# Important reading for a fifth grader **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 13, 2003, 7:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/important-reading-for-a-fifth-grader/201369 "2003-09-13T07:43:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![RahRahMah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/54ee81/32.png) [@RahRahMah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RahRahMah)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2003, 7:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/important-reading-for-a-fifth-grader/201369/1 "2003-09-13T07:43:01Z")
My little cousin Lindy is off to a great start in life: she likes to read. I want to encourage this trend, but I also want to make sure she reads worthwhile books. But for the life of me I can’t think of any good books for some one who is in grade 5. Exept for the Hobbit. I’m going to give her The Lord of the Rings in grade 6, because that’s when I read it. So any classics, any important literature/just really good books? I was thinking Terry Pratchett, but I think behind the more obvious cute humour there is just too much philosophy for her to grasp. She’s a smart kid, but not that smart. Sort of like the current thread by **The Gaspode** but for a child. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2003, 9:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/important-reading-for-a-fifth-grader/201369/2 "2003-09-13T09:34:43Z")
I would suggest not worrying so much if she’s reading “worthwhile” books or not - “worthwhile” is in the eyes of the beholder, you know. Why don’t you ask her what she likes? ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2003, 9:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/important-reading-for-a-fifth-grader/201369/3 "2003-09-13T09:46:12Z")
[aside] You know, it’s 5:45am… does the damn site have to be this slow this early? [/aside] Anyway, here are some links to books commonly read by fifth graders: [http://www.infopeople.org/bpl/booklist/5grade.html](http://www.infopeople.org/bpl/booklist/5grade.html) [http://library.bhbl.neric.org/plmc/5Books.htm](http://library.bhbl.neric.org/plmc/5Books.htm) (the above list looks a little… preachy, if you ask me. It’s like every book described has to have some sort of “lesson.”) [http://www.whps.org/schools/norfeldt/libraryweb/MediaResources/Classic.PDF](http://www.whps.org/schools/norfeldt/libraryweb/MediaResources/Classic.PDF) (this is the sort of list that your mom was given when she was in the fifth grade.) [http://www.kckpl.lib.ks.us/ys/books/fifthbk.htm](http://www.kckpl.lib.ks.us/ys/books/fifthbk.htm) And yet another list. Be glad she isn’t me - my fifth grade reading material was, for some reason, heavily into occult crap, paranormal ravings, UFO loonys, and other “news of the weird.” I read _The Exorcist_ in the fifth grade and took off from there. After about the 10-15th book\* that _still_ had no irrefutable proof of any of that stuff, I dropped it and went on to something else. \*Van Daniken, _Bridie Murphy_, Ouija boards exposes and the like. ---
**Author:** ![fessie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c37758/32.png) [@fessie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fessie)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2003, 10:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/important-reading-for-a-fifth-grader/201369/4 "2003-09-13T10:02:58Z")
_Harriet the Spy_ by Louise Fitzhugh. _The Great Brain_ series by John D. Fitzgerald. Anything by Beverly Cleary. And the award-winners we read at that age: _Caddie Woodlawn_ by Carol Ryrie Brink, _Summer of the Swans_, _Island of the Blue Dolphins_ by Scot O’Dell, and _Up a Road Slowly_. ---
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2003, 11:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/important-reading-for-a-fifth-grader/201369/5 "2003-09-13T11:27:56Z")
Chronicles of Narnia Phillip Pullman’s His Dark Materials series Ann McCaffrey’s Dragonsinger series Little Women The basic Judy Bloom books for that age group That’s all I can think of, pre-coffee ---
**Author:** ![gex\_gex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/94ad74/32.png) [@gex\_gex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gex_gex)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2003, 11:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/important-reading-for-a-fifth-grader/201369/6 "2003-09-13T11:51:26Z")
> [@](#): > > _originally posted by RahRahMah_ > I was thinking Terry Pratchett, but I think behind the more obvious cute humour there is just too much philosophy for her to grasp. She’s a smart kid, but not that smart. Sort of like the current thread by The Gaspode but for a child. Terry Pratchett does write kid’s books (or kid-orientated; they’re quite readable for an adult). _Only You Can Save Mankind_ is good, though possibly more for boys than girls. There’s also the Truckers/Diggers/Wings series, which goes under a collective name at the moment. I wouldn’t worry too much though. I’ve always loved to read (and I read well), but at that age I was mostly into Hardy Boys and that sort of thing. I didn’t start reading quality things until I was a teenager. In fact, everything that was meant to be quality for kids my age usually bored me to tears. ---
**Author:** ![Gail](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Gail](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gail)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2003, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/important-reading-for-a-fifth-grader/201369/7 "2003-09-13T12:21:20Z")
Fifth grade teacher here…I love the young adult fiction that’s coming out today. I would find a list of Newbery winners and suggest she read books from the list. Some classics and favorites of mine. Crispin: The Cross of Lead by Avi Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech Holes by Louis Sachar Anything Betsy Byars has written is good, too. I just finished reading one of this years Newbery Honor books from this year…Carl Hiaasen’s Hoot. I enjoyed it and can’t wait to read it to my class. It really is a hoot. ---
