Best Books for Preteen Boys

Reading books is not always at the top of the list of things to do for Preteen boys. If they are excited to read something it is much more likely they will want to keep reading. It can often be hard to know what books are good and for what ages. Here are my top recommendations of books for Preteen boys.

I am very grateful that my oldest son actually likes to read. Not very many kids his age do. Don’t get me wrong, he would still choose video games or TV over reading but he does love to read. He loves to read a variety of books from chapter books to comic books. He loves older ones and brand new ones.

I tried to put these books for boys ages 8-12, into some popular categories so you can pick based on what you think your son will be interested in.

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Graphic Novels

Graphic novels are books published in comic strip format. These are great for kids that have shorter attention spans or are not avid readers. The pictures help them visualize what the story is saying and don’t give them just pages and pages of words. My oldest son will sometimes finish 1 of these in just hours. He gets so excited whenever a new Dogman or Captain Underpants is published. Here are my top recommendations for graphic novels for preteen boys:

Chapter Books

When you have a child that is ready for more reading, then chapter books are the next step. Most of these still have some pictures but not nearly as many as the graphic novels. Chapter books are great for reading in spurts as well. You can tell your child to read one chapter before bed and they will have a goal and a good stopping point.

Here are my chapter book recommendations for boys (or girls) ages 8-12:

For book recommendations for pre-schoolers check out my post for Best Books for 2-4-year-olds.

Mystery Books

A very popular genre of pre-teen books is mystery books. They are able to keep kids’ attention and engage them. Some of these even require the reader to help solve the mystery. My sister said that her oldest son couldn’t put the Spy School series books down!

Here are my recommendations for Mystery books for preteen boys:

Here is my post about the Best Christian Fiction Books for Young Women.

Christian books for Preteens

These are some Christian books that we have loved. It’s nice to have some options that talk about good values and faith in God. What children read, stays with them and helps develop who they are so it is good for them to fill their minds with good things. These books are just as fun to read and still have plenty of adventure. We loved listening to the Adventures in Odyssey series on cassette tapes when I was growing up. It’s fun to now see my son enjoying them as CDs, books and movies also. They have such captivating stories and I feel like I still know all of the characters so well.

Here are my recommendations for Christian books for preteen boys:

For more great tween book recommendations check out this post by Grace for Single Parents.

Here is another great post about Children’s Fantasy Books with strong Heroines.