i’m a teacher buying a birthday gift for a former student. i taught her in kindergarten and she is now in fifth grade, so i have no idea what kind of books fifth graders like/are appropriate for them. i know she likes the books “the collector” and “the collected” by k. r. alexander. what would you suggest for her??! nothing too scary, i don’t want her parents to hate me lol. thanks!!
by Inside_Rich6533
19 Comments
How about {{The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman}}?
Watership down was one I read around that age, if she likes creepy it might be up her alley.
Mary Downing Hahn has a ton of ghost stories. My favorite is Wait til Helen comes. Jacqueline West has a few as well. My favorite of hers are The Books of Elsewhere series and Long Lost. There’s also the Cassidy Blake series by Victoria Schwab. Schwab writes elementary/middle grade as well as YA and adult so the author could transition with her as she grows up 🙂
coraline!! a classic
A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket was a favourite of my daughter at about that age.
Katherine Arden’s Small Spaces, JA White’s Nightbooks, Daka Herman’s The Seeker, anything by Jacqueline West
RL Stein Goosebumps books are fun
The small spaces quartet by Katherine Arden. It’s middle grade horror so not too scary. I LOVE this series. It’s honestly in my top ten. Great cast. Great villain. Really good lore and world building as well. And most importantly, it is decently spooky. The dangers present in the books are pretty scary and the suspense keeps up throughout all the books.
The House With a Clock in Its Walls, by John Bellairs.
scary stories to tell in the dark!
The Haunting by Margaret Mahy.
Coraline by Neil Gaiman was a fun book with creepy vibes but not horror. I really enjoyed it
A series of unfortunate events is absolutely stellar for a creepy but kid friendly book series. It helped a lot with my vocabulary, too and introduced me to literary themes I wouldn’t learn about until highschool.
The Graveyard Book and Coraline, both by Neil Gaiman
Darren Shan has death/horror genre, but it’s something a ten year old could read (usually in the YA section). The protagonists often start out as eleven or teens
Something Wicked This Way Comes -Bradbury.
Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury
Goosebumps series by R.L. Stein!
Doll Bones by Holly Black