**Author:** ![Lsura](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7993a0/32.png) [@Lsura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lsura)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2003, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/important-reading-for-a-fifth-grader/201369/8 "2003-09-13T12:40:57Z")
Tamora Pierce - the _Song of the Lioness_ and _Circle of Magic_ quartets may be best to start off with, but she has 3 other quartets beyond those. I recently read Nancy Farmer’s _House of the Scorpions_. It was fantastic, but may be a little old for a fifth grader, especially if she’s a young fifth grader. The _Alice_ books are apparently very popular - I haven’t read any of them, so I can’t say anything as to how good they are. If she’s a Harry Potter fan, you can steer her towards Diane Duane and the _Who Wants to be a Wizard_ series or Diana Wynne Jones. DWJ has books for older and younger ages. _Howl’s Moving Castle_ and _Witch Week_ may be good starts. I’ve never read _The Phantom Tollbooth_, but it’s one of those that people tend to love. I have no idea who wrote it though. ---
**Author:** ![Bren\_Cameron\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@Bren\_Cameron\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bren_Cameron_1)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2003, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/important-reading-for-a-fifth-grader/201369/9 "2003-09-13T13:38:27Z")
The Phantom Tollbooth is by Norton Juster, and it rocks. Try also the Prydain books by Lloyd Alexander (_The Book of Three, The Black Cauldron, The Castle of Llyr, Taran Wanderer, The High King_) And I see no one’s mentioned Madeline L’Engle’s _A Wrinkle in Time_ and its sequels, which I first read in fourth or fifth grade. I’d also like to second the Great Brain books and _The Island of the Blue Dolphins_, which I loved at that age. ---
**Author:** ![Bren\_Cameron\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@Bren\_Cameron\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bren_Cameron_1)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2003, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/important-reading-for-a-fifth-grader/201369/10 "2003-09-13T13:41:16Z")
And now that I think about it, has she been exposed to _A Series of Unfortunate Events_? ---
**Author:** ![Lsura](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7993a0/32.png) [@Lsura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lsura)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2003, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/important-reading-for-a-fifth-grader/201369/11 "2003-09-13T14:19:16Z")
You mentioned Lloyd Alexander, which made me think of Susan Cooper’s _Dark is Rising_ sequence. I read them this summer for a paper I was writing for my “resources for young adults” class. Frankly, I found them boring compared to some other YA fantasy writings today, but I know a lot of people who love them and people whose kids love them. _A Tree Grows in Brooklyn_. A little old fashioned, perhaps, but a wonderful story about a girl growing up in Brooklyn at the beginning of the 20th century. Depending on what she likes, she may not find it interesting right now, but she might. ---
**Author:** ![Orange\_Skinner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3be4f8/32.png) [@Orange\_Skinner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orange_Skinner)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2003, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/important-reading-for-a-fifth-grader/201369/12 "2003-09-13T18:21:46Z")
Some of my favorites when I was about her age were _The Phantom Tollbooth_, _The Root Cellar_, _The Secret Garden_, _Bridge to Terebithia_, and _Tom’s Midnight Garden_, off the top of my head. As others have suggested, _The Chronicles of Narnia_ are perfect as well. If she likes mystery books/being scared, then John Bellairs has some _very_ good kid-appropriate mystery/horror books, that are interesting and extremely well written. Particularly _The House With a Clock in Its Walls_ series. (That was probably my favorite book in 5/6th grade) There are also some good books by Mary Downing Hahn and Lynn Reid Banks, and there are also the _Tripod_ books by John Christopher. ---
**Author:** ![Tanaqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3bc359/32.png) [@Tanaqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tanaqui)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2003, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/important-reading-for-a-fifth-grader/201369/13 "2003-09-13T19:28:00Z")
Most of my favorite authors have already been mentioned here… I second Diana Wynne Jones, Lloyd Alexander, John D. Fitzergerald. One author I don’t see mentioned often but whom I really loved as a kid is Sid Fleischman. He wrote “The Whipping Boy,” which is great. It won a Newberry Award, as well as being made into a movie. I loved his other works of historical fiction, as well: “By The Great Horn Spoon!” a humorous work set in California during the Gold rush; “Mr. Mysterious and Company,” about a magician in the Old West; and the McBroom stories, tall tales about a remarkable farm, told by the farmer; “Jingo Django,” which almost reminds me of Joan Aiken (another excellent author, BTW.) All of his books are very light-hearted and funny, and he’s won numerous awards. Another classic author that hasn’t been mentioned: Roald Dahl. Many of his books are well-known, having been made into famous movies and all, but my favorite is not: “Danny, The Champion of the World,” which is about a father (who poaches frm the Evil Rich Guy) and his son. ---
