What kinds of books do middle schoolers like?
Children in middle school seem to focus on books that in some way relate to themselves or have characters around the same age as themselves. Margaret Haddix’s books are good examples of this; currently, the waiting list for her newest book, Double Identity, is long. So is the waiting list for Louis Sachar’s new book, Small Steps. Students also like humor, mystery, and fantasy genres, as well as books with lots of action in them or books with interesting language. Often series books are in high demand, and there is a waiting list for them; they fly off the shelf as soon as they are returned. Reluctant readers, as well as students who are busy with many other activities, are much more likely to choose a book with short chapters, a good deal of white space, a relatively large type font, and generous margins and line spacing. So this is something else to keep in mind when choosing books for the classroom library. You can sometimes view book excerpts and layouts on the Scholastic and other
