I love young adult literature! Some of my favorites right now are the Bloody Jack Adventures by L.A. Meyer and the Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzanne Collins. If a series isn't what you're looking for I recommend My Most Excellent Year by Steve Kluger -- it's very charming.

I was always a fan of C.S. Lewis' "The Chronicles of Narnia" from the time I was in kindergarten. When I was in 3rd grade I had my tonsils out and my mom bought me the first few books in John Dennis Fitzgerald's "The Great Brain" series. They kept me entertained as well and are a fun read. If your kids like mysteries try "Encyclopedia Brown". It's made up of several short stories and the challenge is to solve the mystery before Encyclopedia Brown does. (If you can't the answers are in the back of the book. I always peeked.) Hope this helps!

The Percy Jackson and the Olympians books by Rick Riordan are fantastic. They might be a little two old for a second-grader, though. This series of 5 books follows Perseus (Percy) Jackson as he discovers that he is a demigod with one of the Greek gods as his father and learns to use his powers to fight ancient Greek monsters and evils reset in modern times. I loved the Percy Jackson books because there's practically no bad language, the story is fantastic, and kids learn about Classical mythology. The books are tons better than the recently made Percy Jackson movie, too, but the movie is still good. You can find them here: http://www.overstock.com/search?taxonomy=&keywords=percy+jackson+and+the+olympians+series&SearchType=Header Hope that helps!

I loved the Louis Sachar books. He wrote the Sideways Stories from Wayside School series as well as the very popular Holes. The other books I would recommend are Roald Dahl's books. Matilda, James and the Giant Peach, The Witches, etc. I hope you enjoy these!

I love all of these titles mentioned--there are some really great books listed here. However, they range from the 4th grade reading level to the 8th grade reading level and some of them are far from appropriate for a 2nd grader (in terms of their content). Easier chapter book series for boys include Nate the Great, Marvin Redpost, Magic Treehouse, Roscoe Riley, Ricky Ricotta, A-Z Mysteries, I could go on... I work in schools in the PA/NJ area and talk to children about their reading habits on a daily basis and these seem to be the favorites at the 1st to 3rd grade levels. Hope this helps!

My children adore the Magic Treehouse series. They are entertaining and educational as they are mostly based on historical events.

Wow, thanks for all of the great suggestions. It's amazing how many of these I remember from my own childhood. I remember tearing through the Great Brain books. Some of the titles mentioned are probably better for older audiences, but I think I'll still get them and just put them on the top shelf. By the time they can reach it, they'll probably be old enough. I hope than anyone else who has a recommendation will still chime in!

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Me and the Wierdos by Jane Sutton was one of my favorite books as a kid. I think I read it for the first time in 3rd grade. It's about a girl who is contstantly annoyed by her family's embarrassing antics, but it has a really sweet message about loving your family. Plus it's hilarious and actually gives kids some great ideas about how to be creative and have fun.

Anything by Hobbs, Crutcher, Fowat,

Quote kaptainkarma:

I'm trying to assemble a decent library for my three sons. Our oldest is in second grade and has discovered "chapter" books. I remember loving books by Lloyd Alexander. Any suggestions for good literature for kids?

My son is in 2nd grade as well, and he loves the Nate the Great series and the Magic Treehouse series. In fact, he has been jumping up and down over my shoulder, begging for more books as we looked at some a minute ago. I plan to get him started on the Hardy Boys series soon too.

My son is in the third grade and loves to read. Last year he read through a series called "Hank the cowdog" He really enjoyed it and was dissapointed when he finished all the available books. Now he reads a lot of science books on animals, dinosaurs, sharks and such.

Wow, more great recommendations. I'm definitley going to look into Nate the Great and Hank the Cowdog. My oldest is just about the right age.