40 of The Best Books for a 10-Year-Old

The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street by Karina Yan Glaser

This charming story is about a bi-racial family in Harlem with 5 kids who are about to lose their home because their reclusive landlord won’t renew their lease.⁣
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My entire family enjoyed this delightful tale of the siblings trying to win their landlord over so they don’t have to leave home. It was full of all the antics you would expect of a big family. ⁣

Why We Love This Book: We love that the Vanderbeekers’ story normalizes city living and a bi-racial family – something that’s hard to find in many children’s book series. You will fall in love with this cast of characters and as the series progresses you’ll come to regard them as family.
Appropriate for ages 7-11
Find this book in Best Books for a 10-Year-Old / Best Family Audiobooks For Road Trips / Read Aloud Books / Realistic Fiction Books / Feel-Good Books

Front Desk by Kelly Yang

This recently banned book tells the story of Mia and her family who are immigrants from China. Mia’s struggles to be successful in America are met with the divide between classes in her school, the racism she faces, and her family’s quest to make ends meet.

Why We Love This Book: I loved learning from Mia and watching her problem-solve to help her family as they took over caring for the Calivista Motel. If you are looking for realistic fiction middle grade books that skew a little younger, check out this realistic fiction book.
Appropriate for ages 9-11
Find this book in Coming-of-Age Books / Books for 10-year-olds / Audiobooks for Kids / Hotel Novels / Books about Poverty and It’s Impact

The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick

Don’t let the length of this mystery book for kids deter you. Even though it is on our list of long books, there are gorgeous illustrations on every other page and the writing is only a paragraph at a time.

This middle grade mystery is an amazing story of Hugo Cabret who is an orphan in the Paris train station where he winds the clocks so that nobody will discover his secrets. Soon he discovers a drawing and a notebook that will lead him to the biggest adventure of his life. This is one of the must-read books for 12-year-olds.

Winnie’s Great War by Lindsay Mattick and Josh Greenhunt

This book is based on the real story of the world’s most famous bear, Winnie the Pooh. From his beginnings in the forests of Canada to the London Zoo where he met the real Christopher Robin, this book mixes one part imagination and one part history to create Winnie’s first big adventure.

Why We Love This Book: It’s the perfect chapter book for older readers, particularly those who love the Caldecott medal winner, Finding Winnie.
Appropriate for ages 8-12
Find this book in Zoo animal books, books for 9-year-olds, books for 10-year-olds

Escape from Mr. Lemoncello’s Library by Chris Grabenstein

Mr. Lemoncello’s library is one of a kind. It’s full of holograms, logic puzzles, and hidden games. To officially open the new library, a few lucky kids get to spend the night inside as they try to win Mr. Lemoncello’s game and be the first team to escape.

Why We Love This Book: If you are looking for great bedtime stories for kids, this series will hit the mark. It will get your kids engaged with one-of-a-kid puzzles and delightful twists and turns.
Appropriate for ages 9-11
Find this book in Audiobooks for Kids / Netflix Book Adaptations / Middle Grade Mysteries / Books for 11-year-olds / Read Aloud Books / Best Puzzle Books

Cinder by Melissa Meyer

This four-book series is set in the future in a time of disease and war.  This series is part twisted fairy tale, part dystopia, and part sci-fi fantasy.  

Cinderella, Red Riding Hood, and Rapunzel are re-imagined as you have never seen them before. All of them are smart and strong women far from the helpless damsels in distress we know them to be. 

The first in this series of classic book retellings introduces us to Cinder.  She is a cyborg (part human, part machine) who lives with her……..you guessed it….. two step-sisters and stepmother.

Find this book in Books Like Cinder / YA Dystopian Books / YA Romance Fantasy Books / Best Teen Fantasy / Books Like The Selection

Charlie Thorne and the Last Equation by Stuart Gibbs

Charlie Thorne is a child genius and the world’s best code breaker. So the CIA has dragged her into the hunt for Albert Einstein’s hidden code. She’s trying to get it before the Furies use it to destroy the world.

Charlie is hunting for something from Charles Darwin and Cleopatra in the subsequent sequels. Each story has her using her wits to outsmart everyone around her. We love that this genius from our list of mystery books for tweens is female!

