One of my coworkers and friends is step-parenting a girl who’s behind a bit. Her and the dad have had custody for about 6 months and are working with her at home and with some tutoring, and, says my friend, she’s now reading at about a 2nd grade level. Not great for an 11 year old, but a real improvement from where she was. I asked my friend if she was starting to get any enjoyment out of reading yet and she said ‘yeah, but she’s struggling a bit with being at a preteen social level and a Charlotte’s Web reading level.’ I figured if there was anyone who would know where to find some engaging content at an appropriate reading level it would be my fellow dopers. It’s not something I’d thought about before, but it seems to me that somebody is probably trying to fill that niche, somewhere, thanks in advance.
I dunno how appropriate, but perhaps she could try some of the Enid Blyton short stories - the content itself may be a bit immature, but perhaps it might be fun for the discussions it could spur?
Does she have a library at school?
I am a middle school librarian and LOTS of our students need material that is considered Hi-Lo (higher level for interest and lower level for reading ability). Her school librarian should be able to find some books for her.
The Diary of a Wimpy Kid books have a high lexile rating, and yet many of my beginning readers love them.
The Twilight Books are teen interest level, but written pretty simply at about a 5th grade reading level. (There is some sex/teen stuff in them so I recommend a parent preview first).
I just created a list from our school catalog using lexile levels and interest levels:
The haunting In
[ Book ] FIC CHA Chapman, Mary (Mary Tyler)
Published 2010
Reading Level: 3.2 Interest Level: 5-8
Lexile: 430
The Iditarod : the greatest win ever Out
[ Book ] FIC DEV Devine, Monica.
Published 1997
Reading Level: 3.5 Interest Level: 5-8
Lexile: 470
Uncle Vampire In
[ Book ] Fic Gra Grant, Cynthia D.
Published 1993
Reading Level: 3.5 Interest Level: 7-10
Lexile: 450
Judy Moody gets famous! In
[ Book ] FIC McD McDonald, Megan.
Published 2001
Reading Level: 3.9 Interest Level: 3-6
Lexile: 490
Define “normal” : a novel In
[ Book ] FIC Pet Peters, Julie Anne.
Published 2000
Reading Level: 5.3 Interest Level: 5-8
Lexile: 350
Three days In
[ Paperback ] PB FIC Nap Napoli, Donna Jo, 1948-
Published 2001
Reading Level: 5.1 Interest Level: 5-8
Lexile: 490
Have her contact a librian in her area (city or school) who will do the same thing.
And were off! Thanks Lightlystarched, HiLo reading list yields me a bunch of interesting results I wouldn’t have known to look for. Can you give me some more information on this rating system? My friend the girl’s at a 200 level when she should be at a 500, but since she wasn’t even registering before, this is better. How does that relate to the HiLo rating? Thanks again, I knew that the dope would know.
Moving from IMHO to Cafe Society.
How about “Using apostrophes to avoid ambiguity”. 
I read the thread title as meaning “Help me help my buddies mess around with some reading suggestions”.
Whoa, grammar police, pull over! Would I find the apostrophe self help books next to the smiley instructions, perchance?
One of the best things he can do while he is with her is to sit and read with her.
She can read aloud to him. He can read aloud to her.
Reading aloud something large and detailed, say Harry Potter, would be a wonderful night time reading project.
Another thing, if she has a low reading level, it might be fortuitous to have her eyes checked out to make sure they are not the cause of her being behind.