Originally Posted by Twinkiestwice
And FYI, if you are using accelerated reader, you should know its a crappy program. They determine book levels by a formula that looks at how many words had more than two syllables. So, a complex series like Wrinkle in Time by Madeline Le'Engle is a fourth grade book, and something fluffy and simple like Harry Potter is fifth and sixth grade AR. We actually pulled back Wrinkle in Time from her, because it is such a beautiful series that I wanted to save it for when she and I could discuss all the complex themes together. Also, it's totally closed task and not sure how comprehension plays in. It's not understanding the literature, it's the ability to parrot back what you read. Matilda has good recall, so she has never made below an 80 on a book and her average stays around 95. If a child has consistently low scores, they either skipped passages or day dreamed. It's very straight forward and multiple choice.
The Harry Potter books past book two are NOT fluffy and simple. They are MUCH more complicated than the Percy Jackson Books. In my opinion the first Percy Jackson was good, the 2nd meh and they went downhill from there. JKR quite deliberately aged each book up to grow with her audience unlike most authors, and the later part of the series have quite complex and adult themes. You really can't use the AR level to judge the complexity of the themes.

If she likes Harry Potter, go check out Diana Wynne Jones's kids books. (She writes adult novels as well.) I think she is a better author, her "worlds" hold together better than the HP world. And are less dark and more fun. I am particularly found of her "Chrestomanci" series. http://www.goodreads.com/series/43763-chrestomanci

As for the subject, we had this problem a bit in K/1st. But as there was very little free time in K, most of his reading was done at home anyway. But when the kids went to the library they were expected to pick out ONE book for their reading level, and any other except they encouraged they only pick from the picture books. What I did that helped was I volunteered during library time, and then I ended up with a bit more say/credence with the librarian.