Treasury · Merit

Halsted - Best Friends

The reading recommended at the back of Judith Wynn Halsted's award-winning guide for gifted readers, Some of My Best Friends Are Books — her own bibliography, marked by age.

239 books in the catalog stand on this list.

A reader aged

28 of these books cover age 12. The 3 that name no age at all are left off rather than guessed at — choose any age to bring them back.

• A Day No Pigs Would Die by Robert Newton Peck, 1994 · ages 11–13 · Lexile 690L · AR 4.4
  Remember
• Alice's Adventures In Wonderland by Lewis Carroll, 1865 · ages 11–13 · Lexile 880L · AR 7.4 · AR Interest: MG (4–8)
  also on Davidson Gifted, Mensa Kids, TJEd Youth Recommended
  Remember
• Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery, 1935 · ages 9–12 · Lexile 710L · AR 7.3 · AR Interest: MG (4–8)
  also on Davidson Gifted, Deep Roots Grade, Mensa Kids, The Good & The Beautiful, TJEd Youth Recommended
  Remember
• A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle, 1962 · ages 9–13 · Lexile 740L · AR 4.7 · AR Interest: MG (4–8)
  also on Davidson Gifted, Mensa Kids, Newbery Award, NY Public Library
  Remember
• Belle Prater's Boy by Ruth White, 1998 · ages 11–13 · Lexile 760L · AR 4.4
  Remember
• Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson, 1977 · ages 9–13 · Lexile 810L · AR 4.6 · AR Interest: MG (4–8)
  also on Mensa Kids, Newbery Award, NY Public Library
  Remember
• Call It Courage by Armstrong Sperry, 1941 · ages 11–13 · Lexile 830L · AR 6.2 · AR Interest: MG (4–8)
  also on Beautiful Feet, Mensa Kids, Newbery Award, The Good & The Beautiful
  Remember
• Cathedral by David Macaulay, 1973 · ages 9–14 · Lexile 1180L · AR 7.3 · AR Interest: MG (4–8)
  also on Beautiful Feet
  Remember
• Dragonwings by Laurence Yep, 1975 · ages 10–12 · Lexile 870L · AR 5.3 · AR Interest: MG+ (6–8)
  also on Mensa Kids
  Remember
• Flame-Colored Taffeta by Rosemary Sutcliff, 1999 · ages 11–13
  Remember
• Goodbye, Vietnam by Gloria Whelan, 1993 · ages 11–13 · Lexile 810L · AR 5.2
  Remember
• Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh, 1964 · ages 9–12 · Lexile 760L · AR 4.5 · AR Interest: MG (4–8)
  also on Davidson Gifted, Mensa Kids, NY Public Library
  Remember
• Imaginary Gardens: American Poetry and Art for Young People by Charles Sullivan, ed., 1989 · ages 11–13
  Remember
• Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell, 1960 · ages 10–12 · Lexile 1000L · AR 5.4 · AR Interest: MG (4–8)
  also on Mensa Kids, Newbery Award, The Good & The Beautiful, TJEd Youth Recommended
  Remember
• Maus: A Survivor's Tale by Art Spiegelman, 1986 · ages 11–13
  Remember
• Maus: A Survivor's Tale II: And Here My Troubles Began by Art Spiegelman, 1991 · ages 11–13 · AR 3.1
  Remember
• Shadow of a Bull by Maia Wojciechowska, 1965 · ages 8–12 · Lexile 740L · AR 5.2 · AR Interest: MG (4–8)
  also on Newbery Award
  Remember
• Shiloh by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor, 1992 · ages 10–12 · Lexile 890L · AR 4.4 · AR Interest: MG (4–8)
  also on Mensa Kids, Newbery Award
  Remember
• Summer of the Swans by Betsy Byars, 1971 · ages 10–12 · Lexile 830L · AR 4.9 · AR Interest: MG (4–8)
  also on Mensa Kids, Newbery Award
  Remember
• Sword Song by Rosemary Sutcliff, 1998 · ages 11–13 · Lexile 1240L · AR 6.8
  Remember
• The Crystal Cave by Mary Stewart, 1990 · ages 11–13 · Lexile 900L · AR 5.7
  Remember
• The Gammage Cup by Carol Kendall, 1959 · ages 9–14 · Lexile 950L · AR 5.9 · AR Interest: MG (4–8)
  Remember
• The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster, 1961 · ages 10–13 · Lexile 1000L · AR 6.7 · AR Interest: MG (4–8)
  also on Davidson Gifted, NY Public Library, TJEd Youth Recommended
  Remember
• The Ramsay Scallop by Frances Temple, 1995 · ages 11–13 · AR 5.6
  Remember
• The Slave Dancer by Paula Fox, 1974 · ages 11–13 · Lexile 910L · AR 6.0 · AR Interest: MG (4–8)
  also on Newbery Award
  Remember
• The Sword and the Circle by Rosemary Sutcliff, 1994 · ages 11–13 · Lexile 1150L · AR 6.7
  Remember
• The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare, 1959 · ages 11–13 · Lexile 850L · AR 5.7 · AR Interest: MG (4–8)
  also on Davidson Gifted, Mensa Kids, Newbery Award
  Remember
• Words by Heart by Ouida Sebestyen, 1996 · ages 8–13 · Lexile 750L · AR 4.6
  Remember