Cool Preteen Stories
"Best Seller Books" List

Looking for cool preteen stories or a good preteen book? Best sellers list below helps you find the most popular and best books ever written for preteen kids aged 8-10 and adolescents aged 11-13.

This list also aims to provide authors with insights into what appeals to preteen readers, and to help spark off story writing ideas.

Preteen Stories About Family, Friends & School Life

Bestselling Preteen Stories & Approximate Sales Figures
EB White: Charlotte's Web (Newbery Honor; 45 million)
Wilson Rawls: Where the Red Fern Grows (6.8 million)
Mildred Taylor: Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry (Newbery Medal; over 2.6 million); Let the Circle Be Unbroken; Song of the Trees
Louisa May Alcott: Little Women
Cynthia Voigt: Come a Stranger; Dicey's Song (Newbery Medal); and Homecoming

Preteen Stories: Popular Book Series About Family, Friends & School Life
Judy Blume: Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing (over 7 million); Superfudge (over 4.2 million); Freckle Juice (over 4 million); Fudge-A-Mania
Laura Ingalls Wilder: Little House on the Prairie (6.4 million); Little House in the Big Woods (over 6 million); On the Banks of Plum Creek (over 4 million); Farmer Boy (over 3.8 million); The Long Winter (over 3.7 million); By the Shores of Silver Lake (over 3.6 million); Little Town on the Prairie (over 3.6 million); These Happy Golden Years (over 3.2 million); The First Four Years (over 3 million)
Louis Sachar: Sideways Stories from Wayside School (4 million); Wayside School is Falling Down (over 1.8 million); Wayside School Gets a Little Stranger (over 1.5 million); There's a Boy in the Girls' Bathroom (1.2 million)
Ann Martin: Baby-sitters Club series, especially BSC #1: Kristy's Great Idea (over 3 million); BSC #2: Claudia and the Phantom Phone Calls (2.2 million); BSC #3: The Truth About Stacey (over 1.8 million); BSC #4: Mary Anne Saves the Day (over 1.65 million); BSC #5: Dawn and the Impossible Three (over 1.2 million)
Francine Pascal: Sweet Valley High series, especially: SVH#1: Double Love (over 1.6 million); SVH#2: Secrets (over 1.4 million); SVH#3: Playing with Fire (over 1.3 million); SVH#4: Power Play (1.13 million)
LM Montgomery: Anne of Green Gables series, especially Rainbow Valley (over 1.4 million); and Rilla of Ingleside (1.35 million)
Madeleine L'Engle: Meet the Austins; Moon by Night; The Young Unicorns; A Ring of Endless Light (Newbery Honor); Troubling a Star

Preteen Stories About Relationship Questions, Sibling Relationships, Growing-Up Issues, Choices & Transitions

Best Preteen Stories & Approximate Sales Figures
Harper Lee: To Kill a Mockingbird (Pulitzer Prize; 30 million)
Wilson Rawls: Where the Red Fern Grows (6.8 million)
Katherine Paterson: Bridge to Terabithia (Newbery Medal; 4.25 million); The Great Gilly Hopkins (Newbery Honor; over 1.5 million); Jacob Have I Loved (Newbery Medal)
Lois Lowry: The Giver (Newbery Medal; 3 million); Number the Stars (Newbery Medal; over 2.5 million)
William H Armstrong: Sounder (Newbery Medal; 2.4 million)
Alice Dalgliesh: The Courage of Sarah Noble (1.75 million)
Phyllis Reynolds: Shiloh (Newbery Medal; over 1.7 million); Saving Shiloh; Shiloh Season
Joseph Krumgold: Onion John (Newbery Medal)

Bestselling Preteen Stories & Approximate Sales Figures
Judy Blume: Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret (6.5 million); Otherwise Known as Sheila the Great (4.5 million); Blubber (over 4.4 million); Then Again, Maybe I Won't (over 3 million); Starring Sally J Freedman as Herself (2.25 million); Just as Long as We're Together (over 1.5 million); It's Not the End of the World (1.3 million)
John Reynolds Gardiner: Stone Fox (over 2.7 million)
Bette Greene: Summer of My German Soldier (1.8 million)
Jerry Spinelli: Maniac Magee (Newbery Medal; over 1.6 million)
Betsy Byars: The Summer of the Swans (Newbery Medal; over 1.4 million); The Pinballs (over 1 million)
Bruce Brooks: The Moves Make the Man (Newbery Honor)
Rosie Rushton's Just Don't Make a Scene, Mum!; I Think I'll Just Curl Up and Die

