6 Books for Adolescents Who Don’t Like Reading

Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney

The Diary of a Wimpy Kid books are a great combination of graphic novels and typical novels.  There are a lot of doodles and other illustrations that help students follow the plot in the novel.  This allows students to read a book that has a lot of pictures without feeling as though the story is juvenile.  The Diary of a Wimpy Kid books are also very popular with older kids and younger adolescents.  They are a little young for my population but I keep a few of them handy for my lower readers.

The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan

This is the first book in the Percy Jackson series.  The novels are high interest, packed with action, and have a moderate reading level for middle school students.  A lot of my male students enjoy these books so I keep the whole series on hand for my students.  I love getting students who don’t like to read into series.  When you get a student who doesn’t typically like to read into a series it usually results in them wanting to read the sequels.  They don’t just read one book and then not want to read again.

Harry Potter by JK Rowling

Who doesn’t love Harry Potter!?  For my eighth graders, the Harry Potter novels are not too difficult to comprehend.  The Harry Potter novels do not have a challenging reading level.  Plus they have such an addicting and engaging story that even though I’ve read them a dozen times, I still can’t put them down when I decide to reread them.  Harry Potter novels are great for boys and girls, and most middle school reading levels.

The Maze Runner by James Dashner

The Maze Runner is great because when the student finishes reading the book, you can recommend that they check out the movies.  This is the first book in a series that is really action packed.  It also follows the current fad of futuristic dystopian novels.

The Divergent Series by Veronica Roth

This is another widely popular series about a dystopian civilization.  The difference between these novels and The Maze Runner is that the protagonist is a female.  These novels include a lot of action and a bit of a love story.  These are a little more advanced but are high interest.

The Fault in our Stars by John Green

This story is sad but great.  It is about a young girl who is fighting cancer.  In a support group, she meets a young boy who is also struggling from similar afflictions.  The teens fall in love and this is the story of their relationship and their struggles.  Have the tissues ready, but the story is great and very interesting for adolescent readers.

What stories do you use in your classroom library for your struggling readers? Let me know in the comments!

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