It has been a long time since I have shared a book list on here, and with two middle school age boys I thought I would share what they’re reading for fun these days to give parents some ideas for books for their own kids that they can buy from Amazon or borrow from a digital library during this self quarantine.
It is undeniable that life looks at lot different for families across our nation this week, and the for the foreseeable upcoming weeks. Whether in small ways or life altering ways, this virus and the self quartining and lockdowns have had an impact on our normal day to day activities – we don’t even have a library we can visit to borrow books from and from the stories I am hearing, they’re closed nation wide!
But despite the stress and the change of life for these few weeks we can still read stories with our kids – or hand them good books to read themselves. We can laugh and live bravely through the characters. We can see good choices and bad choices and the consequence of each. We can get lost in the world of imagination.
For those that are interested in borrowing digital content I would recommend Overdrive and RBDigital, though what is available to you on them will be based on what your library subscribes to. For those in (or married to!) military service members we have found logging in through the military library service offers far more than any local library we have utilized.
I asked the boys to list their favorites for me, and that’s what you’ll find below – if you have questions about any I’ll get them to answer!
I am linking these books to the Amazon page and if you buy through my link I get a tiny commission without it costing you any more.
My boys are very different from each other and I’ll mention if one liked a book more than another. For reference, Judah is 13 and Wesley is 11 (almost 12).
Asterix the Gaul – this is probably the number one recommendation I have for a purchase (I’ve never seen it as digital content.) Andrew Kern, founder of Circe Institute, was the first place I read a recommendation on this cartoon and in the years since we have started collecting them I have found a small handful of others recommending them – they’re a gem worth collecting! You can purchase as individual books or as three books in one (an omnibus). We collect the omnibus and their spines together make up a picture, though there are still three volumes we are missing.
The boys originally just found them to be funny cartoons, but they have come to draw connections from them for historical references in their other readings.
The Wingfeather Saga by Andrew Peterson – this series has recently been revived with new artwork, so there are two different looks for the same series. Both of my boys love these adventure stories. (During this self isolation time, Andrew Peterson will be reading his books out loud in the evenings! Check his social media pages for details!)
Circle series by Ted Dekker – Judah was thoroughly fascinated with these stories and finished the four books in a week. Wesley has just started them and while he reads at a different pace, he is enjoying the stories, too.
House with the Clock in its Walls is a scary story, but a good scary story. The boys thought the author approached the story in a really unique way, hinting at parts of the story that allowed your imagination to build a story that the author never actually said.
Paul listened to this with the boys.
The Strange Land Trilogy – another one they listened to with Paul. Based of off celtic mythology (which Judah thoroughly enjoys) and a storyline that drew them all in.
Watership Down by Richard Adam’s – this was an assigned reading book Judah had to read in school this year, but one he really enjoyed and Wesley is looking forward to reading.
Two graphic novels the boys have enjoyed are Nathan Hale’s Hazardous Tales by Nathan Hale and The Faithful Spy by John Hendrix. The Nathan Hale books are a series and Wesley enjoys them more so than Judah, but Judah does read each one we add to our collection. The Faithful Spy is about Dietrich Bonhoeffer and both boys enjoyed it. (Both of these were Christmas gifts for Wesley.)
Age of Fables by Thomas Bulfinch – while this has been an assigned school read for both of the boys it is one they both enjoy and it has sparked many excellent conversations in our home. For those who may be unfamiliar, it is a collection of mythology. Some editions may have nudity as would appear in ancient art. There are many different copies available.
Janet and Geoff Benge biographies – these books include both Heroes of the Faith and Heroes of History in their collection and my boys really enjoy them as audiobooks, particularly Wesley. He has listened to some of them multiple times and talks about these men and women as friends.
Redwall by Brian Jacques – this is a lengthy series about battling mice, with lots of food thrown in for good measure. Both of my boys have enjoyed these and Judah has read them a few times.
The Green Ember by S.D. Smith – a series about rabbits with swords. The boys have enjoyed these both as audible and actual books.
Evidence Not Seen by Darlene Deibler Rose is a remarkable testimony of a woman’s faith during her trials through WWII. Wesley has listened to this story three times (he is particularly drawn to biographies!) and while he highly recommends this book he also cautions that it is a sad and hard to listen to story (having listened through it twice myself, I concur! But it is SO good and I learned much from her faithful example.)
These are the classics the boys have recently enjoyed and mentioned I should include on this list. These should all be available on your library app or even on Librovox (though not all readers are the same!); The Secret Garden, Anne of Green Gables series, Swallows and Amazons, Tom Sawyer, The Chronicles of Narnia, Animal Farm, The Oz series.
If you’d like more ideas for things to do during this lockdown, check out our list of favorite family games – you can find the list of games here.
Any book ideas to recommend to the boys?!
