The Best Books Our Kids Read in 2018

When I listed my favorite books in 2018, I looked at my children quietly reading next to me and thought. it would be fun to ask them THEIR favorite books in 2018.

What they shared was interesting. I honestly thought it would skew very heavily to “boy” reads. But it turns out, good books are good books, regardless of whether they are written with a female or male audience in mind.

Some of the books listed in our Chapter Books Series for Kids post are still incredibly popular under our roof (such as Warriors and Wings of Fire). But there were also some new series as well as classics and standalone novels they also enjoyed.

Here are the Best Books Our Kids Read in 2018:

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The Rick Riordan Presents Series
Aru Shah and the End of Time by Roshani Choksi
The Storm Runner by J.C. Cervantes

Rick Riordan again blew my oldest son’s world wide open with his new series, Rick Riordan Presents. Not written by Riordan, this book series is, rather, “unfound” authors that Riordan discovers and publishes. The intent, Riordan says, is to share stories that will “probably be some type of middle grade fantasy, with lots of humor and action, and probably draw on myth or folklore in some way. ” However, the myth and folklore drawn upon are stories our culture doesn’t usually know (i.e., Hindu and Mayan gods).

I, personally, adored Aru Shah. The main character (a teenage girl) is one of my favorite characters of the age-set yet.

*Note that these books are not for younger kids.

The One & Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate

I thought, from reading the jacket, that this book would be a little too depressing to read. But the reviews convinced me to try. It turns out, this book was beautiful. What lovely characters and what a lovely lesson for young minds.

The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle by Avi

Wow! The plot twists and the characters had us guessing the entire time! Plus, Charlotte is a fun character who learns to buck societal convention at a time when girls were treated as far less that powerful and strong. Seeing her come into her own is a treat. Plus, it was fun to talk about the reliability of the narrator in a literary work.

Kenny & the Dragon by Tony DiTerlizzi

This book snuck up on us. At first, it moved so slowly, I thought we wouldn’t make it. But the quiet style was a nice balance to the suspense of the story we soon couldn’t put down. A retelling of an old tale, some take issue with the liberties DiTerlizzi took, but my 1st Grader and I enjoyed this.

The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick

Truthfully, when we picked it up, our 4th Grader was not interested as he found the drawings “spooky.” But as we read together, he grew to love the charming story and was eager to discover what happened. I think the drawings even grew on him, too.

Ungifted by Gordon Korman

This was one we did not read together, but our oldest son swears it has to be on this list. It was suggested by our favorite librarian and our son loved this read.

Epic Zero by R.L. Ullman

Recommended to us by a friend, this three book series is fun and light. Our boys loved the idea of a kid who was born into a super-hero family without superpowers (or so it seems) .

Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH by Robert C. O’Brien

Did anyone else read this as a child? While it feels like it is a creepy book (the jack cover and descriptions…plus, rats), Mrs. Frisby and Jeremy and Mr. Ages, as well as those super-smart rats, are all fantastic creations. There were so many story threads we couldn’t wait to see resolved.

The Dragon Masters series by Tracey West & various

I cannot finish this list without sharing our 1st Grader’s favorite series of the year: the Dragon Masters series. These are early chapter books, with great illustrations, and he just can’t get enough of them.

Hopefully you all enjoy some wonderful family reading in 2019!