A Fifth Grader’s List of Recommended Book Series

Going into my second decade of homeschooling, I do a lot more improvising of homework assignments (especially for English). Since I know what is going on in my ten-year-old's life, at any given moment, I can draw from his experiences and turn them into assignments.

For example, we were going through Michael Clay Thompson's Paragraph Town, and I decided that he should do an exercise where he could clearly see when he needed to begin a new paragraph in his writing. Since I know he has been reading so many book series, I told him to write a book series review.

He listed all the book series he's read recently for leisure (note that this list doesn't include the books we read in our homeschooling curriculum--these are just for fun). He had to remember to start a new paragraph every time he talked about a new book series. By doing this, he could clearly see that each paragraph must focus on only one topic.

Below is my son's written book review. We brainstormed and developed an outline that ordered his rankings of ten book series. Then he wrote one paragraph a day (my principle is always, slow and steady wins the race). Finally, he spent one day reading the whole review aloud to proofread his work.

Disclaimer: My son doesn't seem fazed by youth action books where there is killing, for example, in murder mysteries. For kids who are more sensitive to this, please be wary of his book recommendations.

When it comes to leisure reading, it is obvious when my son is hooked. He finishes a book within two days when he's immersed in a book series' characters and storyline. I don't have to tell him to read; he spends most of the day reading. (I yank him over to do other subjects, of course, but I allow for long breaks of leisure reading time.) This is the beautiful freedom of homeschooling.

Note: I gave my son the following handout to help him find the appropriate words to describe the books he's read: https://www.lauracandler.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Book_Descriptions.pdf

A Fifth Grader’s List of Recommended Book Series

by Josiah Wong, Grade 5, Homeschool

According to Scholastics Canada’s Kids & Family Reading Report, kids ages 9 to 11 read 23 books on average per year. This is good but not good enough. I have read 64 books in series for fun this year. The following review describes ten book series that I like. I hope you will find a good series here.

Kevin Sands’ The Blackthorn Key series is number one on my list. I have read all six books, and it’s amazing because the story keeps you locked in. It is a very good mystery series because you have to guess who committed the crime. For example, in the first book, you have to figure out who is killing the apothecaries. It is action-packed: there are fights and codes you have to break. However, I have a disclaimer: there are vivid descriptions of injuries, and they are graphic. Younger readers should be careful.

The next book is Eric Walters’ Rule of Three series. I have read all three books. It teaches you how to survive if a power outage happens. For example, I learned how you have to put chlorine in water if you want it to be clean. I also learned you can strip a car down for its materials, like glass, fuel, lights, and precious metals. There are a lot of detailed exciting fight scenes, like when their neighborhood is attacked with RPGs, rifles, and snipers. Disclaimer: Not suitable for primary school readers because of intense violence.

The third series is Lisa McMann’s Going Wild series. I have read all three books. While a bit slow at the beginning, it gets really good when the main character Charlie Wilde gets her abilities. It is exciting when she gets her animal powers and can do stuff that normal people can’t. For example, she gets the strength of an elephant, so she can lift a bed by herself, but she doesn't know how to control it, like when she rips out her sink by accident. In the second book, one of her friends gets the ability of a monkey. In the third book, Charlie gets the thermal vision of a viper. It’s cool seeing the powers being used.

The fourth book that I love is Peter Brown's The Wild Robot series. I have read all three books. In the first book, the wild robot Roz adopts a gosling. Their bond is very warm. It teaches the importance of family. The atmosphere in the story is calm and comforting, such as the birds chirping in the forest, the beavers swimming, and the foxes sleeping. The descriptions are life-like and make me want to relax in nature. The book's chapters are short and the writing is simple yet deep, for example, when RECO 1 is hunting Roz, vultures and eagles come to rescue Roz, and this is what it says: 

He shook and twitched and

    collapsed

    beside

    Roz…

His voice went silent.

His eyes went dark. 

RECO 1 was dead. 

The pictures also help you imagine what’s happening. Younger readers can read this series more easily.    

The fifth book that I love is J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series. I have read all seven books. The books don’t become exciting, in my opinion, until Harry Potter becomes a teenager in the third book, The Prisoner of Azkaban. This is because the first two books are meant for little children since Harry Potter is young, and the reading level is not as hard as the rest of the series. Fortunately, these earlier books are super short, so you can quickly get them over with. Starting from the third book, each book is a page-turner; every page, an event happens. J.K. Rowling never runs out of ideas. The universe is so believable, it feels real. It makes you want to do spells in real life.

My sixth favourite series is Stuart Gibbs’ Waste of Space series. I have read all three books. It takes place in space; it shows you what life would be like if you lived on the moon, teaches you how space works, and what you have to do to not be severely affected when you return to Earth’s gravity. It is also a murder mystery. In the first book, a top lunar scientist is dead and you have to find out who caused it and why. The events are unexpected.

My seventh favourite series is Stuart Gibbs’ Funjungle series. I have read nine books so far. It is a very educational series, because Stuart Gibbs is a biologist, so this series teaches you about animals. The series is a mystery: something happens to the animals, and the characters have to figure out why and who did it. This is what makes it gripping and suspenseful.

My eighth favourite series is Stuart Gibbs’ Charlie Thorne series. I have read all four books. The plot is that the main character Charlie is as smart as Einstein. The CIA wants her to find an equation hidden by Einstein. The book is good because it requires the reader to do code-breaking and solve math equations; it makes me want to solve these before turning the page.

My ninth favourite is Stuart Gibbs’ Spy School series. I have read twelve books so far. It is a mystery. You have to figure out who is behind the crimes. It is also funny, like the way accidents happen. What is also good about it is the plot in each book is not repetitive; it has unpredictable events. What is bad about it is that it is not as descriptive as the other books I’ve mentioned so far. His Waste of Space, Funjungle, and Charlie Thorne series are more descriptive.

My last favourite is Lisa McMann’s The Unwanteds series and The Unwanted Quests series. I have read all 14 books. It is a fantasy. The Unwanteds are the creative people, and the Wanteds are the people who are smart and have gone to university. The Unwanteds are not valuable to their society, but someone doesn’t think this is right. He brings them to another dimension to train them to rebel. They can do magic imbued with creativity, which is what makes the story captivating. They can also create new spells; for example, artists can paint doors. The only bad thing is that each mission or goal is spread over two books; the writer tries too hard to make it long. It would be more exciting if the events moved faster.

Overall, these are the series I would recommend to you. In this screen-addicted society, they heighten your knowledge in a fun way. I hope this helps you choose a series that you like.