Ban This Book by Alan Gratz

This realistic middle grade fiction story is so relevant to society today. The heroine of this story is a girl whose favorite book was just banned from her school library. She starts her own locker library filled with more banned books from the school’s library.

As she stands up for her right to read, she challenges adults in her community and learns about books’ power to unite everyone.

Look Both Ways by Jason Reynolds

I thought this middle-grade novel was a wonderful look at the problems facing young people. Each chapter is a different narrator telling a different story about their walk home from school addressing issues like crushes, bullying, sick parents, and more.

Each tale gives you a glimpse into the minds of the children in the neighborhood – the funny, the sad, and everything in between.

Why I Like It: I finished this story in one sitting and immediately told Jackie to give it to her son. I can’t wait to give this to my boys one day.

Find this book in Best School Books / Realistic Fiction Books / Short Stories

The Secret Language of Birds by Lynne Kelly

Nina is the odd duckling in her family, preferring birds to humans. Eager for a break from home, she decided to spend the summer with her quirky aunt who happens to run a summer camp in Texas.

While there, Nina stumbles upon a mating pair of egrets so rare, they haven’t been seen in Texas for almost 100 years. As she works to protect the birds, she begins to form friendships with the other campers helping her keep the secret of the birds.

Why We Love This Book: As a summer camp girly, I was eager to pick up this book. It was wonderful to see Nina gain self-confidence at camp while staying true to herself. I also loved checking in on my favorite protagonist from Lynne Kelly’s other book, Song for a Whale.
Appropriate for ages 9-12
Find this book in Best Books for 10-year-olds

Belly Up by Stuart Gibbs

After a hippo dies at FunJungle Zoo, it’s up to Teddy and his friend Summer to prove that the Hippo was murdered.

But investigating Hippo’s homicide is a dangerous affair. This funny story kept this former zoo employee quite entertained.

Why We Love This Book: A funny, clever story that’s the first in the FunJungle series by Stuart Gibbs.
Appropriate for ages 9-12
Find this book in books for 10-year-olds, Zoo books, best middle grade books, best mystery books for tweens

A Wolf Called Wander by Rosanne Parry

Rosanne does a marvelous job of telling the true story of a wolf trying to survive when separated from his family. Without the protection of his pack, Swift must learn how to thrive on his own.

Swift’s journey takes him across 1,000 miles of forests, highways, and rivers with danger facing him at every turn.

Why We Love This Book: My family was riveted by this story when we listened on a recent family road trip. Even though this is a middle-grade book, we love this for adults as well.
Appropriate for ages 8-11
Find this book in Animal Novels / Middle-Grade Fiction / Audiobooks for Kids / Animals Books for Kids

The Egypt Game by Zilpha Neatly Snyder

This middle grade fiction enchanted me as a young girl. The 6 “Egyptians” play in the back lot of an antique store, dressing up, performing rituals, and speaking with Oracles.

Then, a murder happens in the area and trouble comes to the lot. Don’t worry, there is a happy ending to this tween mystery book and also a sequel about gypsies!

The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin

The tween book that got me into mysteries as a child is great as an audiobook as well! When Mr. Westing dies, he leaves the residents of Sunset Towers named in his will.

But they need to solve the mystery of his death in order to win control of his company and his vast fortune. Your family will love trying to work out what happened!

Why We Love It: This classic 70s book is still a must-read today! It has withstood the test of time.
Find this Book in Best Middle Grade Mystery Books / Books for 11-year-olds / Books About Puzzles

Harriet The Spy by Louise Fitzhugh

Harriet the Spy has been a classic children’ book for over 50 years. The 11-year-old is never without her notebook to write her observations in. When the notebook falls into the hands of her friends, they all get very angry with Harriet.

Will she be able to right her wrongs? There is a reason this realistic fiction book for a 10-year-old has been adapted repeatedly for the screen. It’s got life lessons for every child.

The Wizenard Series by Kobe Bryant and Wesley King

My boys and I started this series shortly after their basketball season began and they were on a losing streak. I thought this series about a group of kids and their magical coach sounded like the perfect book to inspire them.

