Anonymous
Post 12/17/2025 09:16     Subject: Any really good newer chapter books for strong 9-year old reader?
Anonymous wrote:My DD isn't too much into fantasy, she's into animal tales, we've found these to be good

- Chronicles of Lizard Nobody (amazing book funny with deeper ideas about diversity)

- Belly Up (series of animal mysteries at a private zoo)

And then for the classics, you could get a compendium of Grimm Fairy Tales, they wrote so so many and so many are very weird


There's Andrew Lang's fairy books if you want weird, but those are very old as opposed to newer.
Anonymous
Post 12/16/2025 09:56     Subject: Any really good newer chapter books for strong 9-year old reader?
My DD isn't too much into fantasy, she's into animal tales, we've found these to be good

- Chronicles of Lizard Nobody (amazing book funny with deeper ideas about diversity)

- Belly Up (series of animal mysteries at a private zoo)

And then for the classics, you could get a compendium of Grimm Fairy Tales, they wrote so so many and so many are very weird
Anonymous
Post 12/16/2025 05:58     Subject: Any really good newer chapter books for strong 9-year old reader?
Try anything by Caroline Carlson. They’re great books, fantasy adjacent.
Anonymous
Post 12/16/2025 03:48     Subject: Any really good newer chapter books for strong 9-year old reader?
Anonymous wrote:My 9 year old DD can't stop reading the Percy Jackson books. I think they're the first books that I've seen that she can't stop reading. She's often up to 10pm reading them at night. We used to beg her to read before.


This is what did it for my 10yo DS too! But now he has finished the series and is going through Harry Potter at a similar clip, and I don't know what to suggest next. WIll check out some of the suggestions in this thread (not that dreadful cat series, lol)
Anonymous
Post 12/15/2025 10:27     Subject: Any really good newer chapter books for strong 9-year old reader?
Anonymous wrote:At that age my kid LOVED the Redwall books, about animals living in an old English Abbey, and fighting off other animals. Every species gets their own culture, accents and turns of speech, it's fascinating. An old series, but so good.

She also liked the Chronicles of Narnia (the movies are great), the Chronicles of Prydain, the Hobbit, stuff like that. She discovered Wings of Fire later and loved them too. She didn't really love Harry Potter, but did read all of them because her brother was very much into them. What else? She loved Watership Down (a political allegory transposed to the rabbit world), which interestingly isn't a children's book, but she loves animals, so...

She read His Dark Materials at around that time, but may have been too young to understand the multiple layers of that wonderful series, which is great for adults too. She was intrigued by the plot, though, and liked it well enough. The first book is the Golden Compass, made into a TV series.




These.
Plus and if Green Gables and Fablehaven.
Anonymous
Post 12/15/2025 10:07     Subject: Any really good newer chapter books for strong 9-year old reader?
My 9 year old DD can't stop reading the Percy Jackson books. I think they're the first books that I've seen that she can't stop reading. She's often up to 10pm reading them at night. We used to beg her to read before.
Anonymous
Post 12/15/2025 10:05     Subject: Any really good newer chapter books for strong 9-year old reader?
Anonymous wrote:If she hasn't read Harry Potter yet, this could be a good chance to start.


Yes, great age for HP! You can buy the whole set for Christmas!
Anonymous
Post 12/15/2025 10:04     Subject: Any really good newer chapter books for strong 9-year old reader?
Anonymous wrote:No, the newer books aren’t very good. Stick with the classics


This is so patently false. There has been loads of excellent fiction written in the last 10-15 years. Some classics still hold up, but others most certainly do NOT.
Anonymous
Post 12/15/2025 09:58     Subject: Any really good newer chapter books for strong 9-year old reader?
Anonymous wrote:My nine-year-old loves Alan Gratz's historical fiction novels. She also has recently shown some interest in the W. Bruce Cameron books about dogs, and we bought her some nonfiction books about chemistry, biology, and forensics for Christmas.


My 9yo likes the Alan Gratz books too although we did them as read-alouds. Some of them can get pretty dark so I liked that so we could discuss
Anonymous
Post 12/15/2025 08:20     Subject: Any really good newer chapter books for strong 9-year old reader?
Vanderbeekers series (my 9 year old DD just finished these)
+ 1 to Penderwicks
Wingfeather Saga series
Green Ember series and spin-offs
+1 to Impossible Creatures
+1 to The Christmas Pig
+2 to Mysterious Benedict Society series
Heartwood Hotel series
Any of Grace Lin's chapter books
Incorrigable Children of Ashton Place series (my 9 year old is racing through these)
A Place to Hang the Moon
The Restorationists series
A Rover’s Story
The Nerviest Girl in the World
The Umbrella Mouse
Ryan Hart series (most often compared to a modern day Ramona)
Tuesdays at the Castle series (my girls have loaned these to more friends in 4th grade-ish than I can count)

The above list spans a lot of genres - fantasy, sci fi, realistic fiction, and animal fiction.

If your family is classics minded then Read-Aloud Revival has book lists that fit the same spirit/soul as the classics. I've been using their book lists since my middle schooler was in preschool.
Anonymous
Post 12/15/2025 08:02     Subject: Re:Any really good newer chapter books for strong 9-year old reader?
Not a series but I have been reading The Christmas Pig to my kid. I think 9 would be a good age for that. It is written by JK Rowling.
Anonymous
Post 12/15/2025 05:39     Subject: Any really good newer chapter books for strong 9-year old reader?
Anonymous wrote:Mysterious Benedict Society?


+1. Very well written and enjoyable for older siblings and parents as well. My DD started the series as a 9 yr old and loved them. The audiobook versions are also good for long car rides.
Anonymous
Post 12/14/2025 07:44     Subject: Any really good newer chapter books for strong 9-year old reader?
Mysterious Benedict Society?
Anonymous
Post 12/11/2025 16:28     Subject: Any really good newer chapter books for strong 9-year old reader?
Anonymous wrote:My 4th grader is currently reading The Hunger Games. He thinks it's pretty good.


Kewl story
Anonymous
Post 12/11/2025 16:25     Subject: Any really good newer chapter books for strong 9-year old reader?
My 4th grader is currently reading The Hunger Games. He thinks it's pretty good.