One of my kids' favorite books is Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs by Judi Barrett.  This amusing story takes place in the town of Chewandswallow where the townspeople get all of their food from the sky.  Everyone loves living in a town where they don't need to shop for groceries, until one day when things take a turn for the worse.  If you enjoy the book, a movie version is being made which opens on September 18th.

One of my son's favorite books is Diary of a Wimpy Kid.  You can't help but feel sorry for middle schooler Greg who is harassed by his older brother Roderick, teased by his classmates, and has to deal with his younger brother Manny who is always trying to get Greg in trouble.  Greg is an ordinary kid just trying to get through the day without anything bad happening to him.  This is a very funny book and highly recommended for tweens.