Twenty-six books for 11 year olds, sorted by kind: adventure and survival, mystery, fantasy, graphic novels, series to get hooked on, classics to read together, and true stories. The last two groups are picks for boys and for girls, because parents ask for those lists. Any kid can read any book on this page.
In this deck · 9 sections
Adventure and survival
Hatchet
Gary Paulsen
Brian is thirteen and flying alone in a small plane to visit his father when the pilot has a heart attack. The plane goes down in the Canadian wilderness. All Brian has is the hatchet his mother gave him.
Why read it: It is a gripping survival story where every small problem, like making a fire, becomes a life-or-death puzzle the reader solves with Brian.
Fun fact: Gary Paulsen ran the Iditarod, the 1,000-mile sled dog race across Alaska, twice.
What was the hardest thing Brian had to learn, and how did he learn it?
Then ask: Which of his skills could you do right now?
Brian carries a secret about his parents. How does it change what he goes through in the woods?
Then ask: Can a secret make something hard even harder?
Eleven-year-olds can handle longer books and harder subjects: survival, grief, refugees, standing up to bullies. Several books here deal with serious things, and each of them leaves room for hope. Most books also come with a fun fact about the author or how the book began. Read it to your kid before they start.
Under each book there are two questions to ask once your kid has read it. They ask about one moment or choice in the story, so there is more to say than "it was good." For a slightly younger reader, see books for 10 year olds.
Did they really read it? Thonko talks with your kid about the parts a quick summary skips: the choices, the turns, the why.
Holes
Louis Sachar
Stanley Yelnats is sent to a camp in the desert for a crime he did not commit. Every day the boys dig a hole five feet deep and five feet wide. The warden says it builds character. She is looking for something.
Why read it: Three stories from different times click together at the end, and the moment it all fits is one of the best feelings a reader can have.
Fun fact: Holes won both the Newbery Medal and the National Book Award.
Stanley blames his bad luck on a family curse. Is there such a thing as bad luck?
Then ask: When do people blame luck for things they could change?
How did the three stories in the book turn out to be one story?
Then ask: When did you first see how they connected?
My Side of the Mountain
Jean Craighead George
A Newbery Honor book. Sam runs away from his crowded New York City apartment to live alone in the Catskill Mountains. He makes a home inside a hollow tree, finds his own food and trains a falcon.
Why read it: It is the daydream of living alone in the woods, written with real details about plants, animals and how to get through a winter.
Fun fact: Jean Craighead George kept 173 pets over the years, not counting cats and dogs, including an owl that loved taking showers in the family bathtub.
Sam chose to be alone. Was he lonely?
Then ask: What is the difference between being alone and being lonely?
Could you live the way Sam did for a year? What would you miss first?
Then ask: What would you be glad to leave behind?
Mystery
The Westing Game
Ellen Raskin
Winner of the Newbery Medal. A millionaire dies, and sixteen people are invited to the reading of his will. They are split into pairs and given clues. Whoever solves the puzzle of his death inherits his fortune.
Why read it: It is a real puzzle mystery: readers have every clue the characters have and can try to beat them to the answer.
Fun fact: Ellen Raskin was also a book designer. She designed the cover of the first edition of A Wrinkle in Time.
Turtle is the youngest player and the sharpest. What does she notice that others miss?
Then ask: When did you figure out the answer, if you did?
The heirs are paired with people they would never choose. What did the pairs teach each other?
Then ask: Who would you be paired with, and what could you learn from them?
The London Eye Mystery
Siobhan Dowd
Ted and his sister watch their cousin get on the London Eye, the giant wheel. Thirty minutes later the pod comes down and he is not in it. Ted, whose brain works differently from everyone else's, has a plan to find him.
Why read it: The detective sees the world in his own way, and his way of thinking is what cracks the case.
Fun fact: The money the book earns goes to a charity Siobhan Dowd set up in her will, which helps kids who do not have books get to read.
Ted thinks differently from everyone around him. How does that help him solve the case?
Then ask: Is there something about how you think that people do not notice?
Ted and his sister fight but solve it together. Who did more?
Then ask: Could either of them have done it alone?
Greenglass House
Kate Milford
Winner of the Edgar Award for mystery. Milo's parents run an inn for smugglers. During the winter holidays, when the inn is usually empty, strange guests arrive one after another, each with a secret. Milo plays a role-playing game to find out who they are.
Why read it: It is a cozy winter mystery in an old house full of stairs and secrets, with a twist that rewards careful readers.
Fun fact: Greenglass House won the Edgar Award, the top prize for mystery writing in the United States.
