Jun 042020
20 Tween Must Reads with Mini Reviews – Aarini’s Picks.
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Aarini’s recommended reads from her stash of the last one year

I’m posting this on behalf of my daughter, Aarini – fondly called #the12yearold.

Over the last 12 months, my book scene has been awesome. Mom bought me some from Amazon, I was gifted some and then Mom got me some more! Sharing a list of the ones I think every tween should read.

A Cloud Called Bhura – My favourite book of 2019. My mom and I keep gifting this book to all my friends and our family friends.

This book is about a cloud called “bhura” which takes over Mumbai and is making people and scientists go crazy. As Amni and her friends try to figure out why this cloud came to Mumbai, they get help from their parents, twin scientists Vidisha and Bidisha, Mayuri di ( an astronomy lover) and all the kids of Mumbai. This book explains climate change and pollution in the most interesting ways possible. There is also a mini poem/rap at the end of every chapter! At the end of the book, there is a list given which has solutions on how we can prevent pollution and keep Bhura’s away :). Every tween will love this book as it’s written in their lingo! For 8-12 years.

The Diary of Amos Lee – I Sit, I Write, I Flush. Amos Lee started writing his diary while doing his big business in the loo every day. It was his mom’s idea and this is how this series of funny books was created and this is how his diaries evolved. The 11 year old has to deal with a lot of new and exciting things happening in and around his life – right from a new baby brother to spider babies and lizard eggs! His spelling mistakes are legendary – something every tween can relate to. All the other books in this series are available here. For 8-12 years.

Double Feature – It’s a book about twin sisters who are ironically poles apart from each other! The story takes place in Hollywood where they are invited to shoot for an ad. How exciting! For 8 years+

Nancy Drew: Riverboat Ruse
Nancy Drew: The Stolen Relic
Nancy Drew or her books need no introduction. If you’re into all things mystery, you will really like solving mysteries with her because each book takes you on a thrilling adventure of different levels. For 8-12 years.

The Magic of the Lost Temple (read detailed review here)

The Upside-Down King – The description says, ‘Unusual tales about Rama and Krishna’. If Hindu mythological figures interest you – you must go for this book. If you are a huge fan Sudha Murty’s short stories you won’t be disappointed. Instead of regular people, the interesting characters in the different stories are of Rama and Krishna. For any age :).

Molly Moon’s Hypnotic Time Travel Adventure – It’s about an orphan (don’t know why so many books are about orphans in this post), Molly Moon, who has these amazing hypnotising powers. She along with her friend, Rocky from LA, suddenly find themselves in 19th century India!! How bizarre! There they meet a mad Maharaja. As you might’ve guessed this book is about how Molly is forced to master the art of time travel to save the world. A thrilling read for 8 years+.

The Moustache Maharishi and other unlikely stories – If you are into unusual short stories, this might tickle your fancy. It’s a compilation of eight stories written by different authors. It’s a mixed bag of funny, crazy, quirky, stretch of imagination, unbelievable stories. For 7-10 years.

Momo by Michael Ende – This book is about a homeless girl (sorry, I don’t know why my mom picked up so many homeless, orphanwale books recently!!) called Momo. Perhaps she picked up the book because I just love momos, but this book isn’t about food! Momo has secret powers too and needs to use them to save the city against some sinister men. She has a Professor and his strange tortoise as companions. Age: 11 years+

Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Wrecking Ball (I got this for #kbcReadCycle X’mas 2019). It’s the latest book in the Wimpy Kid series and I read this book in a day. Funny as the others, the story of this book shows how self centered they all get when it comes to what they want to do with the money they suddenly inherit. For 9 years+

Blessed – If magical abilities excite you, you won’t put this book down. A little girl who lives in a village where girls are forbidden to learn how to read or write, discovers that she has the ability to read scriptures despite never having learnt to write a single letter. For 10 years+

Diary of an Awesome Friendly Kid (read my detailed review here).

This isn’t what it looks like – I HAVE NEVER EVER READ SUCH A FASCINATING BOOK BEFORE! It drove me bonkers (in a good way). A girl called Cass, goes into a coma and in her coma she was transported to another world. There she is a ghost to everyone except the lady with a magical double monocle. Cass also has a friend called Max-Ernest, who never speaks and who is the only one who knows the truth about her. Nail biting for sure. For 10 years+

The Penultimate Peril – A Series of Unfortunate Events – This series is also a Netflix original series which added to my excitement. There are 13 books in the series and this one happens to be the 12th. The story is about 3 orphans (2 sisters, 1 brother) who get associated with a group that was trying to stop a criminal group and the unfortunate events that follow. An intriguing part of the book that fascinated me the most was the mysteries of the Hotel Denouement. It involves crazy gadgets, bratty kids and notorious villains. It’s a fast paced book and an absolute MUST HAVE (at least one book of the series). For 10 years+

Alex Rider: Snakehead (I got this for #kbcReadCycle Childoo’s Day 2019). This is the 7th book in this series and it’s basically an action movie that you read. I think it’s interesting that a 14 year old British Spy gets recruited to work for the Australian Secret Service without knowing anything about the mission, but still somehow agrees. He also gradually finds out what happened the day his father died. For 11 years+

The Hidden Children: The Lost Grimoire – This book is for people who are into Harry Potter or who’ve always wanted superpowers, like me :).

Shayamukhty or Shui’s life completely changes when a girl called Anya unexpectedly comes into her life. She just doesn’t trust this new girl . Though Shui has dyslexia, she discovers a whole new world and has access to magic all because of Anya and becomes more sure about herself.

It has a very gripping storyline and leaves the reader wondering what would happen next? The author makes you a part of the story and the readers will feel like they are one of the characters experiencing all those magical adventures themselves. For 11 years+

Drama: This is the next level of all the tween graphic novels I’ve read. To me, the author Raina Telgemaeier is the ninja for teen reads. Her other books are must reads as well.

This book is about a middle school girl named Callie, who loves theatre and is a member of her school’s drama production crew. Callie goes through ups and downs with relationships, friendships and with her inventions and ideas for their middle school drama performance.

The book is very interesting and intriguing because it also explores (LGBTQ+) issues. Something I had never read in a tween book before. This book is for 11/12 years+.

I received these as gifts and am yet to read them. Very excited though – can’t wait to start…

Treasure Island – for 8 years+

Ruskin Bond’s Favourite Ghost Stories from Around the World – for 10 years+

The Caterpillar who went on a Diet and other stories by Ranjit Lal – for 8 years+

Sophie’s World – for 13 years+

Did you read something exciting in the last 6-12 months? Share your list as well. I’m always on the look out for thrilling reads by different authors!

[Note from Team Kids Book Café: For your convenience, affiliate links (MARKED IN PINK) to some of the books have been added to enable you to buy the books from AMAZON, should you wish to! A very small amount of money comes to kidsbookcafe.com when you purchase a book via the amazon affiliate link provided (at no extra cost to you!). Do let us know if you need information about other children’s books by writing to asha@kidsbookcafe.com.]


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