The Phantom Tollbooth

The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster is an absolutely fabulous book for the middle school aged kid. The basic plot line brings Milo, a young boy into his own imagination where he learns multiple things about life in general. He runs into many interesting characters on his journey to rescue two princesses (Rhyme and Reason).

This book would be really good for a classroom setting. It is a great tool to teach about irony because Milo's best friend on his journey is a watch dog that has a clock built into him and goes tickticktickticktick all day long even though his name is Tock. Milo runs into characters that teach him a great deal. In the city of Dictionopolis, a kingdom that cares about words and letters, he meets the king's cabinet and therefore learns what a cabinet is and this cabinet works a lot with synonyms. Overall, the book can be seen as very educational and will teach whoever is reading it quite a bit. 

I think this would work best in a 6th or 7th grade classroom. It's a simple read and can encourage students who don't like reading to pick up a book again. The book has pictures throughout and will help those that are more visual learners pick up on the story quickly and keep them interested. An absolute must read.