J Reluctant Readers
*See next page for Reading Level Chart
Humorous
Adventure
Tom Angleberger—Origami Yoda series (4.7)
Ruth McNally Barshaw—Ellie McDoodle series (3.3)
Jim Benton—Dear Dumb Diary series (6.1); Franny
K. Stein series (5.0)
Andrew Clements—Frindle (5.4)
Sharon Creech—Hate That Cat (5.0); Love That
Dog (4.5)
Doreen Cronin—J.J. Tully mystery series (3.8)
Neil Gaiman—Fortunately, the Milk (4.3)
Tom Greenwald—Charlie Joe Jackson series (5.4)
Jennifer and Matt Holm—Babymouse series (2.3);
Squish series (2.4)
Jeff Kinney—Diary of a Wimpy Kid series (5.2)
Jarrett J. Krosoczka—Lunch Lady series (2.2)
Marissa Moss—Amelia’s Notebook series (3.7)
James Patterson—Middle School series (4.5)
Lincoln Peirce—Big Nate series (3.1)
Dav Pilkey—Captain Underpants series (4.3); Ricky
Ricotta series (3.6)
Rachel Renee Russell—Dork Diaries series (5.4)
Louis Sachar—Wayside School series (3.3)
Jon Scieszka—Time Warp Trio series (3.8)
Scott Seegert—Vordak series (4.0)
Geronimo Stilton—Geronimo Stilton series (3.7)
Thea Stilton—Thea Stilton series (4.4)
Cuthbert Soup—Whole Nother Story series (5.6)
Michael Buckley—NERDS series (5.3)
Erin Hunter—Seekers series (5.4); Survivors series (5.2)
Gordon Korman—Dive series (5.5); Everest series (5.1); Island
series (4.6); On the Run series (4.9); Titanic series (5.7)
Rick Riordan—Kane Chronicles (4.5); Percy Jackson series
(4.7)
Lauren Tarshis—I Survived series (3.9)
Choose Your Own Adventure series (J CHOOSE)
39 Clues series (J THIRTY) (4.3)
Tips for Helping Reluctant Readers
It can be challenging to find just the right book
for a reluctant reader, but it is never impossible!
 Have the child discuss what he/she likes rather
than having you do the talking.
 The reluctant reader must be able to make a
direct connection with something he/she
values in everyday life. Have your child ask for
a book related to favorite sports, hobbies, or
interests to find reading materials.
 Your child may not seem interested in any of
the suggestions. Give some space and let him/
her make the decision in his/her own time.
Sports
Tim Green—Football Genius (4.8); Football Hero (5.1);
Unstoppable (4.4)
Dan Gutman—Baseball Card Adventures series (4.3); Getting
Air (4.1)
Loren Long—Barnstormers series (4.5)
Mike Lupica—The Batboy (5.7); Shoot-out (5.1); Summer Ball
(5.3); Comeback Kids series (5.0)
Non-Fiction
Sylvia Branzei—Grossology series
Joy Masoff—Oh Yuck! Encyclopedia of Everything Nasty
Various Authors—Dragonology (8.2); Egyptology (7.0);
Pirateology (7.0); Wizardology (7.5); Who Was series (4.8);
You Wouldn’t Want to be Series (5.0)
Books with Media Tie-In
Roald Dahl—Fantastic Mr. Fox (4.1)
Tony DiTerlizzi—Spiderwick Chronicles (4.2)
Brian Selznick—The Invention of Hugo Cabret (5.1)
Avatar: The Last Airbender (J AVATAR) (3.6-5.0)
Ben 10 Alien Force series (J BEN) (5.1)
DC Super Heroes series (JE BATMAN, JE SUPERMAN) (4.5)
Lego Ninjago series (J LEGO) (4.4)
Pokemon series (J POKEMON) (3.3)
Star Wars series (J STAR) (3.0)
© 2011 Kent District Library. Updated October 1, 2015.
Reading Level Chart
AR
Level/
Grade
Level
Lexile
Rating
Guided
Reading
Fountas
Pinnell
DRA
Level
AR
Level/
Grade
Level
Lexile
Rating
Guided
Reading
Fountas
Pinnell
DRA
Level
1.1
1.1
1.2
1.2
1.3
1.3
1.4
1.5
1.6
1.6
1.7
1.8
1.9
2.0
2.1
2.2
2.3
2.5
2.6
2.7
2.9
3.0
3.2
3.3
3.5
3.7
3.9
25
50
75
100
125
150
175
200
225
250
275
300
325
350
375
400
425
450
475
500
525
550
575
600
625
650
675
D
D
D
D
E
E
F
F
G
H
I
J
J
K
K
K
K
M
M
N
N
N
N
O
O
P
P
C
C
C
D
E
E
F
F
F
G
G
H
I
I
I-J
J
J
K
K
L
L
M
M
N
O
O
P
2
2
4
4
6
8
8
10
12
14
14
14
16
16
16-18
4.1
4.3
4.5
4.7
5.0
5.2
5.5
5.8
6.0
6.4
6.7
7.0
7.4
7.8
8.2
8.6
9.0
9.5
10.0
10.5
11.0
11.6
12.2
12.8
13.5
700
725
750
775
800
825
850
875
900
925
950
975
1000
1025
1050
1075
1100
1125
1150
1175
1200
1225
1250
1275
1300
Q
Q
R
S
S
S
T
U
V
V
W
W
X
Y
Z
Q
Q
R
S
T
U
U
V
W
X
Y
Y
Z
38
38
40
42
44
44
44
44
44
44
20
20
20
24
28
28
28
30
34
36
38
A single reading level number listed for a series of books is for the first book in the series.