Great Stories are Waiting! Books Trending in Arizona for Grades 1 - 12

Books have a remarkable way of showing up right when kids need them most. From early reader books that teach little ones the joy of turning pages, to middle grade adventures that keep kids reading past bedtime, or young adult novels that meet teenagers right where they are, there is no shortage of incredible stories waiting to be discovered. Each year brings a fresh wave of titles that capture young readers' imaginations. Rally Reader has rounded up the titles trending with Arizona students right now, spanning every grade level, to help your students find their next great read.

First Grade: 

• Be You – Peter H. Reynolds
• Duck Duck Goose – Tad Hills
• Hi! Fly Guy – Tedd Arnold
• The Best Nest – P.D. Eastman
• Fly Guy’s Big Family – Tedd Arnold
• George’s Race Car - Cala Spinner
• Ricky Ricotta’s Mighty Robot – Dav Pilkey
• Super Rabbit Racers – Thomas Flintham
• Diary of a Pug – Kyla May
• Owl Diaries: Eva’s Treetop Festival – Rebecca Elliott
• Pug the Unicorn – Bella Swift
• The Word Collector – Peter H. Reynolds
• Amelia Bedelia – Herman Parish
• Junie B. Jones Has a Peep in Her Pocket – Barbara Park
• Magic Tree House: A Big Day for Baseball – Mary Pope Osborne
• Nancy Drew and the Clue Crew: Cupcake Chaos – Carolyn Keene

Second Grade: 

• The Bad Guys – Aaron Blabey
• Henry Huggins – Beverly Cleary
• Ramona the Pest – Beverly Cleary
• The Bears on Hemlock Mountain – Alice Dalgliesh
• The Courage of Sarah Noble – Alice Dalgliesh
• Fantastic Mr. Fox – Roald Dahl
• Pippi Longstocking – Astrid Lindgren
• Growing Home – Beth Ferry
• The Boxcar Children – Gertrude Chandler Warner
• The Mouse and the Motorcycle – Beverly Cleary
• Encyclopedia Brown, Boy Detective – Donald J. Sobol
• The Chocolate Touch – Patrick Skene Catling
• Bunnicula – Deborah & James Howe
• The Cricket in Times Square – George Selden
• My Father’s Dragon – Ruth Stiles Gannett
• Charlotte’s Web – E.B. White
• Bad Kitty Joins the Team – Nick Bruel

Third Grade:

• Flat Stanley – Jeff Brown
• Who Was E.B. White? – Gail Herman
• Investigators: Take the Plunge – John Patrick Green
• Freckle Juice – Judy Blume
• The Stories Julian Tells – Ann Cameron
• A to Z Mysteries: Detective Camp – Ron Roy
• Dory Fantasmagory – Abby Hanlon
• Sideways Stories from Wayside School – Louis Sachar
• The 13-Story Treehouse – Andy Griffiths
• The Last Kids on Earth – Max Brallier
• Paddington Abroad – Michael Bond
• Sarah, Plain and Tall – Patricia MacLachlan
• The Trumpet of the Swan – E.B. White
• Who Was Amelia Earhart? – Kate Boehm Jerome
• Owls in the Family – Farley Mowat
• The Wind in the Willows – Kenneth Grahame
• Heidi – Johanna Spyri
• Wishtree – Katherine Applegate

Fourth Grade: 

• Frindle – Andrew Clements
• Charlie and the Chocolate Factory – Roald Dahl
• Matilda - Roald Dahl
• The Wild Robot – Peter Brown
• The Black Stallion – Walter Farley
• Warriors – Erin Hunter
• Who Was Cristiano Ronaldo? – James Buckley Jr.
• Esperanza Rising – Pam Muñoz Ryan
• Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief – Rick Riordan
• The Railway Children – E. Nesbit
• A Wrinkle in Time – Madeleine L’Engle
• The Secret Garden – Frances Hodgson Burnett
• The Phantom Tollbooth – Norton Juster
• The Westing Game – Ellen Raskin

Fifth Grade: 

• I Survived the American Revolution – Lauren Tarshis
• Who Is Michael Jordan? – Kirsten Anderson
• The Baby-Sitters Club – Ann M. Martin
• A Series of Unfortunate Events – Lemony Snicket
• The Penderwicks – Jeanne Birdsall
• Escape from Mr. Lemoncello’s Library – Chris Grabenstein
• Wonder – R.J. Palacio
• My Side of the Mountain – Jean Craighead George
• The Mysterious Benedict Society – Trenton Lee Stewart
• Where the Red Fern Grows – Wilson Rawls
• Holes – Louis Sachar
• The Girl Who Drank the Moon – Kelly Barnhill
• A Wrinkle in Time – Madeleine L’Engle
• Crispin: The Cross of Lead – Avi

Sixth Grade:

• I Survived the Sinking of the Titanic – Lauren Tarshis
• Who Is LeBron James? – Kirsten Anderson
• Hello, Universe – Erin Entrada Kelly
• Shiloh – Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
• Gregor the Overlander – Suzanne Collins
• City Spies – James Ponti
• Ghosts – Raina Telgemeier
• The Mona Lisa Vanishes – Nicholas Day
• Out of My Mind – Sharon M. Draper
• The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest – Aubrey Hartman
• Keeper of the Lost Cities – Shannon Messenger
• White Fang – Jack London
• Across Five Aprils – Irene Hunt
• Rifles for Watie – Harold Keith

