Great Books for Struggling Readers in Upper Elementary

If you work with struggling readers in the upper elementary grades you probably know how hard it is to get them interesting trying to read a book on their own. Read on for some fantastic suggestions of books for struggling readers.

Challenge of Independent Reading for Struggling Readers

Many struggling readers have a hard time getting started with reading a book independently and sticking with it. Stamina is a huge issue when it comes to these readers. By the time struggling readers read the upper elementary grades, they have acquired many skills to make it look like they are reading a book, but in reality are just holding a book while looking toward the pages.

Assisting struggling readers with picking a good fit book, one that is interesting but not too difficult to read independently (often called high interest, low readability books), is a great first step in helping struggling readers get started with reading a book independently. Implementing First Chapter Fridays would be a great resource for struggling readers.

I want to share a few of my favorite books for struggling readers.

Short Stories

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My go to for any struggling reader is to suggest a collection of short stories. Many times struggling readers are working so hard to decode and comprehend the text, they are ready to be done with a story if it’s too long. Short stories are great for this purpose. The story gets right into the action and many stories are only a few pages long!

Scary Stories

There are many collections of short scary stories, making this a great genre to stock up on. Many struggling readers enjoy scary movies, so reading a scary story is a natural transition. Students are often familiar with the structure of a scary story and are captivated by the thrilling intensity of a story. Some of my favorite scary stories to highlight for upper elementary are:

Horowitz Horror and More Horowitz Horror– That is correct, from the author that brought you books like Alex Ryder and the adult book Magpie Murders, Anthony Horowitz also has quite the collection of scary stories. Some of they are creepy, others dark, but all of them are interesting and short. I love Anthony Horowitz’s imagination, he can create some truly spooky stuff in these books. He has a few other horror collections, but I keep these in my classroom library.

R.L Stine Presents Scream and Scream Again– I think any fear street book by R.L. Stine would capture the attention of any struggling reader, but this short story anthology by Stine and other authors is a good bet for individuals who need a story told in fewer pages.

Out To Get You: 13 Tales of Weirdness and Woe & Scary Stories for Kids Who Like Scary Stories– These are two examples of an anthology of stories that delivers a ton of entertaining short scary stories, while holding the interest of readers who typically struggle to stay with one book.

Uncle Montague’s Tales of Terror– For students who are fans of Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, the Tales of Terror series has some seriously creepy vibes. This series of book delivers on the short, interesting stories. They might be a better challenge for students who have some reading stamina, but still need something short.

*one additional note, don’t forget to show students where Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark is located in your school’s library. Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark is often classified as a folk tale, in the non-fiction section of the library. Struggling readers often don’t ask for help finding a book, which is why it helps if you shout out its location in the library.

David Lubar

David Lubar may be better know for books like Sleeping Freshman Never Lie and Punished, but he has written quite a few short story anthologies as well.

Battle of the Red Hot Pepper Weenies: And Other Warped and Creepy Tales– My kids love David Lubar’s bizarre and creative imagination. He has an entire series of Red Hot Pepper Weenie stories, not just this one. One of my favorite short stories in this book is the story, Dear Author, in which a student has to write a letter to their favorite author and the author keeps stealing the kids ideas and turning it into his next book. It’s about three pages long and the kids find it funny and shocking at the same time. It grabs their attention.

Lubar also has a novel length book, Hidden Talents, that students might enjoy. Martin, the main character, is sent to an alternative school due to his mess ups. At this new school he connects with other kids who find they didn’t really fit in and they learn that they have some interesting powers, or hidden talents you might say. This book is great for all students, but struggling students might find a connection with the story.

Guys Write

Jon Scieszka, author of The Stinky Cheese Man, has a series of short stories based on genre for boys from many well known authors-Chris Crutcher, Stephen King, Matt Groening, Daniel Pinkwater, Neil Gaiman, all contributed stories for Guys Write for Guys Read. Obviously girls also read these stories, but the stories were curated specifically with male interests in mind. What I like about this series is that each book focuses on a different genre- Funny Business, Sports Pages, and Thriller to name a few.

Jake Maddox

Jake Maddox books are fantastic for diving into novels that aren’t too long, lasting around 70 pages. Each Jake Maddox book tends to have the same structure and length, making it less cognitively taxing for struggling readers and more likely that they would enjoy the book and read the entire thing.

Jake Maddox has books related to a variety of sports like Batter Up, Hockey Meltdown, Striker Assist, and Field Hockey Firsts. Some books have female main characters, while most have a male main character.

Claudia Christina Cortez

Just like Jake Maddox, these books tend to have the same structure and length, about 80 pages, making it less cognitively taxing for struggling readers enabling them to read and understand the books.

Claudia is a middle schooler with middle school type problems. There are about 15 books in the entire series. Claudia Cristina Cortez Uncomplicates Your Life is the first in the series.

Terrible Two

Most readers of this blog know that The Terrible Two Series is near and dear to my heart. I always start each school year reading the first book in the series aloud to my class and display the text on my document camera. I have many students who BEG me to read this book and cheer in delight when I announce it is time to read. I would love to think it is me, but it is the delightfully goofy story about Miles and Niles, school pranksters who try to pull a prank to get school cancelled of the day. You will find that many reluctant readers are happy to read this series after reading the first book aloud.

Gary Paulsen

Gary Paulsen has written quite a few books that would be considered hi-lo. While he is best known for Hatchet, Danger on Midnight River is great for anyone who enjoys survival stories. It is only 80 pages long and has a lexile of about 600. Lawn Boy and Crush are some of his shorter, lower lexile books as well.

Non-Fiction

How they Croaked is another book that will get students excited to read. To be clear, this book is gross. It is engagingly, entertainingly disgusting at times. It is the kind of gross, though, that makes students love it! Every day I read it aloud in my classroom, I am met with the demands of my students to read the most disgusting death!

Author Georgia Bragg followed up How They Croaked with the book, How They Choked: Failures, Flops and Flaws of the Awfully Famous and Caught: Nabbing History’s Most Wanted.

The nice thing with all three of these AMAZING books is that they are high interest, do you have someone interested in George Washington, Titanic or World War II, then you will find at least a few pages from each book to capture your student’s interest. Just like the short stories, each section of these book are around 3-8 pages long, making a fantastic read for someone who doesn’t have the stamina to get through lengthier texts.

Struggling Readers Can Find a Good Book

Assisting struggling readers with picking a good fit book, one that is interesting but not too difficult to read independently (often called high interest, low readability books), is a great first step in helping struggling readers get started with reading a book independently. Asking about the students interests, what movies and shows they enjoy can help guide you to suggesting books.

Reading the first chapter aloud or having them read the first bit of the book to you can help get them hooked and interested in the book. Often these students need to find something that grabs their attention and they can stick with it. Good luck!