In langauge arts, students are just finishing up the read aloud for the book Huner Games and now I need a new suggestion for a read aloud that will keep their interest. Hunger Games is a tough book to follow because every student loved it. However, I don't want to read the sequel because so many are already reading it. Any suggestions for books that will hold their interest after this book?

They are in sixth grade if that helps.

If you want to follow it up with another dystopian story, The Other Side of the Island might work.

For a change of pace, you could do The Graveyard Book -- since it's a fairly episodic plot, I think it would make a good read-aloud.

If you wanted to do realistic, how about The Schwa Was Here?

They may also like Wabi: A Hero's Tale. It is a Native American legend retold by Joseph Bruchac.

Maniac Magee, Feathers, Coraline, and Mike Lupica books would all be good read alouds for 6th graders.

The Amulet of Samarkand would be good for sixth grade. It also has good vocabulary. It is long though.

How about Hatchet by Gary Paulsen.

I love Richard Peck for reading aloud including A Long Way from Chicago, A Year Down Yonder, and Here Lies the Librarian.

I would suggest The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman. Especially using the audio book to "read aloud." Gaiman does an excellent job reading and it catches your attention with music.

I just read The Hunger Games to my Year 7 & 8 class (11 & 12 year olds) and it has been extremely popular with my students too. Luckily for me, Catching Fire hasn't been released in New Zealand yet, so none of the kids have read it. I ordered it from the Book Depository and I'm now reading that to the class - just as popular.

In the past, other books that I've had success with have included The Giver, The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, The Silver Sword, Rules and There's a Boy in the Girls' Bathroom.

Have you read Gone by Michael Grant or The Maze Runner by James Dashner? They are pretty similar in many ways to The Hunger Games, and are real page-turners - I'm thinking I might try reading one of those next year perhaps.

I agree that The Graveyard Book is good, and I thought of reading it this year, but I wonder if it might be a bit slow as a class readaloud. I felt it dragged a bit in the middle few chapters, and because each chapter is nearly self-contained, it lacks a bit of narrative drive that the less-involved kids need to keep their attention. But I haven't tried it, so maybe it would work well.

I, Jack, by Patricia Finney, is a relatively simple book, but uproariously funny in a mildly gross way that junior high kids love. And I'll admit it, I loved it too.

The story is told by a lovable but somewhat dim-witted dog, who has his own language to describe the people and things around him. It is clever and laugh-out-loud funny. (The resident cats speak only in the footnotes, and call Jack "Big Yellow Stupid.")

Mensagem editada pelo seu autor, Nov 9, 2009, 2:00am.

I remember my 6th grade teacher reading The Yearling to us, the year before the teacher read Where the Red Fern Grows. I read Charlie and the Chocolate Factory to my kids at home, then followed that with Charlie and the Glass Elevator. When I was in sixth grade I read Superfudge. Loved that book! Still do.

Personally, I love the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series and all of the Lemony Snickets books.

I thought a teacher reading aloud to the students was a lost art, so glad to find out that it's not! Those were my fondest memories of grade school - quiet time and the teacher reading the book.

: )

Thank you for all the suggestions. I will look into some of these to see if they will work.

I did storytime for preschoolers and I tried to do themes and one of the more popular themes was "My mom read me this book when I was little and I'm old." The kiddos seemed to get a kick out of me calling myself old ( I was 25 at the time.)

Perhaps Zen and the Art of Faking It might be a fun read aloud if you want something more recent.

I second Maniac Magee. I'm not sure how old I was when my teachers read that to us, but I absolutely adored it. I think anything by Roald Dahl would work, too; maybe The BFG. Another good one is one my 7th grade Lit teacher read us called Goodnight, Mr. Tom; it's pretty tough subject matter, but it's a fantastic read.

I'm jealous. I always wish that my nieces would visit more often so I can read to them, especially the 7-year-old, because she's my mini-me. :D

This summer, or over Christmas break, I'm going to introduce her to Roald Dahl. Also, The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane, which we read in my children's lit class and I absolutely adored.

Have you considered looking at your state library's website for the book award listings appropriate for the age group? In Texas students between grades 3-6 can vote on the winner to the Bluebonnet Award, but the catch is that they have to have read 4 of the titles in order to have a vote. Perhaps you could better set your students up to vote on the winner to the state book award listing by reading them one of the titles.

I remember reading and having read to me titles from the Mark Twain Award list when I was a child in Missouri. And as an intern at a library while in library school there was a book club devoted to the Mark Twain Award nominees, so that students were prepared to vote for the winner for that award.