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Books for a 12 year old boy

16 replies

mamaduckbone · 11/12/2017 21:47

Please can I have any recommendations that you clever people have for my 12yo ds. He’s a voracious reader but needs something new in his Christmas stocking to get his teeth into.
Done (and loved) Harry Potter, Percy Jackson, Alex Rider series, Hunger Games, Mortal Engines series.
He reads David Williams, Diary of a a Wimpy Kid, Tom Gates etc for easy reading.
Wasn’t so keen on Artemis Foul or Skulduggery. Found Northern Lights boring.
Wonder was last year’s hit, he’s just read Kick by Mitch Johnson and is currently on Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime.
I could really do with a new series to set him off on, but I’m a bit stuck.
Thanks!

OP posts:
Reallytired17 · 11/12/2017 21:49

Would he enjoy some adult fiction? My brother loved Jurassic Park at that age. Some Robert Harris is pretty readable and he sounds very capable.

Kevin Brooks is a really good writer and I can’t imagine anyone not liking it but the themes are quite adult. Still, no more so then HG, I suppose!

dementedpixie · 11/12/2017 21:51

GONE series, Divergent series?

clarrylove · 11/12/2017 21:54

My son has recently raved about After Tomorrow by Gillian Cross, the Wolf Brother series and Holes.

KeithLeMonde · 12/12/2017 12:45

My son has similar reading tastes and has been hovering up Douglas Adams. Pittacus Lore (I am Number Four is the first one in the series) also v popular.

Seeline · 12/12/2017 12:50

If he liked Alex Rider, has he tried the Young Bond books.? A bit more advanced in terms of style, but pretty good.
Also how about some Agatha Christie - Poirot?

lucyanntrevelyan · 12/12/2017 12:52

My DS would agree with yours on most of the books he has enjoyed and the ones he didn't like (can't convince him on Northern Lights at all!)
DS loved The Enemy series by Charlie Higson - it's about zombies but is aimed at teens so not too graphic or violent. Also Gone series by Michael Grant. The Chaos Walking trilogy by Patrick Ness and The Fifth Wave by Rick Yancy.

mamaduckbone · 13/12/2017 21:31

Thanks for all the ideas - I’ll investigate the Gone series definitely, and I’d forgotten about Divergent although I didn’t like them as much as HG. The Charlie Higson series look good too lucyann - sounds like our boys have similar taste. (I love Northern Lights - hope he’ll grow into it).

OP posts:
photogav · 14/12/2017 12:12

My nephew had the same issue and couldn't find a book he liked, so I wrote one. He loved it so much I put it onto Amazon and Kobo as an e-book.

It was a hobby project, but I'm a photojournalist, so know how to write. I probably can't put a link to it as that's against the rules, but do a search for my name: Gavin Parsons and you will find it. It's a fantasy type book in the same sort of genre as Harry Potter (in that it is set in the real world with fantastical elements).

And if your son/daughter can't find a book they like, find out what they do like and think about writing one yourself, or ask a photojournalist uncle lol

mamaduckbone · 14/12/2017 20:21

Nice idea - I’d love to think I could write a novel but I’m quite sure he wouldn’t get further than the first page! Well done to you though.

OP posts:
londonloves · 14/12/2017 20:30

Robin Jarvis is great. Not that well known but quite dark fantasy.

bingebiscuiteater · 17/12/2017 03:28

How about Sidney Sheldon's novels?

laudanum · 17/12/2017 03:39
laudanum · 17/12/2017 03:40

Ooo also the Adrian Mole diaries.

junebirthdaygirl · 17/12/2017 04:43

At 13 my ds got into Robert Muchamore and eagerly awaited each novel as it came out. There are about 10. He read them all a few times and his friends were all in to them. I have no idea what they are about.

Kahu · 17/12/2017 04:57

I second Phillip Pullman's His Dark Materials. Also Ransom Rigg's series , the first one is Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children.

Is the Wildwood series too young? I enjoyed it as an adult reader. I also enjoyed the Mysterious Benedict Society series, but it may also be aimed at a younger reader.

chronofix · 17/12/2017 06:25

Op has already said he didn't take to His Dark Materials! I have a similar one who is racing through Mallory Blackman's Noughts and Crosses series- seems a bit too old but lots of his class are too. Also the Cherub series. An older sci fi series he loved is the Tripods by John Christopher, which is great.

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