Seventh Grade:

• Away – Megan E. Freeman
• Squished – Megan Wagner Lloyd
• Who Is Simone Biles? – Rachelle Burk
• From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler – E.L. Konigsburg
• Eagle Drums – Nasuġraq Rainey Hopson
• Snoop – Gordon Korman
• The Bletchley Riddle – Ruta Sepetys & Steve Sheinkin
• Journey to the Center of the Earth – Jules Verne
• The Time Machine – H.G. Wells
• Sunrise on the Reaping – Suzanne Collins
• Bridge to Terabithia – Katherine Paterson
• Hatchet – Gary Paulsen
• The Call of the Wild – Jack London

Eighth Grade:

• Ungifted – Gordon Korman
• Among the Hidden – Margaret Peterson Haddix
• The Eyes and the Impossible – Dave Eggers
• City of Ember – Jeanne DuPrau
• The Running Dream – Wendelin Van Draanen
• One for the Murphys – Lynda Mullaly Hunt
• Starfish – Lisa Fipps
• Phoenix – S. F. Said
• Beyond the Bright Sea – Lauren Wolk
• Echo Mountain – Lauren Wolk
• Lifeboat 12 – Susan Hood
• The Call of the Wild – Jack London
• The Hound of the Baskervilles – Arthur Conan Doyle
• The Three Musketeers – Alexandre Dumas
• 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea – Jules Verne
• Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde – Robert Louis Stevenson

Ninth Grade:

• Fuzzy Mud – Louis Sachar
• The Finest Hours (Young Readers Edition) – Michael J. Tougias & Casey Sherman
• Flipped – Wendelin Van Draanen
• When You Reach Me – Rebecca Stead
• The Boy in the Striped Pajamas – John Boyne
• Love & Olives – Jenna Evans Welch
• The Counterclockwise Heart – Brian Farrey
• Impossible Creatures – Katherine Rundell
• Around the World in 80 Days – Jules Verne
• The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes – Arthur Conan Doyle
• Lola - Karla Arenas Valenti
• Emma - Jane Austen
• Not Nothing – Gayle Forman
• Hattie Big Sky – Kirby Larson
• Romeo and Juliet – William Shakespeare

Tenth Grade:

• Salt to the Sea – Ruta Sepetys
• The Westing Game – Ellen Raskin
• Brian’s Winter – Gary Paulsen
• The Green Glass Sea – Ellen Klages
• Code Talker – Joseph Bruchac
• Out of My Heart – Sharon M. Draper
• Heat – Mike Lupica
• Wildwood – Colin Meloy
• Uglies – Scott Westerfeld
• Legend  – Marie Lu
• The Moon Without Stars – Chanel Miller
• Fairest of All (Villains Series) – Serena Valentino
• Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
• To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
• The Ickabog – J.K. Rowling

Eleventh Grade:

• Bushcraft Kid – Dan Wowak
• The Final Four – Paul Volponi
• See You in the Cosmos – Jack Cheng
• The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind – William Kamkwamba & Bryan Mealer
• Small Spaces – Katherine Arden
• Before We Were Free – Julia Alvarez
• Skink: No Surrender – Carl Hiaasen
• Soldier’s Heart – Gary Paulsen
• The Red Umbrella – Christina Diaz Gonzalez
• The Boys in the Boat (Young Readers Edition) – Daniel James Brown
• The Red Badge of Courage – Stephen Crane
• Darius the Great Is Not Okay – Adib Khorram
• Before the Ever After – Jacqueline Woodson
• Wolf Hollow – Lauren Wolk
• Animal Farm – George Orwell
• Wrecker – Carl Hiaasen
• The Fountains of Silence – Ruta Sepetys

Twelfth Grade:

• Roll with It – Jamie Sumner
• Paperboy – Vince Vawter
• Two Roads – Joseph Bruchac
• The Door of No Return – Kwame Alexander
• They Went Left – Monica Hesse
• Hoops – Walter Dean Myers
• Dry – Neal Shusterman & Jarrod Shusterman
• Across So Many Seas – Ruth Behar
• As Long as the Lemon Trees Grow – Zoulfa Katouh
• Unbroken (Young Adult Adaptation) – Laura Hillenbrand
• Lovely War – Julie Berry
• Wonderstruck – Brian Selznick
• Go the Distance – Jen Calonita
• Games of Deception – Andrew Maraniss
• Everything, Everything – Nicola Yoon
• Illuminae – Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff
• Strange the Dreamer – Laini Taylor
• QB 1 – Mike Lupica
• What Color Is Your Parachute? – Richard N. Bolles

Stories are one of the most powerful gifts we can give children. Books allow readers to safely explore emotions they're still learning to name, travel through history and across the world without leaving their chair, and step into lives and experiences very different from their own. Every family is unique - we encourage you to use this list as a starting point, browse with your child or class in mind, and trust your own instincts. The right book is waiting!

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