A shelf of meaty middle-grade for the age when a strong reader stops nibbling and disappears into a book for a whole afternoon. Every one is a real novel (or one terrific graphic novel) that a nine- or ten-year-old will fall into. You're picking the single book that fits the child in front of you. There's a monster-filled Greek-myth adventure and the first of a huge series, a funny-and-true graphic novel about being the new child, a girl running a motel front desk, a stray dog that cracks a lonely summer wide open, a caged gorilla who decides to be brave, and the kindness book everyone means when they say the word. Pick by what they love, not by the numbers.
This is a gift shelf, not a reading ladder, so there's no start-here-and-climb; browse it by the child you're buying for. The Lightning Thief leads because it's the widest crowd-pleaser and the one that can swallow a whole year of a child's reading, but it isn't a first step toward the others. New Kid is the one to hand a child who says they don't like reading, since it's a graphic novel and it's funny. Front Desk is for the child who likes a brave, resourceful heroine and a story rooted in real life. Because of Winn-Dixie is the gentle, warm one for a dog-lover or a quieter reader. The One and Only Ivan is the animal book that will move them, narrated by a gorilla in a way they won't forget. And Wonder is the big-hearted one you give a child ready to talk about kindness and cruelty for real. Any single one is a complete gift.