11 Of The Best Back To School Books For The First Day Of Term

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“The beautiful thing about learning is that no one can take it away from you.”

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There’s something about the back-to-school season that always feels like a fresh start. The smell of new notebooks, the nervous energies of meeting new classmates, and the excitement of diving into fresh challenges – it’s a mix of jitters and anticipation that never really goes away, no matter how old you are. For kids, it’s about the thrill (and sometimes nerves) of the first day. For teens, it’s about navigating friendships, identity, and big changes. And for adults, this season can stir up a weave of nostalgia for school days gone by. One of the best ways to embrace that feeling is through reading. Books have a way of easing the nerves, sparking inspiration, and reminding us that we’re not alone in facing new beginnings. If you’re looking for perfect back to school books – from kids stepping into the classroom, teens acclimatising to high school life, or adults who love a good campus novel – we here at What We Reading have you covered. 

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Back To School Books For Kids

The first day of school can be both exciting and overwhelming for little ones. Picture books are a wonderful way to ease first-day jitters and help children feel ready for this big step. Stories about friendship, bravery, and new routines remind kids that they’re not alone in their feelings. Some of the most classic and comforting picks include: 

The Day You Begin – Jacqueline Woodson

National Book Award winner Jacqueline Woodson and two-time Pura Belpre Illustrator Award winner Rafael Lopez have teamed up to create a poignant yet heartening book about finding the courage to connect, even when you feel scared and alone, in their children’s picture book, The Day You Begin. 

There are many reasons to feel different. Perhaps it’s the way you talk, or the way you look, or where you’re from. Maybe it’s what you eat, or something just as random. It’s not easy to take those first steps into a place where nobody really knows you yet, but somehow you do it. Jacqueline Woodson’s lyrical text and Lopez’s dazzling art remind us that we all feel like outsiders sometimes, and how brave it is that we go forth anyway. And that sometimes, when we reach out and begin to share our stories, others will be happy to meet us halfway. 

The Pigeon Has To Go To School – Mo Willems

This hilarious picture book is perfect for easing first-day jitters. The beloved Pigeon isn’t so sure about starting school and comes up with every excuse to avoid it – what if he doesn’t like it, or what if the teacher doesn’t like him? 

Through laugh-out-loud humour and expressive illustrations, Mo Willems captures the worries many kids feel about going back to school. It’s a fun, lighthearted way to show children that while starting school can be scary, it’s also an exciting new adventure. This makes it one of the best back to school books for kids who might feel nervous about their big first day. 

Back To School Books For Middle Grade Readers

For middle grade readers, school stories often capture the ups and downs of friendships, navigating changes, or even surviving wacky classroom adventures. These books offer both laughs and heart, making them perfect for easing back into the school year. Some of our recommended books include: 

Wonder – R.J. Palacio

August Pullman was born with a facial difference that, up until now, has stopped him from going to a mainstream school. Starting 5th grade at Beecher Prep, he wants nothing more than to be treated as an ordinary kid – but the other kids in his class can’t seem to get over Auggie’s extraordinary face. 

R.J. Palacio’s Wonder begins from Auggie’s point of view, but soon switches to include his classmates, his sister, her boyfriend, and others. Wonder is a moving story about kindness, courage, and the power of acceptance. 

Because Of Mr. Terupt – Rob Buyea

It’s the start of fifth grade for seven kids at Snow Hill School. There’s Jessica, the new girl, smart and perceptive, who is having a hard time fitting in; Alexia, a bully, your friend one second, your enemy the next; Peter, class prankster and troublemaker; Luke, the brain; Danielle, who never stands up for herself; shy Anna, whose home situation makes her an outcast; and Jeffrey, who hates school. 

Only Mr. Terupt,  their new and energetic teacher, appears to know how to deal with them all. He makes the classroom a fun place, even if he doesn’t let them get away with much.. Until the snowy winter day when an accident changes everything – and everyone. 

The Worst Years Of My Life – James Patterson And Chris Tebbetts

Rafe Khatchadorian has enough problems at home without throwing his first year of middle school into the mix. Luckily, he’s got an ace plan for the best year ever, if only he can pull it off: With his best friend Leonardo the Silent awarding him points, Rafe tries to break every rule in his school’s oppressive Code of Conduct. Chewing gum in class? -5,000 points! Running in the hallway? -10,000 points! But when Rafe’s game begins to catch up with him, he’ll have to choose whether winning is all that matters, or if he’s finally ready to face the rules, bullies, and truths he has been avoiding. 

James Patterson’s debut middle-grade novel addresses some of middle schoolers’ biggest issues: bullies, first crushes, and finding out what makes each of us special, all with a hilarious main character and fantastic in-text illustrations. 

