Get your young middle schooler reading with these 10 adventure-packed, page-turning, hard-to-put-down books.
Adventure books to get your middle schooler reading.
Getting your child to read in middle school can feel like an impossible task. When you ask them to read, they roll their eyes. You tell them to read, and they say they have too much homework (while they play video games). You beg them to read, and they ignore you and keep texting.
It’s not uncommon for children to back off reading in middle school. Reluctant readers often become more reluctant. And, even previously avid readers may protest when you offer them a book.
Reasons for dropping off of reading are many and range from social changes and increased school demands, to complex neural changes in the brain during the middle school years (which in some ways also explains behavior changes – but that topic is for another post).
Brain Benefits of Reading
The bottom line is that if children break their reading habits in middle school, it’s almost impossible to pick them back up in high school and beyond. Habits are exactly that, and if children don’t develop and stick to healthy habits when they’re young, it’s difficult to re-establish them as adults.
Also, reading, including fiction reading, supports cognitive development in children. According to an Emory University study, children’s brains retained an increased neural connectivity – up to five days after reading a story!!
Another study on the impact of pleasure reading on academic success showed that students who read for pleasure achieved higher grades than their non-reading peers. I’m here to help with 10 great books that will ensure your middle schooler starts and keeps reading!
Without fail, the action-adventure books listed below will engage your middle schoolers and get them reading. And, these books will keep them reading until the last page!
NOTE: I DO NOT make any money from links in my blog. These are books I recommend and hope you like!
The 10 Adventure books to get your middle schooler reading:
1. Kelcie Murphy and the Hunt for the Heart of Danu
Highlights: Magical adventure, mythology, friendship, and courage.
The Hunt for the Heart of Danu is the second book in The Academy of Unbreakable Arts series by Erika Lewis – a highly dynamic and action-packed series filled with Celtic mythology.
Kelcie is the unhappy daughter of the Celtic war goddess, Nemain. To make matters worse her dad is right up there with the worst kind of traitor.
So, she can’t wait to get away from home and get back to the Academy for Unbreakable Arts.
But it isn’t long before Kelsie’s mom sends her a warning that The Heart of Danu, the legendary source of all light and warmth in the Lands of Summer, is going to be stolen – threatening to plunge the world into darkness.
Even though Kelsie is determined to save the Heart of Danu, the fact is that she is a traitor’s daughter. So when calamity arrives, Kelsie is the prime suspect. Can Kelsie keep fighting against all odds to earn her place and protect the new home she loves? This non-stop adventure book is sure to keep even your reluctant middle schooler reading till the very end!
2. Space Cadets: A Sci-fi Adventure
Highlights: Imagination, space travel, resourcefulness, unexpected friendships, alien language.
Who said (day) dreams can’t come true? In Space Cadets, a zany adventure book, by Robin Pawlak, Simon and his twin sister get zapped by their dad’s mystery invention. Now, whatever Simon can imagine comes true!
Simon’s daydream sends them into space where they meet the Gamnilians, an evil species that takes them prisoner. With the help of an unlikely alien friend, the trio cooks up a plan to get back home- a plan that
sends them on an epic adventure that none of them could ever have imagined. This fun, unexpected adventure book also includes a Gamnilian translation guide for all the Gamnilian lines in the book!!!
3. City Spies: City of The Dead
Highlights: world travel, puzzles and clues, unexpected twists, teamwork.
In this 4th action-packed installment of the City Spies series, by James Ponti, in City of The Dead, the young adventure spies are off to Cairo!
In this Amazon Editors Pick, the pattern and code-loving Kat (codename Kathmandu) spots a series of cyber-attacks while the team is in London, and it’s clear that it’s time for Kat to lead the next job to discover who is behind these attacks.
As Kat deciphers the messages, the trail leads the teams to Egypt and the ancient City of the Dead. But, there are secrets and layers
to the secrets that they find, and it’s soon clear that there’s more to these cyber-attacks than the team realizes – and clues that could bring about a permanent change to the City Spies.
4. The Traveler’s Detective Club (Books 1-4)
Highlights: World travel and culture, magic, puzzles and clues, intrepid adventure.
This fun action-adventure series blends magic with travel and resourcefulness – and surprises that will keep you turning the page!
(From Amazon): Eleven-year-old Jeremy Johnson’s life changed the day he received a plain brown box with a letter and a bizarre, magical creature inside. Thrown into a club that requires him to solve confusing riddles and find magical artifacts, he has to navigate the complexities of being a Black tween adopted by a white mother even while he’s traveling all over the world, with enemies at his heels.
Can he and his fellow club members use their wits and their new magical sidekicks to outwit rivals and save the EU from disaster?
Portugal (Book 1)
This first book takes readers on a magical journey where Jeremy and his magical friends solve clues while evading villains in order to restore an important symbol of Portugal.
Paris (Book 2)
This second action-filled installment of The Traveler’s Detective Club lands the group in Paris where French art and landmarks are disappearing! The group has to evade villains, face kidnapping, and race against time before timeless artifacts disappear into thin air! But, they also have to watch their backs and be careful about who to trust.
