. Green Ember Series – S.D. Smith
12. Champion’s Quest – Frank L. Cole
This one I found by chance. I was looking for new books for my boys for Christmas when I came across this one. My 12-year-old loved it. This series only has two books so if you are in need of a shorter series, this is your ticket.
13. Chronicles of Narnia – C.S. Lewis
14. Hardy Boys (The old series) – Franklin W. Dixon
I can only vouch for the older series as that is all we have read. I’m sure the new ones are great too, but we haven’t read them. My boys love the Hardy Boys, and it gives them a snippet of what life was like during the late 1920s to 1930s – in terms of society.
15. The Hobbit followed by the Lord of the Rings – J.R.R. Tolkien
This one I would leave up to parent discretion as well. You know your kids, so you know if some of the series would be too much for them right now. My oldest loved the whole series, my 10-year-old, handled the Lord of the Rings, but had no desire for the Hobbit.
16. The Phantom Tollbooth – Norton Juster
17. Wanted: Mud Blossom – Betsy Byars
Mud Blossom is a story for the whole family. It was one of the stories for the 3rd-5th grade Battle of the Books a couple years ago. I just recently read it to my 6-year-old daughter and she can’t stop talking about it. She makes references to the story every day.
18. The Seven Wonders of Sassafras Springs – Betty G. Birney
19. The Mysterious Benedict Society – Trenton Lee Stewart
20. Heroes of Olympus – Rick Riordan
So much more –
We have read through all of these books so I can vouch for all of them. Can you tell our family loves fantasy and adventure? There are many more that we could add, but I will save those for a later time. I hope your family has as much fun as we did devouring these titles.
If you are looking for fun family night ideas, check out my other posts about iconic movie nights and family board games. We are all about the family fun over here!
Let me know what your family loves to read in the comments!