Preteen Stories: Best Personal Growth Books & Best Inspirational Stories

EB White: Charlotte's Web (Newbery Honor; 45 million)
Wilson Rawls: Where the Red Fern Grows (6.8 million)
Sheila Burnford: The Incredible Journey (over 5 million)
Barbara Robinson: The Best Christmas Pageant Ever (over 3 million)
Jean Craighead George: Julie of the Wolves (Newbery Medal; over 2.8 million); My Side of the Mountain (Newbery Medal; 1.5 million)
John Reynolds Gardiner: Stone Fox (over 2.7 million)
William H Armstrong: Sounder (Newbery Medal; 2.4 million)
Alice Dalgliesh: The Courage of Sarah Noble (1.75 million)
Armstrong Sperry: Call It Courage (Newbery Medal; over 1.3 million)

Preteen Stories: Best Fantasy Books

Preteen Stories: Best Fantasy Books & Approximate Sales Figures
George Selden: The Cricket in Times Square (over 2.5 million)
Patrick Catling: The Chocolate Touch (2.5 million)
Natalie Babbitt: Tuck Everlasting (over 1.75 million)
Robert C O'Brien: Mrs Frisby and the Rats of NIMH (Newbery Medal; 1.7 million)
Norman Juster & Jules Feiffer: The Phantom Tollbooth (over 1.4 million)
George MacDonald: At the Back of the North Wind

Preteen Stories: Best Fantasy Book Series
CS Lewis: The Chronicles of Narnia series (100 million)
JRR Tolkien: The Lord of the Rings Trilogy (100 million), comprising The Fellowship of the Ring; The Two Towers; The Return of the King
Madeleine L'Engle: A Wrinkle in Time (Newbery Medal; 6.4 million); A Wind in the Door (over 2 million); A Swiftly Tilting Planet (over 2 million); Many Waters
Mary Norton: The Borrowers (Carnegie Medal; over 1 million) and sequels

Preteen Stories: Popular Book Series of Fantasy Stories
Dav Pilkey: Captain Underpants series (26 million)
Lyman Frank Baum: The Wonderful Wizard of Oz series (23 million)
Lynne Reid Banks: The Indian in the Cupboard (6.4 million); The Return of the Indian (2.4 million); The Secret of the Indian (over 2 million); The Mystery of the Cupboard (1.4 million)
Roald Dahl: James and the Giant Peach (4.8 million); Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (over 3.7 million); Matilda (2.5 million)
Lloyd Alexander: The Book of Three (1.46 million); The Black Cauldron (Newbery Honor; over 1.35 million); The Castle of Llyr, Taran Wanderer; The High King

Preteen Stories: Best Selling Mystery Books

Carolyn Keene: Nancy Drew series (200 million); especially ND#5: The Secret of Shadow Ranch (over 2.3 million); ND#1: The Secret of the Old Clock (over 2.2 million); ND#2: The Hidden Staircase (over 1.8 million); ND#3: The Bungalow Mystery (1.6 million); ND#4: The Mystery of Lilac Inn (over 1.3 million)
Franklin Dixon: Hardy Boys series (17 million); especially HB#1: The Tower Treasure (over 2.2 million); HB#2: The House on the Cliff (over 1.7 million); HB#3: The Secret of the Old Mill (1.5 million); HB#4: The Missing Chums (1.2 million); HB#5: Hunting for Hidden Gold (1.2 million)
Ellen Raskin: The Westing Game (Newbery Medal; over 1 million)

Preteen Stories: Best Selling Adventure Stories

Johnston McCulley: The Mark of Zorro (50 million)
Robert Louis Stevenson: Treasure Island (19 million)
Scott O'Dell: Island of the Blue Dolphins (Newbery Medal; over 6.6 million); The Black Pearl (Newbery Honor; 1.3 million)
Gary Paulsen: Hatchet (Newbery Honor; over 3 million)
Theodore Taylor: The Cay (over 3 million)
Jean Craighead George: Julie of the Wolves (Newbery Medal; over 2.8 million); My Side of the Mountain (Newbery Medal; 1.5 million)
Gertrude Warner: Surprise Island (over 1 million)

Preteen Stories: Best Selling Cliffhanger Stories

Tim LaHaye & Jerry Jenkins: Left Behind series (63 million)
Lew Wallace: Ben Hur (50 million)
Jack Schaeffer: Shane (6.4 million)
EL Konigsburg: From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs Basil E Frankweiler (3.5 million)
Elizabeth George Speare: The Sign of the Beaver (Newbery Honor; over 2.25 million)
Avi: The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle (Newbery Honor; over 1.8 million)
Gertrude Warner: Surprise Island (over 1 million)

Preteen Stories: Favorite Funny Stories

Preteen Stories: Bestselling Humorous Stories & Approximate Sales Figures
Patrick Catling: The Chocolate Touch (2.5 million)
Robert K Smith: Chocolate Fever (over 2 million)
John Fitzgerald: The Great Brain (over 1.5 million)
Norman Juster & Jules Feiffer: The Phantom Tollbooth (over 1.4 million)
Bette Bao Lord: In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson (over 1.3 million)

