Billionaire Boy, by David Walliams

Joe Spud is the richest boy in the country.  As the heir to his father’s multi-billion-dollar toilet paper empire, Joe has enough money to buy anything.  He’s got a full-size race car, an orangutan butler and all the chocolate he can eat.  In fact, you could probably say that Joe has everything… except for a friend.  In an effort to break out of his depression, Joe convinces his father to let him transfer from his elite private academy to a public school where no one knows him.  As he revels in his newfound anonymity, though, Joe learns that there’s no true way for him to run from his problems!

This hilarious book was an extremely quick read, no doubt due to its awesome pen-and-ink illustrations and the epic number of lists incorporated into the story.  The book is a great way to show that everyone has problems, even kids who seem like they’re doing well on the outside.  I’d recommend this one as a particularly good choice for reluctant readers, but it’s also suitable for anyone in need of a good belly laugh!  

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, by J.K. Rowling

2018 marks the fifth year that I’ve been keeping this blog as a side project, and I can’t believe that I never got around to adding the Harry Potter series to my list!  My apologies to J.K. Rowling, as the slight was most definitely not intentional!  Let me correct my oversight by introducing you to Harry Potter, a young orphan boy taken in by the Dursley family.  On the approach of Harry’s eleventh birthday, he begins to experience strange powers that he can’t yet understand.  Then one day, a mysterious visitor arrives to inform Harry that he’s actually a young wizard, and also that he’s due to begin school at a magical academy for witches and wizards!  Hogwarts Academy is the escape that Harry has been dreaming of his entire life, and it’s a glorious experience…at least, until he learns about Voldemort, the evil wizard who killed his parents!

This book is the first in a series of seven novels, all of which are rightfully considered to be modern classics.  The continuity and backstory between the books runs amazingly deep, so it’s important to read them all through in sequence.  Some of the Harry Potter books can run quite long by middle grade standards, although it’s a safe bet that the awesome story will serve to pull young readers along through the pages.  If by some unfortunate circumstance you haven’t yet read “Sorceror’s Stone”, you really have no one to blame but yourself!