San Francisco Bay Area (Book 3)
The third addition to the series brings the team to the USA where they work to keep landmarks and symbols safe as they stave off financial chaos. They need their new friend to stay ahead of their nemesis – and to avoid being shrunk to the size of a Lego action toy.
The Travelers Detective Club An Origin Story (Book 4)
This most recent installment to the series takes the reader back to how the Club started. The Grand Wizard has transferred his powers to Jeremy, but another wizard is intent on stealing them. How can the team learn to work the magic to protect themselves – and the world -from a magical bully? (Note: As an origin story, this book can be read out of order).
This series of adventure books will engage any middle schooler and keep them reading one book after the other!
5. Rowley Jefferson’s Awesome Friendly Adventure
Highlights: Humor, quest, friendship, epic adventure.
Jeff Kinney has another hit with the Rowley Jefferson books in Diary of an Awesome Friendly Kid and Rowley Jefferson’s Awesome Friendly Adventure.
This new series introduces the totally unexpected Diary of a Wimpy Kid quest of “epic proportions”! Roland and his best friend, Garg The Barbarian, leave safety behind and face enormous odds to save Rowland’s mother from the White Warlock. Can they survive?
The action and adventure in this new series of books are hilariously unexpected, and all the books are sure to keep your middle schooler gripped to the end.
6. Danny Phantom: A Glitch in Time
Highlights: High adventure, time travel, resilience, mind-bending reality
In A Glitch in Time, by Gabriela Epstein, Danny Phantom, (based on Nickelodeon’s animated series) travels through time and space to save humanity!
In this new graphic novel, it’s up to Danny to put things right when the team experiences increasing time glitches. But the truth is worse they Danny imagines when his archnemesis Vlad Masters shows up on Danny’s doorstep with the terrifying news that Dark Danny has escaped! Danny and his friends must jump through time to set things straight – but can they make it back in time before Dark Danny destroys everything?
This high-octane thrilling action story will keep any middle schooler gripped and reading into the night!
7. My Grandmother, The Dinosaur Hunter (Series Collection)
Highlights: mythical creatures, unexpected adventure, fun characters, family.
Jina S. Bazzar’s quirky, fun stories in My Grandmother The Dinosaur Hunter, include mythical creatures from dinosaurs to hydras, zombies, and aliens – and a kick-butt grandma!
These stories take the idea of “what if..?” to a whole new level.
On Cruxil, the planet adjacent to Earth, it turns out that horses can fly, dinosaurs exist, and magic is real. And – grandma’s are not just sweet.
In this light adventure series, Grandma Mimi and her grandkids are up to high antics when imaginary creatures become an everyday dangerous reality – and one they may not survive.
8. Deadlock
Highlights: High stakes, intense action, tension, mystery, unexpected twists.
Adventure books to get your middle schooler reading
Alex Rider and Artemis Fowl readers will love this book! In Deadlock, author Simon Fox writes an action-packed adventure perfect for young readers looking for thrills and high stakes.
Archie Blake’s dad is a policeman who taught Archie to pick locks for fun. But things quickly turn un-fun with Archie’s dad is arrested for stealing a diamond necklace. Archie is the only one who can prove his dad’s innocence. But, to do so he has to enter to dangerous criminal underworld. Can he do it, and get out in time to save his dad and himself?
This is a book action-adventure lovers will not be able to put down. This adventure book will keep any middle schooler entranced and reading with high engagement!
9. Shadow Jumper
Highlights: Mystery, puzzles and clues, family, overcoming adversity.
Shadow Jumper has action and suspense from page 1, and is definitely a favorite! In this creative premise, by J.M Forster, Jack Phillips’s sunshine allergy keeps him in the shadows. His favorite time is dusk when he can (almost) safely jump from shadow to shadow among the rooftops. But Jack’s allergy and skin condition have only gone from bad to worse. And the only one who can help him is his absent scientist father- who seems to have gone missing. With the help of his quirky new friend, Beth, Jack sets off to find his father. But he and Beth uncover strange rumors and dark secrets about his father’s past.
Can Jack find his father in time before his allergy kills him, and … does he want to? This page-turner will keep even reluctant middle school readers engaged to the very end! GOLD MEDAL WINNER IN THE WISHING SHELF BOOK AWARDS 2014!
10. Ben Archer and the Cosmic Fall (Alien Skill Series)
Highlights: Alien action-adventure, thrilling chase, family, resourcefulness
In Ben Archer and the Cosmic Fall, by Rae Knightly, Ben Archer sees something fall from the sky. Now everyone is after him. He’s on the run from government agents and an alien shape-shifting enemy. As Ben runs and hides he learns he has a connection with an alien man – and that he is developing alien powers of his own! The action-packed adventure is filled with a riveting chase and surprising powers that keep the reader guessing. This science-fiction adventure story is for fans of Epic Zero, Shadow Jumper and
The Proto Project. The young-at-heart will also revel in this family-friendly story about courage and loyalty. The Wishing Shelf Book Awards 2019 Silver Medal Winner – READER’S FAVORITE ★★★★★
I hope these adventure books get your middle schooler excited about reading. And, let me know if you have other favorites. Feel free to send me a message here. Happy reading!
