Ten-year-olds want books that take them seriously. They are ready for real stakes, like survival, war and loss, and for characters who make mistakes and face hard choices. At the same time they want a story that moves and characters they would like to know.
Many of the best books for this age are the ones teachers read aloud in class and kids then recommend to each other. That word of mouth is a good sign: a book a ten-year-old would hand to a friend is a book worth giving.
These books won or were honored by the Newbery Medal and the Carnegie Medal.
Honor1988
Gary Paulsen
Great for a reluctant reader
Thirteen-year-old Brian is the only passenger on a small plane when the pilot has a heart attack. The plane crashes into a lake in the Canadian wilderness, and Brian has nothing but the clothes he is wearing and a hatchet his mother gave him. A gripping survival story that hooks reluctant readers.
1988 Newbery Medal Honor Book
Winner1990
Lois Lowry
Great for a first book about history
In Copenhagen in 1943, ten-year-old Annemarie helps hide her Jewish best friend Ellen and her family from the Nazis, and takes part in their escape to Sweden. Short, tense and based on the real rescue of Denmark's Jews. An ideal first book about the Holocaust.
1990 Newbery Medal winner
Shortlist2013
R. J. Palacio
Great for talking about kindness
Auggie was born with a facial difference and has been homeschooled all his life. Now he is starting fifth grade. Told by Auggie and the people around him, it is a book about kindness that kids genuinely love, and it was shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal.
2013 Carnegie Medal for Writing shortlisted
Winner1979
Ellen Raskin
Great for a puzzle lover
Sixteen people are invited to the reading of millionaire Samuel Westing's will, and learn that one of them is his murderer. Whoever solves the puzzle inherits his fortune. Clever, funny and full of clues. The best mystery for this age, bar none.
1979 Newbery Medal winner
Honor2016
Kimberly Brubaker Bradley
Great for a horse lover
Ada has never been allowed out of her family's London flat because of her twisted foot. When children are evacuated to the countryside at the start of the Second World War, she escapes with her little brother, and learns to ride a pony and to trust. Moving and uplifting.
2016 Newbery Medal Honor Book
Winner2010
Rebecca Stead
Great for a clever reader
Miranda, a sixth-grader in 1970s New York, starts finding notes that seem to know the future, and ask for her help. Inspired by A Wrinkle in Time, it is a short, clever mystery with a big heart.
2010 Newbery Medal winner
Winner2015
Kwame Alexander
Great for a sports fan
Twin brothers Josh and Jordan are basketball stars, and their dad was one too. A novel in verse with the bounce of basketball and hip-hop, about brotherhood, family and growing up. A great gift for a sports fan who says they do not like reading.
2015 Newbery Medal winner
Honor2016
Pam Muñoz Ryan
Great for a big, absorbing read
A magical harmonica passes through the hands of three children: a boy in Germany in the 1930s, an orphan in Pennsylvania during the Depression, and a girl in California during the Second World War. Their stories come together in an unforgettable ending.
2016 Newbery Medal Honor Book
Try Hatchet, a fast survival story, or The Crossover, a basketball novel in verse. Both have hooked many reluctant readers.
Yes. It deals with the Holocaust in a way designed for this age: tense and honest but not graphic. It is widely read in schools at nine to eleven.
Wonder was shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal in 2013 and has won many children's choice awards.
See every award-winning book for ages 9 to 12