Recs if you like Hatchet (Brian's Saga, #1)...
Remember to breathe, damnit!
Books where someone, at some point, lets out a breath they didn’t know they were holding. I fully intend to update this every time I come across this line, but let me know which ones are missing in the comments!
It's 2005 and you're at the Scholastic Book Fair
Books of the millennial reader's childhood (not just scholastic book fair). Sticking with chapter books, and not picture books :) All books pre-2005 Taking recs!
Survivalist Fiction
Stories centered around isolation, being stranded, societal collapse, and surviving in the wilderness.
you’re going to ace that Accelerated Reader test
chapter books you probably read in elementary and/or middle school and you probably took the AR test as soon as you finished. cue nostalgia
isolation
who do you become when you’re cut off from the rest of the world?
books in which a person or group of people are physically isolated and have to contend with who they really are.
Tiny Fables
All fiction books that appear in the Tiny Bookshop catalogue! Would sort them by genre as I read along.
Millennial Nostalgic Reads
Bring on those Gen Y memories! A list of books likely to give people born between 1981 and 1996 a lot of feelings.
This list is for those of us who grew up eagerly awaiting the Scholastic Book Fair, watching Reading Rainbow (or Wishbone!), and dreaming of a free personal pan pizza from Pizza Hut.
Note: these are not books published in 1981-1996, but books that had a hold on the millennial generation.
Also check out the Dear America series, American Girl series & Royal Diaries series.
Classic Children’s Lit
Classic novels for your (inner) child, with some modern staples in the mix. For reading yourself, reading aloud to little ones, and for those learning to read. Suggestions welcome, as always!
On Our Own
Orphan Fantasy Fiction™. This list isn't about found family, it's about kids living independently/unsupervised and taking care of themselves.
Classics To Read to Your Kids!
As a parent of 2 boys, I want to introduce them to good literature as early as possible! This is my list of classics that are appropriate for kids to listen to (read them aloud or listen to the audiobook). I’ve left some off this list due to misogyny and racism I thought was unforgivable. But ALL these books were written by imperfect people in an imperfect world, there may be topics you may need to have deeper conversations with your kids. ❤️
Assigned Reading (Primary/Middle School Edition)
The books your teacher made you read between the ages of 11-14. They changed the way you saw the world, they made you realize books were more than just goofy or sentimental stories you gobbled up before bedtime, and they stuck with you, all these years later.
Suggestions welcome, especially from non-American readers!!
Note: this list was made by a Millennial, so I'd love to hear from some different generations! What did your teachers assign you?
middle grade & ya novels that went triple platinum during my childhood
I work at a bookstore and sometimes I bring people into the middle grade/ya section and am like...hey...I know we are above the age of 13, but trust me, these are amazing 10/10 and you should read. These are some of those books :)
Also feel free to suggest your favs too! Especially the ones that you never hear anyone talk about!!
elementary school classroom library
books i got lost in during quiet reading time as a kid (and maybe you did too)
ready, set, reread: a childhood book tour
Joining my younger self on a reread of all the books I was exceptionally obsessed with in elementary, middle, and high school to reread this year between heavier books (some of the series are very long so I’m only including first in a series)
Newbery Award Winners and Honors
Complete as of August 2026.
Book Recs from Fictional Characters in a Book
A compilation of the books mentioned in The Last Page by Katie Holt. The story is set in a bookstore and each chapter starts with a staff pick recommendation from one of the employees there. Gonna be relying on this for the Bookception prompt of HRCYED 3.0
Middle grade/YA
Newbery Honorees
Books that were nominated for the John Newbery Medal for distinguished contributions to juvenile literature but did not win Currently lists nominees up to 2024
Smosh Favorite Books
I've been addicted to watching Smosh all summer, here is a list of the casts and crew's favorite books from the Shayne Guesses video ;p I haven't read like... any of these.
PBS's Great American Read
The list of 100 books/series, created during PBS Great American Read series (2018) in which the public voted on the most influential and important reads in America. All series are represented by their 1st book.