The Badgers are the worst team in the league until Professor Wizenard comes to be their new coach. With his magical tricks focusing on teamwork and morale, the Badgers players learn more than just playing good ball.

Swim Team by Johnnie Christmas

Bree and her dad have just moved to Florida for her father’s new training program. She’s excited to join electives and make new friends until she realizes the only one she can join is swimming…and that makes her quite nervous.

Soon Bree begins counting on her neighbor Etta to give her swimming lessons, and ends up joining the swim team with the hopes of winning the big competition! This book for a 10 year old is an award winner!

The Crossover by Kwame Alexander

Kwame Alexander has won many awards for his incredible proses. This tween novel, the first in a series, is no exception having won both the Newberry and The Coretta-Scott King Award.

The Crossover is all about Josh Bell a basketball-loving middle-schooler who also loves to rap. He learns to grow up in this coming-of-ask story about Josh, his twin, and his family.

This is one of the many tween books for a 12-year-old being adapted. Look for the book adaptation starring LeBron James coming to Disney+ soon!

My Not-So-Great French Escape by Cliff Burke

I adored this story about Rylan, who is staying on a farm in France to reconnect with his former best friend, Wilder. It’s such a heartwarming story about how friendships change as we age, sometimes ending as lives and values grow.

This one did not have a happy ending for Rylan’s quest to stay friends with Wilder, but it was a wonderful lesson in being true to yourself and following your own interests. Rylan was well out of his comfort zone, but he was able to connect with new friends, learn new skills, and become a more confident version of himself.

I love that the message at the end of the day is that if you stay true to yourself, you’ll end up with people that love and appreciate the real you.

The Candymakers by Wendy Maas

This story appears on our list of books about candy! I decided to read this book with my boys prior to our visit to Candytopia.

It was a lovely take on life at a candy factory and felt almost like an updated version of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. 4 kids are competing to win a candy-making contest to have their creation mass-produced. This is the first in a series of middle grade novels. It’s one of the must-read books for 11-year-olds.

My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George 

Welcome to my favorite book of my childhood. It’s not one that anyone who knows me would pick as one of my favorite books, but maybe that’s why it’s so dear to my heart. This story about a 12-year-old boy who ran away to live in the wilderness spoke to me during a time when I needed to imagine an escape.

The thought of someone living off the land being able to survive and thrive captured my imagination. The sketches and notes about how he fashioned himself a home in a tree and a suit of deerskin only added to the allure of this story.

It’s the first book in a trilogy, and while the other two are great, this book for 10-year-olds is forever my favorite of the bunch.

Kristy’s Great Idea by Ann M. Martin

The babysitters are back and updated for a new generation! I love that the stories in this series have been adapted into graphic novels.

The very first one, Kristy’s Great Idea, is about the formation of the Baby-Sitters Club and how the friends of the sitters developed. If you have middle schoolers, they should check out the Netflix book adaptation of this realistic fiction series.

From An Idea To Disney: How Imagination Built a World of Magic by Lowey Bundy Sichol

This book tells the story of how Disneyland and the Disney company were created from Walt Disney’s imagination. It’s a fun non-fiction book that is the first in a series.

Other books in the series look at companies like Nike, Google, and Lego. It’s the perfect series of books for a 10-year-old looking to get into the non-fiction genre.

Kid Athletes: True Tales of Childhood from Sports Legends by David Stabler

This book tells the story of famous athletes in short chapters, complete with illustrations. This is the perfect book for kids who may not have the time or patience for longer books and any child who loves sports.

Kid Athletes has a mix of athletes from many different sports and includes legends like Babe Rith and Muhammed Ali as well as legends in the making like Gabby Douglas.

All Thirteen: The Incredible Cave Rescue of the Thai Boys’ Soccer Team by Christina Soontornvat

This is one of the books for a 10-year-old that is a multi-award winner. It won the 2021 Newbery Honor Winner, the 2021 Kirkus Prize for Young People’s literature, and so many other awards. It is the true story of the Thai cave rescue of the 12 boys and their soccer coach in 2018.

The boys and the coach had gone in to explore the cave and when they went to leave, the floodwaters left them trapped inside. Complete with pictures, this story is told in a style that makes you feel like you were there.