Milo pretends to be someone braver in the game. Does it make him braver for real?
Then ask: Have you ever acted braver than you felt?
Which guest did you suspect most, and were you right?
Then ask: What clue fooled you?
Fantasy
Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief
Rick Riordan
Percy keeps getting kicked out of schools. Then his math teacher turns into a monster, and he finds out he is the son of a Greek god. At a camp for half-gods he gets a quest: find Zeus's stolen lightning bolt before war breaks out.
Why read it: It is a funny, fast adventure, and kids come away knowing Greek mythology without trying.
Fun fact: Percy started as bedtime stories Rick Riordan made up for his son, who has ADHD and dyslexia like Percy.
Percy's ADHD and dyslexia turn out to be part of his powers. What could that mean for real kids?
Then ask: What is something that makes school hard but helps somewhere else?
The gods in the book often act like bad parents. Why do you think the author wrote them that way?
Then ask: What makes a good parent, god or not?
The Girl Who Drank the Moon
Kelly Barnhill
Winner of the Newbery Medal. Every year a town leaves a baby in the forest for the witch. The witch, who is kind, carries the babies to families on the other side. One year she accidentally feeds a baby moonlight, and the girl grows up full of magic.
Why read it: It is a beautifully written fairy tale about how a town can believe a lie for years, and how love can be a kind of magic.
Fun fact: The book started with one picture in Kelly Barnhill's mind: a poetry-quoting swamp monster with four arms and a big tail, holding a baby.
The town believed the story about the witch for years. Why did nobody question it?
Then ask: Is there something people believe just because everyone always has?
Xan keeps Luna's magic a secret from her. Was that the right choice?
Then ask: When is it okay to keep something from a kid for their own good?
Nevermoor
Jessica Townsend
Morrigan Crow is cursed and doomed to die on her eleventh birthday. Instead, a strange man whisks her away to a magical city called Nevermoor, where she must pass four trials to join a famous society, without knowing what her own talent is.
Why read it: The city is full of wonders, from a hotel with a giant cat to umbrellas you can fly with, and Morrigan is a hero who has to find out she matters.
Fun fact: Jessica Townsend wrote her first story at age seven. Before Nevermoor she edited a children's wildlife magazine for Steve Irwin's Australia Zoo.
Morrigan was blamed for everything that went wrong in her town. How does that change how she sees herself?
Then ask: How can people change the way you see yourself?
If you could pass one trial to join the society, which would you want?
Then ask: What talent would you hope you had?
Graphic novels
When Stars Are Scattered
Victoria Jamieson and Omar Mohamed
A true story. Omar and his little brother Hassan live in a refugee camp in Kenya after fleeing Somalia. Omar gets a chance to go to school, but it means leaving Hassan, who does not speak, for part of every day.
Why read it: It shows what life in a refugee camp is really like through a kid's eyes, with hope in every chapter.
Fun fact: It is Omar Mohamed's own childhood, told to Victoria Jamieson. The book was a National Book Award finalist.
Omar has to choose between school and staying with his brother. What would you choose?
Then ask: Who helps make the choice easier?
What surprised you about daily life in the camp?
Then ask: What would be hardest for you there?
The Witch Boy
Molly Knox Ostertag
In Aster's family, girls become witches and boys become shapeshifters. Aster wants to be a witch, which is forbidden. When a boy goes missing, his secret magic may be the only way to save him.
Why read it: It is a magical story about being yourself when your family has other plans, and the art is lovely.
Fun fact: Netflix announced an animated musical film based on it, with songs by the band Haim.
Aster's family says the rules protect them. Are they right?
Then ask: When should a family rule change?
Aster learns magic in secret with a friend. Was keeping it secret the right call?
Then ask: What would have happened if he had told his family first?
Sunny Side Up
Jennifer L. Holm and Matthew Holm
Sunny is sent to Florida for the summer and hopes it means Disney World. Instead she stays with her grandfather in a retirement community, and slowly we learn why: something is wrong with her older brother back home.
Why read it: It is a gentle comic about a family going through something hard, and it helps kids see that it is okay to talk about it.
Fun fact: Jennifer and Matthew Holm are a sister and brother who also make the Babymouse books together. This story draws on their own family.
Sunny thinks what happened with her brother is her fault. Why?
Then ask: Who could she have told?
What does Sunny learn from her grandfather?
Then ask: What have you learned from an older person in your family?
Series to get hooked on
Artemis Fowl
Eoin Colfer
Artemis Fowl is twelve, a genius and a criminal. His plan: kidnap a fairy and hold her for ransom in gold. The fairies, it turns out, have high-tech weapons and are not happy about it.