Preteen Stories: Popular Book Series of Funny Stories
Dav Pilkey: Captain Underpants series (26 million)
Peggy Parish: Merry Christmas, Amelia Bedelia (over 2.5 million); Good Work, Amelia Bedelia (over 2 million); Amelia Bedelia (2 million); Amelia Bedelia and the Baby (1.95 million); Amelia Bedelia Goes Camping (over 1.8 million); Amelia Bedelia Helps Out (1.8 million); Come Back, Amelia Bedelia; Amelia Bedelia and the Surprise Shower
Astrid Lindgren: Pippi Longstocking (over 1.3 million); Pippi Goes on Board; Pippi on the Run; Pippi in the South Seas

Preteen Stories: Historical Fiction

Connie Porter: Meet Addy (over 2 million); Addy Learns a Lesson (1.7 million); Addy's Surprise (1.5 million)
Susan Adler: Meet Samantha (over 2 million); Samantha Learns a Lesson (over 1.5 million)
Janet Shaw: Meet Kirsten (1.9 million); Kirsten Learns a Lesson (1.15 million); Kirsten's Surprise (over 1 million); Happy Birthday, Kirsten! (over 1 million)
Valerie Tripp: Meet Molly (over 1.5 million); Happy Birthday, Samantha! (1.3 million); Samantha Saves the Day (1.2 million); Changes for Samantha (1.15 million)
Maxine Rose Schur: Samantha's Surprise (over 1.3 million)

Preteen Stories Based on Historical Events

Anne Frank: The Diary of Anne Frank (31 million)
Esther Forbes: Johnny Tremain (Newbery Medal; over 4.8 million)
Elizabeth George Speare: The Witch of Blackbird Pond (Newbery Medal; over 4.25 million); The Bronze Bow (Newbery Medal)
Hal Borland: When the Legends Die (3.4 million)
Lois Lowry: Number the Stars (Newbery Medal; over 2.5 million)
Avi: The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle (Newbery Honor; 1.8 million)
Karen Cushman: Catherine, Called Birdy (Newbery Honor; 1.3 million)
Eric Kelly: The Trumpeter of Krakow (Newbery Medal)

Preteen Stories: Best Selling Non-Fiction Books

Sterling North: Rascal (2.2 million)
James and Jeanne Houston: Farewell to Manzanar (1.6 million)
Deborah Hautzig: The Story of the Nutcracker Ballet (over 1.5 million)
David Macaulay: The Way Things Work/The New Way Things Work (1.2 million)

Preteen Stories: Best Books of All Time

Antoine de Saint-Exupery: The Little Prince (80 million)
Johanna Spyri: Heidi (52 million)
EB White: Charlotte's Web (45 million); Stuart Little (3.2 million); The Trumpet of the Swan (over 2.5 million)
Harper Lee: To Kill a Mockingbird (Pulitzer Prize; 30 million)
Robert Louis Stevenson: Treasure Island (19 million); Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (16 million)
Patricia MacLachlan: Sarah, Plain and Tall (Newbery Medal; 3.4 million)
Marguerite Henry: Misty of Chincoteague (2.5 million); King of the Wind (Newbery Medal)
Carol Ryrie Brink: Caddie Woodlawn (Newbery Medal; 1.45 million)
Walter Farley: The Black Stallion (over 1.2 million); Man O'War
Jean Webster: Daddy-Long-Legs

Preteen Stories: Best Books of All Time (Series)

CS Lewis: The Chronicles of Narnia series (100 million), comprising The Magician's Nephew; The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe; The Horse and His Boy; Prince Caspian; The Voyage of the Dawn Treader; The Silver Chair; The Last Battle
Laura Ingalls Wilder: Little House on the Prairie (6.4 million); Little House in the Big Woods (over 6 million); On the Banks of Plum Creek (over 4 million); Farmer Boy (over 3.8 million); The Long Winter (over 3.7 million); By the Shores of Silver Lake (over 3.6 million); Little Town on the Prairie (over 3.6 million); These Happy Golden Years (over 3.2 million); The First Four Years (over 3 million)

What kinds of stories are most popular with preteens? To find out, go to Creative Writing Ideas for Preteen Stories

For creative writing ideas to help you write stories in a way that gets preteens reading, go to How to Write Stories Kids and Teens Want to Read

Return to Best Selling Books Help You Write the Best Books for Preteens & Teens

Return from Preteen Stories to Creative Writing: Write to Win Hearts

Acknowledgments: Publishers Weekly; Wikipedia; Barnes & Noble; Amazon.com; The New York Times Parent's Guide to the Best Books for Children by Eden Ross Lipson, Three Rivers Press, 2000; Books Children Love by Elizabeth Wilson, Crossway Books, 2002; Honey for a Child's Heart by Gladys Hunt, Zondervan 2002; For the Love of Reading by David Bouchard, Orca Book Publishers, 2004; Children's Literature, Briefly by Michael Tunnell & James Jacobs, Prentice Hall, 2000. Also, to all who have contributed reviews, information and advice, Thank You!