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When I was that age I preferred reading books meant for adults. If the parents aren't
too uptight then I'd recommend it for your boys as well. It keeps them interested!
I enjoyed reading: On The Beach, Jaws, The Exorcist, Carrie, Shogun, Centennial and Day of the Jackal,
to name just a few.
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Vietnam Veteran, Hugo Award winner, Nebula Award winner; Joe Haldeman.........."The Forever War", "The Forever Peace", "marsbound".
Future classics.
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Hunger games by Suzanne Collins. It is a trilogy and all three books are great. They are making a movie about it and will be released next year.
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I just taught a workshop on Jack London's Call of the Wild for community college students and I think this would be a great book for the boys. Dog-on-dog violence, but pretty exciting and the Klondike gold rush era was very interesting.
I also really like the Pullman books and Holes by Louis Sachar.
I used to be a young adult librarian so when I think of others I'll post them.
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There are so many great authors, & middle schoolers are at the cusp between childhood & adult readings. I would certainly begin with:
What are the interests of the students?
Then go to book lists, one that is fairly comprhesive:
http://librarybooklists.org/fiction/ya/yaindex.htm
Some authors that I can think of:
mythical:
Richard Adams, Tolkein, C.S. Lewis, J. Rowling & Christopher Paolini
action/thiller
Clive Cussler & John Grisham
Sci-Fi
Carl Sagan, Issac Asimov
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Boys like books that are partly serious, and partly funny. Or all funny. For boys, try anything by Daniel Pinkwater ("Lizard Music" is terrific) or Roald Dahl ("Danny, Champion of the World" is an often-ignored sleeper), "Chasing Vermeer" by Blue Balliett, "Artemis Fowl" by Eoin Colfer (boys love breaking the code) and of course all of the Lemony Snicket "Series of Unfortunate Events" books just for sheer fun. AND, if all those words fail, you can always depend on the Captain Underpants ouevre. Rick Riordan's "The Lightning Thief" is fun, too, and they learn some swell Greek mythology. And know what book I absolutely adore? Jules Pfeiffer's "The Man in the Ceiling." (Especially good for kids who tend to give up; with extra oomph for kids who love to draw.)
Oh, and I totally agree about Louis Sachar's "Holes." It's a 10. (great movie, too) Serious and funny at the same time. Pullman books can be a hard read (heck, even for me), but I do love The Golden Compass. Also great and supposedly geared toward middle-grade boys is Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card, but personally I think it's really for Young Adult or adult readers.
I hear you on the girls' books. It drives me nuts.
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Thank you everyone for the suggestions, some are books I had read but forgotten, some I have, and some are new books to me. I am making lists, keep the ideas coming!
Many Mahalos!
Carol
Carol
Every time you feel yourself getting pulled into other people's nonsense, repeat these words: Not my circus, not my monkeys.
Polish Proverb
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Oh, and my all-time favorite is "The Princess Bride" by William Goldman. Yes, there's a book! And it's really really funny. Boys will love it.
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I have to second "Holes" and "Princess Bride", but the first book that grabbed me was "Kon Tiki" when I read it in sixth grade.
bamboo2u