Why read it: The hero is the villain, at least at first, and kids love watching a kid outthink everyone.
Fun fact: Eoin Colfer was a primary school teacher. He has said Artemis is based on his younger brother, who was a mischievous mastermind as a kid.
Artemis is the bad guy in his own story. Why do you still root for him?
Then ask: Can you like a character you do not agree with?
Holly the fairy and Artemis start as enemies. What do they come to respect in each other?
Then ask: Have you ever come to respect someone you did not like?
A Series of Unfortunate Events
Lemony Snicket
The three Baudelaire orphans, an inventor, a reader and a baby who bites things, are chased from guardian to guardian by the evil Count Olaf, who wants their fortune. The narrator warns you, often, to stop reading.
Why read it: It is gloomy in a funny way, the kids are clever, and the narrator teaches big words while telling you to put the book down.
Fun fact: Lemony Snicket is a pen name. The real author is Daniel Handler, and Snicket is also a character inside the books.
The grown-ups in the books almost never help. Why do you think the author wrote them that way?
Then ask: Which grown-up in the books was the most useless?
Each Baudelaire has a different skill. Which one would you want?
Then ask: How would you use it against Count Olaf?
Ranger's Apprentice
John Flanagan
Will is small and an orphan, and he wants to be a knight. Instead he is chosen as an apprentice to a Ranger, one of the kingdom's mysterious scouts who fight with bows, stealth and their wits.
Why read it: It shows that a hero does not have to be big and strong, and the battles and training scenes pull kids through a long series.
Fun fact: John Flanagan wrote the first stories for his son Michael, who was twelve and small for his age, to show him that heroes do not have to be big.
Will wanted to be a knight but became a Ranger. Was it a loss or a win?
Then ask: Have you ever ended up loving something you did not choose?
What does Halt teach Will that has nothing to do with fighting?
Then ask: Who teaches you things like that?
Classics to read together
A Wrinkle in Time
Madeleine L'Engle
Winner of the Newbery Medal. Meg's father, a scientist, has vanished. With her strange little brother and a friend, she travels through space and time to find him, and to face a dark force that wants everyone to be the same.
Why read it: It mixes science and fantasy and asks big questions, and Meg is a stubborn, imperfect hero kids recognize.
Fun fact: Madeleine L'Engle said the book was rejected by 26 publishers before one said yes.
On the planet Camazotz, everyone does everything at the same time. Why is that so frightening?
Then ask: Where in real life do people pressure you to be the same?
Meg's faults turn out to help her. Which ones, and how?
Then ask: Is there a fault of yours that is also a strength?
Island of the Blue Dolphins
Scott O'Dell
Winner of the Newbery Medal. When her people leave their island off California, Karana is left behind. She lives there alone for years, building shelter, hunting and making friends with a wild dog.
Why read it: It is a quiet, strong survival story about a girl who learns to take care of herself, told in her own calm voice.
Fun fact: Karana is based on a real Native American woman who lived on San Nicolas Island, off California, for 18 years after her people moved to the mainland.
Karana makes friends with the wild dog that once attacked her. Why?
Then ask: Can an enemy become a friend?
Karana breaks her tribe's rule that women may not make weapons. Was she right?
Then ask: When is it okay to break a rule you were raised with?
True stories
I Am Malala, Young Readers' Edition
Malala Yousafzai with Patricia McCormick
Malala grew up in Pakistan, where armed men began banning girls from school. She spoke out, and when she was fifteen she was shot on her school bus. She survived and kept speaking.
Why read it: It shows a kid not much older than the reader standing up for school itself, and makes kids think about what an education is worth.
Fun fact: Malala won the Nobel Peace Prize at seventeen, the youngest person ever to win it.
Malala kept speaking even when it was dangerous. Where did her courage come from?
Then ask: What would you stand up for?
Why would anyone want to stop girls from going to school?
Then ask: What would change in a place where half the kids could not learn?
Brown Girl Dreaming
Jacqueline Woodson
The author tells her own childhood in short poems: growing up in South Carolina and New York in the 1960s and 70s, as the civil rights movement changed the country, and slowly realizing she wanted to be a writer.
Why read it: The short poems make a whole life easy to read, and kids see how a writer is made from ordinary days.
Fun fact: It won the National Book Award and a Newbery Honor.
Jacqueline was told she was not as good a reader as her sister. How did she become a writer anyway?
Then ask: What is something you were told you were not good at?
Which poem in the book would you want to write about your own life?