Back To School Books For Teens & YA Fans

Teen readers often connect with stories that mirror their own high school experiences – friendships, identity, pressure, and self-discovery. YA novels set in or around schools are a great way to dive into those themes whilst still keeping the excitement of fiction. Try these: 

Speak – Laurie Halse Anderson

Melinda is friendless, an outcast because she busted an end-of-summer party by calling the cops, so now nobody will talk to her, let alone listen to her. As time passes, she becomes increasingly isolated and practically stops speaking altogether. Only her art class offers any solace, and it is through her work on an art project that she is finally able to confront what really happened at that terrible party. 

In Laurie Halse Anderson’s powerful novel, an utterly believable heroine with a bitterly ironic voice delivers a blow to the hypocritical world of high school. She speaks for many a disenfranchised teenager while demonstrating the importance of speaking up for yourself. 

Fangirl – Rainbow Rowell

Cath is a Simon Snow fan. Along with the rest of the world. But for Cath, being a fan is her life, and she’s become really good at it. She and her twin, Wren, ensconced themselves in the Simon Snow series when they were just kids; it’s what got them through their mother leaving. Reading. Rereading. Hanging out in Simon Snow forums, writing Simon Snow fanfiction, dressing up like the characters. Cath’s sister has mostly grown away from fandom, but Cath can’t let it go. She doesn’t want to. 

Now that they’re going to college, Wren has told Cath she doesn’t want to be roommates. Cath is on her own, completely out of her comfort zone. For Cath, the question now is: Can she do this? Can she make it without Wren holding her hand? Is she ready to begin living her own life? And does she really want to move on if it means leaving Simon Snow behind? 

Looking For Alaska – John Green

Before. Miles “Pudge” Halter is done with his safe life at home. His whole life has been one big great non-event, and his obsession with his famous last words has only made him crave “the Great Perhaps” even more. He heads off to the sometimes crazy and anything-but-boring world of Culver Creek Boarding School, and his life becomes the opposite of safe. Because down the hall is Alaska Young. The gorgeous, clever, funny, sexy, self-destructive, screwed up, and utterly fascinating Alaska Young. 

She is an event unto herself. She pulls Pudge into her world, launches him into the Great Perhaps, and steals his heart. Then, nothing is ever the same again. John Green’s Looking for Alaska is a coming-of-age story that’s both moving and thought-provoking, set within the grounds of a boarding school.

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Check Out The Best Books Like Looking For Alaska

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Back To School Books For Adults

Back to school isn’t just for kids – many adults love to revisit the nostalgia of school days through fiction. Whether it’s dark academia, literary campus novels, or thrillers set in universities, these reads transport you straight back to the classroom: 

The Secret History – Donna Tartt

The Secret History is a story that orbits around a group of eccentric, brilliant classics students at the prestigious Hampden College in rural Vermont. Under the influence of their charismatic professor, the students are taught a new way of thinking and living that is worlds apart from the humdrum existence of their peers. 

Led by the mysterious and enigmatic Henry Winter, the group becomes increasingly detached from society as they are immersed in their classical studies and their own philosophical ideals. Their bond is sealed through a tragic and shocking act one day. As they descend into guilt, paranoia, and disintegration, Donna Tartt’s The Secret History explores themes of beauty, morality, and the consequences of living outside of social norms and conventions. 

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Check Out The Best Books Like The Secret History 

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Prep – Curtis Sittenfeld

A sharp and insightful coming-of-age novel, Prep follows Lee Fiora, a middle-class teenager from the Midwest who earns a scholarship to a prestigious East Coast boarding school. Surrounded by wealth, privilege, and academic pressures, Lee struggles with identity, belonging, and the complicated social hierarchies of adolescence. 

Curtis Sittenfeld captures both the allure and the discomfort of school life with unflinching honesty, making this one of the most memorable campus novels for adults. For anyone who loves back to school books with a nostalgic, albeit somewhat critical lens, Prep is a standout choice. 

Bunny – Mona Awad

Samantha Heather Mackey couldn’t be more of an outsider in her highly selective MFA program at Warren University in New England. A scholarship student, much more interested in her dark imagination, she is initially repulsed by the rest of her fiction writing class – a clique of unbearably twee rich girls who all call each other “Bunny”. 

But everything changes when Samantha is unexpectedly invited to join in the Bunnies’ notorious Smut Salon. As she is sucked further and further into the Bunnies’ sinister yet saccharine world, the edges of reality soon begin to blur. One of the most viral dark academia books of all time, Mona Awad’s novel Bunny is a surreal, darkly funny novel that blends satire with campus drama. 

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Check Out The Best Books Like Bunny 

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