For my first 5 years of teaching, I taught 6th and 7th grade Language Arts; however, a year ago I switched to teaching 6th and 7th grade Intensive Reading for the students in my school who had not passed the state assessment. When I moved to primarily teaching struggling readers, I knew I had to exam more deeply which books would truly grab these students' attention and help me make them identify themselves as readers. After a year in this position, I have some go-to books that I find have become great foundations for my students to grow into just plain readers, not struggling or reluctant.
For the lists, I did break them up by genders, but they are definitely not concrete. The Diary of a Wimpy Kid series is loved by all kids, but I put it under boys. Same thing with Sharon Creech's Love that Dog and Brian Selznick but vice versa. This is just a guideline for books I have found to be successful.
Top 10 Books for Struggling and Reluctant Middle School Boys
![Diary of a Wimpy Kid (Diary of a Wimpy Kid, #1)](http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1328853132l/389627.jpg)
Diary of a Wimpy Kid (series) by Jeff Kinney
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg25AaxLe188FdApmvAejKs5QCyfGyYg4Q3VapSwQgghNJNqwCo-wN21rFUb_Eqisx8L3kabIUU6eNvNWE1UaoaG_ofKaGTTnyaDma9rI1EtOzYL7LA2snyFqCdlBAzFhKXnrQxQDWw4pQ/s200/Big+Nate+Strikes+Again.jpg)
Big Nate (series) by Lincoln Peirce
Amulet (series) by Kazu Kibuishi
![Out from Boneville (Bone, #1)](http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1327921261l/106134.jpg)
Bone (series) by Jeff Smith
![The Dodgeball Chronicles (Knights of the Lunch Table, #1)](http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1328843222l/2887157.jpg)
Knights of the Lunch Table (series) by Frank Cammuso
![Bad Island](http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1328836244l/10254690.jpg)
Graphic Novels Bad Island, Ghostopolis, and I'm sure Cardboard by Doug TenNapel
![Sidekicks](http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1303352163l/9639648.jpg)
Sidekicks by Dan Santat
![](http://images.betterworldbooks.com/054/I-Survived-the-Sinking-of-the-Titanic-1912-Tarshis-Lauren-9780545206945.jpg)
I Survived... (series) by Lauren Tarshis
![Maximum Ride, Vol. 1 (Maximum Ride: The Manga, #1)](http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1299863638l/3173558.jpg)
Maximum Ride: The Manga (series) by James Patterson
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1CxqvvVEmW562ChKHrRnrksndhZhUiiwmqY2HbKriIY3_185mD-OuXt3skEshQltgdutDMrLiuzM1VG2GKtuCdqixDnKk5pVEidGYCPQ-Byukdkq8JeEgxRJdCz7pu05CXojgHL6eIWqZ/s200/tornadoes.jpg)
Any nonfiction book by Seymour Simon
Top 10 Books for Struggling and Reluctant Middle School Girls
![Dork Diaries: Tales from a Not-So-Fabulous Life](http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1266482091l/6054449.jpg)
Dork Diaries (series) by Rachel Renee Russell
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7kvllEr1H1wa4AFWdBEFE5GSZpCkg9HLvvSjM-H5N1NlXKVq0PjuiIJsK8DTagH2_bFq1-sdTQM1WaDhvHZst8B66JoafIwdIWkw7i50nCfQd7kesqqAiewyeBYlNe3DdVY6B-Tsi4osn/s200/smile.jpg)
Smile and I'm sure Drama
![Wonderstruck](http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1327885739l/10128428.jpg)
Hugo Cabret and Wonderstruck by Brian Selznick
![](http://store.scholastic.com/content/stores/media/products/47/0439629047_xlg.jpg)
Dear Dumb Diary by Jim Benton
![](http://www.kdl.org/image_attachments/0000/6024/41whm2azt4l.jpg?1207691796)
Love that Dog & Hate that Cat by Sharon Creech
![Lost and Found (Bluford, #1)](http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1174065778l/357597.jpg)
Bluford (series) by various
![Shattered Star](http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1327922484l/9593608.jpg)
Surviving Southside (series) by various
![The Popularity Papers: Research for the Social Improvement and General Betterment of Lydia Goldblatt & Julie Graham-Chang](http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1328813135l/7092306.jpg)
Popularity Papers (series) by Amy Ignatow
![I Heart You, You Haunt Me](http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1327869714l/1832749.jpg)
Any novel in verse, specifically Lisa Schroeder
![What My Mother Doesn't Know (What My Mother Doesn't Know, #1)](http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172378497l/170529.jpg)
and Sonya Sones
I am looking forward to sharing these books with students again this year
and I hope you find success with them as well.
Happy reading and sharing! :)
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