Then ask: What moment from your childhood would you start with?
Books 11-year-old boys love
Ghost
Jason Reynolds
Ghost has been running since the night his father chased him and his mother with a gun. He has never run on a track until a coach sees him race a sprinter and asks him to join an elite team. Ghost has to stop getting into trouble long enough to stay on it.
Why read it: It is fast and funny even when it is serious, and Ghost's voice sounds like a real kid talking.
Fun fact: Jason Reynolds did not read a whole novel cover to cover until he was seventeen. Now he writes the books he wishes he had read as a kid.
Ghost steals something he wants. Was it understandable, even if it was wrong?
Then ask: What should the coach have done when he found out?
What does the coach see in Ghost that Ghost does not see in himself?
Then ask: Has anyone seen something in you before you did?
The Crossover
Kwame Alexander
Winner of the Newbery Medal. Josh and his twin brother Jordan are basketball stars like their father was. When a girl comes between the brothers and their father's health starts to fail, the game gets harder. The whole book is written in poems that move like a basketball game.
Why read it: The poems bounce like dribbling, which makes it a fast read even for kids who think they do not like poetry.
Fun fact: Publishers rejected The Crossover about twenty times. Kwame Alexander was about to publish it himself when a publisher finally said yes.
Josh gets jealous when his twin spends time with a girl. Why is it so hard for him?
Then ask: How do you handle it when a close friend gets a new friend?
Their father ignores his health warnings. Why do you think he does that?
Then ask: What would you say to him?
Restart
Gordon Korman
Chase falls off a roof and wakes up with no memory. Kids at school either fear him or are thrilled to see him, and he slowly finds out that before the fall, he was a bully. He has to decide who he is going to be now.
Why read it: It asks whether a person can really change, and it is told by several kids, including the ones Chase hurt.
Fun fact: Gordon Korman wrote his first book as a seventh-grade class assignment when he was twelve. It was published when he was fourteen.
Should people forgive Chase if he does not remember what he did?
Then ask: Is the new Chase responsible for what the old Chase did?
Could you start over and be a different person? What would you keep?
Then ask: What would you change?
Books 11-year-old girls love
Out of My Mind
Sharon M. Draper
Melody is the smartest kid in her school, but nobody knows, because she has cerebral palsy and cannot walk or talk. When she finally gets a device that lets her speak, she tries out for the school quiz team.
Why read it: It puts readers inside the head of a kid everyone underestimates, and it changes how they see kids like her.
Fun fact: Sharon Draper's own daughter has cerebral palsy, and that gave her the idea of a brilliant girl trapped in a body she can barely control.
What did Melody's classmates get wrong about her?
Then ask: Who might people be getting wrong at your school?
How would you have treated Melody if you were on the quiz team?
Then ask: What would make that hard to do?
The Thing About Jellyfish
Ali Benjamin
A National Book Award finalist. Suzy's former best friend drowns. Suzy cannot accept that it just happened, so she decides it must have been a rare jellyfish sting and makes a plan to prove it.
Why read it: It is about grief and science at once, and it shows how a kid tries to make sense of something that has no good answer.
Why does Suzy need a scientific reason for her friend's death?
Then ask: Do explanations help when something is sad?
Suzy stops talking to almost everyone. Why?
Then ask: What helps you when you do not feel like talking?
Ella Enchanted
Gail Carson Levine
A Newbery Honor book. At birth a fairy gives Ella the "gift" of obedience: she must do whatever anyone tells her. It is a curse, and Ella sets out to break it, in a Cinderella story where she rescues herself.
Why read it: It is a clever twist on a fairy tale, and Ella fighting her curse makes readers think about what it means to choose for yourself.
Fun fact: Gail Carson Levine collected rejection letters for nine years before an editor took Ella Enchanted, her first published novel.
If you had to obey every order, what would be the most dangerous order someone could give you?
Then ask: How would you protect yourself?
Ella fights her curse instead of waiting to be saved. How is that different from the usual Cinderella?
Then ask: Which version do you like better?
Pashmina
Nidhi Chanani
Priyanka lives in America with her mother, who will not talk about India or about Pri's father. Pri finds a shawl in a suitcase that carries her to a magical India, and starts to uncover her family's secrets.
Why read it: It is a graphic novel about family and where you come from, with bright, magical art.
Fun fact: Nidhi Chanani has said Pri's mother is based on her own mother.
Why does Pri's mother keep her past a secret?
Then ask: What would you want to know about your family's past?
The magical India in the shawl is different from the real one. Why?
Then ask: Is a dream of a place ever better than the real thing?