Helpful Resources

This page contains two helpful sections:

  1. A constantly updated list of book series by level and interest to assist you in selecting the best just-right books for your child.

  2. Suggestions for how you might engage in meaningful discussion with your child about what they read. Think of this more as a book club talk rather than an interview!

Book Series “ladders” by level

*Series names in bold represent texts with diverse characters and/or written by diverse authors. This list is being routinely updated!

Friendship/Family/School

Horrible Harry (L) - Pinky and Rex (L) - Ricky Ricotta (L) - Marvin Redpost (L) – Flat Stanley (M) - Bailey School Kids (M) – Polk Street School (M) – The Littles (M) – Ivy and Bean (M) – Freckle Juice (M) – Lola Levine (M) - Mary Marony (M) – Judy Moody and Stink (M) – Keena Ford (N) - Amber Brown (N) - Nikki and Deja (N) – Jada Jones (N) - Jake Drake (O) – Ramona (O)- Class President (O) –Squishy Taylor (O) - Mae and June (O) - Jasmine Toguchi (O) - Ruby Lu (O) - Sam Wu is NOT Afraid (O) - Shai and Emmie (O) - Zoey and Sassafras (O) - Best Enemies (P) – Gooseberry Park (P) – Joshua T Bates (P) - Juana and Lucas (P) – Pony Tails (P) - Dyamonde Daniel (P) - Alvin Ho (P) - Ruby and The Booker Boys (P) - Emma Dilemma (Q) - Nina Soni (Q) - Magnificent Makers (Q) - Little House (Q) – Amazing Days of Abby Hayes (Q) - Anastasia Krupnick (Q) – Humphrey (Q) - Timmy Failure (Q) - Tia Lola (R) - Magnificent Mya Tibbs (R) - Dream On, Amber (R) - Lemonade War (S) - Cilla Lee Jenkins (S) - Middle School Worst Years of My Life (T) - I Funny (T) - Joey Pigza (T)

Mystery

Nate the Great (K) – High Rise Private Eyes (K) - Cam Jansen (L) – Bailey School Kids (M) -Nancy Drew Notebooks (M) – Nancy Drew and Clue Crew (M) – A-Z Mysteries (N) – Jigsaw Jones (N) - Polka Dot Private Eyes (N) - Babysitters Club (O) – Boxcar Children (O) – Pony Pals (O) - My Weird School (O) - Precious Ramotswe (P) - Smashie McPerter (P) - Clubhouse Mysteries (P) - Encyclopedia Brown (P) – Museum Mysteries (Q) - Bunnicula (Q) - SpyX (Q) - Sherlock Holmes and Baker Street Irregulars (R) – Nancy Drew (S) - Theodore Boone: Kid Lawyer (T) - Secret Series (U)

Fantasy/Dystopian

Pixie Tricks (M) – Polly Diamond (N) - Catwings (N) – Dragon Slayer's Academy (P) - Secrets of Droon (Q) – Humphrey (Q) - Charlie and Chocolate Factory (R) – Spiderwick Chronicles (R) – Amos (R) - Warriors Dawn of the Clans (S) - Emily Windsnap (S) - Philippa Fisher (S) - Deltora Quest (R/S/T) – Narnia (T) – How To Train Your Dragon (T) – Penderwicks (T) - Emily Windsnap (T) - Gregor the Overlander (U) - Warriors New Prophecy (U) – Series of Unfortunate Events (V) – 39 Clues (V) – Flashback 4 (V) - Percy Jackson (W) – City of Ember (W) - Among the Hidden (Z) - Enders Game (Z) – Maze Runner (Z) – Hunger Games (Z)

*Harry Potter ranges from V (books 1&2) – W (books 3,4,5) – Z (books 6&7)

Action/Adventure (Some titles in other sections might also be considered Action/Adventure)

Magic Tree House (M) – Max Malone (N) – Geronimo Stilton (O) – Ralph S Mouse (O) - Time Warp Trio (P) – Thea Stilton (P) - Help! I'm Trapped (Q) - I Survived (Q) - Shredderman (R) -Gordon Korman Trilogies (R) – Hatchet Trilogy (R) – Girls Survive (S) - Swindle (S) - Million Dollar series (S) - Baseball Card Adventures (T) - Storm Runners (U) - Secret Series (U) - Genius Files (V) - Alex Rider series (Z)

Sports

Matt Christopher (Range of Levels) – TJ Edwards Sports Mysteries (P) – Jake Maddox (P) - Zayd Saleem Chasing the Dream (Q) - Mike Lupica (V) – John Feinstein Sports Mysteries (W/X)


One of the best ways for students to move through levels of text is to get hooked into a good series. This resource provides you some guidance on levels of popular series.

If your child is interested in reading a series above their reading level, this can also serve as a guide for which series will help them "get ready" for the one they are interested in. For example, if a student is reading "Bailey School Kids" and really wants to read "My Weird School", it helps to read a lot of "A-Z Mysteries" and "Jigsaw Jones" first.

Ways of Discussing Your Child's Reading...

Discuss your child's reading with them in many of the same ways you would if you were talking to a friend about a book! Here are some discussion starters. Let these lead you into fantastic discussions with your child:

For every book:

  • What parts of your character's life are mirrors to you (in other words, they are just like yours, and you understand them)?

  • What parts of your character's life are windows to you (in other words, they are different than yours, and the text is helping you understand them better)?

  • What is easy to understand about the character's life/choices/big problems?

  • What is hard to understand about the character's life/choices/big problems?

  • What surprises you?

  • Would you want to be friends with the main character? Why or why not?

  • Tell me about your favorite part of the story so far.

  • If you could reach into the book and speak directly to the character, what would you say? Why?

For books at levels K/L/M:

  • What is the character's big problem? Have you ever had a problem like that?

  • Do you agree with how the character works to solve the problem?

  • How do the character's feelings change in the story?

  • How would you feel if you were the character?

For books at levels N/O/P/Q:

  • What are a few of the character's problems? Which one seems to be the biggest one?

  • What does the character seem to really want? What's getting in the way?

  • How is the character trying to deal with their big problems? What does that teach you about them?

  • If you could give the character advice, what would it be?

  • What bigger problems in the world does this book seem to show ?

For books at levels R/S/T:

  • Are noticing any problems the character has that will probably be big and complicated to solve?

  • How are you noticing your character changing? Growing?

  • In books like these, minor characters have important roles in the life of the main character. What are you noticing about that?

  • What do you recognize about the setting? What is hard to recognize or understand about the setting?

  • What bigger problems in the world does this book seem to be dealing with?

For books at levels U/V/W and higher:

  • In books like these, different characters have different plotlines, each with their own complicated problems and issues they face. What are you noticing about that?

  • How do the different characters and plotlines in this book intersect?

  • What are you noticing about the perspectives of each character? How are they similar or different?

  • What in the character's life or background leads to their unique perspectives?

For books at levels X and higher: