With so many distractions — phones, online games and social media — it might be difficult to get some tweens to sit down and read. Here are a few tips to encourage them to uncover new reading adventures that are age appropriate for them.
Read Books Together. Help your tween to read by exploring books together. After both of you read the same book, have a discussion about likes and dislikes.
A Place to Read. Have a spot in your house where you and your family can enjoy books and discover new ones. Have books or magazines around your home or keep the bookshelves near a comfy, quiet family reading space.
Make the Library a Habit. The library (or bookstore) provides opportunities to get engaged with many different authors and reading material. Have a plan to visit often with your tween to get them familiar with the process of choosing books.
Online and Audiobooks. With most kids on their screens, help them to download apps to help them read online or listen to different authors. If they haven’t tried audio or online books, read books online together or listen to an audiobook on the way to school or other activities.
Looking for your tween’s next read? Here are some options to consider.
Ghost Book
By Remy Lai
When July saves a boy ghost from being devoured by a hungry ghost, he becomes her first ever friend. Except William is not a ghost. He’s a wandering soul wavering between life and death and the new friends embark on an adventure to return William to his body.
Gamer
by Chris Bradford
Street kid Scott jumps at the chance to be a virtual kombat gamer. If he can battle his way up the ranks, the ultimate prize will be his. But then his friend Kate goes missing in the battle arena, and Scott’s dream turns into a nightmare.
Attack of the Black Rectangles
by A. S. King
When Mac first opens his classroom copy of Jane Yolen’s The Devil’s Arithmetic and finds some words blacked out, he thinks it must be a mistake. But then when he and his friends discover what the missing words are, he’s outraged. Someone in his school is trying to prevent kids from reading the full story. But who?
Dragons in a Bag 
by Zetta Elliott and illustrated by Geneva B
When Jaxon is sent to spend the day with a mean old lady his mother calls Ma, he finds out she’s not his grandmother, she is a witch! She needs his help delivering baby dragons to a magical world where they’ll be safe. There are two rules when it comes to the dragons: don’t let them out of the bag, and don’t feed them anything sweet. Before he knows it, Jax and his friends Vikram and Kavita have broken both rules! Will Jax get the baby dragons delivered safe and sound? Or will they be lost in Brooklyn forever?
Fish in a Tree
by Lynda Mullaly Hunt
Ally has been smart enough to fool a lot of smart people. Every time she lands in a new school, she is able to hide her inability to read by creating clever yet disruptive distractions. Her newest teacher Mr. Daniels sees the bright, creative kid underneath the trouble maker. With his help, Ally learns not to be so hard on herself and that dyslexia is nothing to be ashamed of. As her confidence grows, Ally feels free to be herself and the world starts opening up with possibilities.
New Kid
by Jerry Craft, and illustrated by Jerry Craft
It’s not easy being the new kid, especially when you don’t look like everyone else. This instant classic middle grade graphic novel is about existing in two worlds and not belonging in either. It’s the story of finding yourself so that others can find you too.
The Secret Library
by Kekla Magoon
Since Grandpa died, Dally’s days are dull and restricted. She’s eleven and a half years old, and her exacting single mother is already preparing her to take over the family business. Starved for adventure and release, Dally rescues a mysterious envelope from her mother’s clutches, an envelope Grandpa had earmarked for her. The map she finds inside leads straight to an ancient vault, a library of secrets where each book is a portal to a precise moment in time. As Dally “checks out” adventure after adventure—including an exhilarating outing with pirates—she begins to dive deep into her family’s hidden history.