**Author:** ![RahRahMah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/54ee81/32.png) [@RahRahMah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RahRahMah)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2003, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/important-reading-for-a-fifth-grader/201369/14 "2003-09-13T20:41:29Z")
Thank you every one. I’m going to look into Roald Dahl, because now mentioned, I lOVED him. I also loved Island of the Blue Dolphins, and I’ll see about the Phantom Tollbooth, as I’ve heard good things. Narnia is a good Idea too, although I never liked them as a child. Lol, I’m avoiding the Secret Garden. I find the movie VERY moving, I ALWAYS want to plant something after seeing. Or run or something. I don’t know. But I didn’t like the book, as at the end if focused WAY too much on Collin. Sorry about the rant but I just had to share that… I was horrified! ---
**Author:** ![Ultraviolet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/c77e96/32.png) [@Ultraviolet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ultraviolet)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2003, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/important-reading-for-a-fifth-grader/201369/15 "2003-09-13T20:43:38Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Orange Skinner \* > **If she likes mystery books/being scared, then John Bellairs has some _very_ good kid-appropriate mystery/horror books, that are interesting and extremely well written. Particularly _The House With a Clock in Its Walls_ series. (That was probably my favorite book in 5/6th grade)** Hooray! Someone else likes John Bellairs! The house with a clock in its walls is **still** one of my favourite books. I vigorously second that one. The Beverly Cleary books are great, maybe a bit old-fashioned these days, though. I loved all her Ramona books. As a Canadian kid, I loved all of Gordon Korman’s MacDonald Hall books (a mischievious boy at an Ontario boarding school and his more straight-laced roommate - very funny). ---
**Author:** ![KRC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/45deac/32.png) [@KRC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KRC)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2003, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/important-reading-for-a-fifth-grader/201369/16 "2003-09-13T21:08:53Z")
Try “Sounder.” Parts of it are scary but my fourth grade teacher read it to the class (she did tear up when she reached the ending.) I’d also nominate the Betsy Byars books as well as Joan Aiken’s books (“Wolves of Willoughby Chase” for instance.) If she likes mystery and suspense she might like some of the Lois Duncan books such as “Summer of Fear” and “They Never Came Home.” ---
**Author:** ![JimOfAllTrades](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@JimOfAllTrades](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JimOfAllTrades)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2003, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/important-reading-for-a-fifth-grader/201369/17 "2003-09-13T22:04:52Z")
_Space Cadet_ by Robert Heinlein was one of my favorites at that age. One of my first science fiction books and it got me hooked for life. Any of his “juveniles” would be good for a fifth grader, I would think. _A Wrinkle in Time_ by Madelaine L’Engle. I picked this up because I had to read a book from a specific list, and none of the books I was currently reading was listed. As much as I usually hate assigned reading, I wound up loving this book. _Tom Sawyer_ by Mark Twain. For some reason I had to get permission to check this out of my school library in 5th grade, it was thought it might be too adult. But I got the permission, and enjoyed the book very much. _From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler_ by Konigsberg, E.L. A cute story, and very easy and quick to read. I second some of the others that have been listed, including _Island of the Blue Dolphins_. ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2003, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/important-reading-for-a-fifth-grader/201369/18 "2003-09-13T22:10:52Z")
I recommend Heinlein’s juvenile fiction, although she may not find them as appealing as a boy would. _Have Spacesuit, Will Travel_ is particularly good, and it has Peewee, a strong, intelligent female character that she might identify with. _Red Planet_ is another favorite, but it’s very much boy-oriented. ---
**Author:** ![fessie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c37758/32.png) [@fessie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fessie)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2003, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/important-reading-for-a-fifth-grader/201369/19 "2003-09-14T03:28:29Z")
You didn’t mention any of her other interests, but if she likes animals as many young ladies do, then _King of the Wind_ and _Stormy, Misty’s Foal_ by Marguerite Henry are wonderful. I know for sure that young horse lovers still treasure those books; I believe one of them won a Newberry. I’ve loved reading everyone’s suggestions! ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2003, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/important-reading-for-a-fifth-grader/201369/20 "2003-09-14T03:39:10Z")
My my, I remember a good number of these books. _The House with a Clock in Its Walls_ was among them. My youngest brother (now in his first days of sixth grade) has already read _The Phantom Tollbooth_, my mother was very keen on it from having read it to me and the middle guy. He’s apparently starting _Lord of the Rings_ soon (he’s already read _The Hobbit_). He (with help) read all of the Narnia Chronicles some years ago, he was a big fan. I’m pretty sure he’s read some Roald Dahl. He also read some of the _Unfortunate Events_ books, but my mom thought they were repetitive or boring or whatever and they stopped. I’m not sure he’s read anything else on this list, even though I feel like I read at least half the books mentioned so far. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/important-reading-for-a-fifth-grader/201369.md?page=2)