Once students find an author they like, they breeze through the series. After observing students for several years, I have seen the same authors read again and again.
Getting middle school students to read can sometimes be a chore. I have found that if students find an author that they like, they will read everything by the author and enjoy it. Many times students get excited about reading and cannot wait until the author publishes another book.
After teaching middle school for several years, I have found the following authors to be favorites of my students:
- Meg Cabot: Princess Diaries series (Volumes 1-9) [Harper Teen, June 2001-Decemeber 2007]
- Eoin Colfer: Artemis Fowl series (Books 1-5) [Miramax, May 2002-September 2006]
- Margaret Peterson Haddix: Shadow Children series (Boxed Set, Books 1-3) [Aladdin, September 2004]
- Anthony Horowitz: Alex Rider series (Boxed Set, Books 1-5) [Scholastic, 2007]
- D. J. MacHale: Pendragon series (Series 1-4) [Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing, September 2002-September 2003]
- J.K. Rowling: Harry Potter series (Boxed Set, Books 1-7) [Arthur A. Levine Books, October 2007]
- Lemony Snicket: Series of Unfortunate Events series (Boxed Set , Books 1-13) [Harper Collins, October 2006]
There are many other great writers with books in a series, but every year students reach for these books. If a student stands in the library looking too long, I can usually suggest one of these books to the student. Generally, the student takes it and reads it.
