Which books for my son?

I remember Willard Price. A mother good series, especially for boys in the Indian In The Cupboard books.

Does anyone here remember Willard Price - he wrote adventure type stories, very Boy's Own. Apparently born around 1887, and iirc it shows - but lots of things like battling with Octopus and derring do with two young brothers as heroes. I just had a shufti on Amazon and they apparently do still exist Willard Price

Robert Louis Stevenson and Jules Verne if you want him to be able to intimidate the teacher. How about Just William, or even the Biggles books? Any suggestions from the local library?

Just to confirm, Alan Garner's "Weirdstone" etc and Brian Jacques' Redwall series are absolute must-read material for a boy that age. I remember crying being miserable when I finished the last Redwall, not because it had a sad ending, but just because there were no more.

no idea what to suggest, but he sounds lovely...

the cherub series by robert muchamore is pretty good, and most children around that age that i know love it

My DS adored Apache by Tanya Landman. He also read and re-read The Keys to the Kingdom by Garth Nix - well, anything by Garth Nix, actually
Another vote for The Hobbit, which he really enjoyed, and Philip Pulman - Clockwork was his favourite.
Oh, and Michelle Paver's series was a hit, too.

Mentioned already but two of my favourites are 'Weirdstone of Brisingamen' (Garner) and 'Redwall' (Jacques). Would probably be suitable from 8-9 yrs TBH but I still love them as a 37yo!!

Watership Down, My Family and Other Animals may be worth a shout, definitely Hobbit and maybe LOTR - have heard of children that young reading it but didn't click for me until age 17... and Agatha Christie. For some reason I really got into her books at that age.

I think itis time he got a Kindle (or other e-reader) for his next birthday, he can then download all the classics for free.

The Fate of Jeremy Visick - for some reason, this is a book I've always remembered reading at about his age.

Meg Rosoff and Chris Preistley are brilliant. Borrow them when he's done!

Also, talking of Shakespeare ... there is a very good kids collection of the major plays - the books are small and easy to read - my DS did his end of term book review on Midsummer Nights Dream and actually ended up reading it a few times as he really liked the story - if you are interested I could go and find the author. Michael Murpugo is good too - Not Bad For A Bad Lad was well received here, another one that got a few outings .....

This is starting to get the old brain cells in motion.

I loved John Christopher's Tripods series and The Awakening Water by G R Kesteven.

The David Walliams books are good. DS just read The Boy In The Dress and thought it was great. Diary of a Wimpy Kid series are an easy quick read and very funny - they also do a DIY book that is good and they get to write some of their own. If he really liked Percy Jackson there is a book 'Greek mythology' (or something) that the author of PJ actually got his inspiration from which is an interesting read. Sandy Toksvig (sp. ?) also writes good children's lit.

The Old Testament is a page turner no doubt. All plagues, child sacrifice, slavery and wrathful destruction - excellent stuff.

Phantom toll booth is another favourite of mine.

Owl Service?

His Dark Materials (Northern Lights being the first, the film Golden Compass is based on this) is one of my favourite books, DP read it when he was about that age apparently. An old charge of mine was 11 going on 12 but loved Simon Scarrow, a bit of gore but nothing serious I don't think. I loved David Gemmel (Swords of Day and Night being my favourite) at that age but it's a bit gorey and there are mentions of sex in a "They winked and went upstairs" kind of way iirc?

I've just finished the Narnia books and read those in chronological order which I think is slightly different to the actual order of them but I loved those and wish I read them when younger!

The ridiculous author of the Twilight series wrote another book which was actually quite interesting but I cannot remember what it was called.
You can also pick up 'modernised' Shakespeare plays somewhere and they are brilliant, saved my life during GCSEs Don't confused them with the other 'modernised' versions which translate the entire thing into either txt spk or 'chav' speak though (which are funny, but slightly more difficult to read than the originals...)

Trying to think of some I haven't seen already mentioned.
My boys read.
The Phantom tollbooth (was a bit of a short read)
The Lord of the rings books (maybe they were 12 or 13 when they started them)
The spiderwick chronicles.
Can't think what else.

Dick King-smith?

Pretty sure at my school you got to read Of Mice and Men in the first year.

Talking of classics just remembered Mary Stewart's King Arthur books, The Crystal Cave etc. Might try slipping them under the radar and pretend they are modern and not classics.

Strange - I try and be careful with what they watch on TV and movies but very relaxed with books in comparison.

damn cross posted with pombear

I would make a heartfelt recommendation for Tamora Pierce's books eg Song of the Lioness or the more recent Beka Cooper (both series of 3 or 4 books so alltogether adding up to the size of a larger Harry Potter book). Her books are generally portraying strong independent women but are approachable to both a DD or DS. Song of the Lioness is about a girl who pretends to be a boy in order to become a knight. Think swords and honour with a side of magic.

Diane Wynne Jones I would assume he has already read but if not Howl's Moving Castle and The Lives of Christopher Chant would be excellent for a start. Closer to fairytale than fantasy IMO these books do not feature extended battles but are very vivid stories. Again there are more books in the same series so potential for long and involved stories.

When I was about his age I also devoured everything written by David Eddings (still do) starting with the 5 books of the Belgariad, the protagonist is a young man who is very relatable. This is fantasy with sword fights and quests and may have the added benefit of making him ponder different religions- they are based in a universe with 6 different gods of which one has a twisted will who threatens to enslave the world. Another 5 books (the Mallorean) continues on. Each book is about the size of the early Harry Potter. These are not usually shelved with children's literature but please do not let this dissuade you (I got them in the school's library at 11 so def age appropriate).

Sofie's World, written by Norwegian Jostein Gaarder, is a novel and an introduction to philosophy which again I found very enjoyable even though I was dubious at first. It may be better left for next year as it is quite chunky, but if he enjoys thinking and reflecting it may be right up his alley. The protagonist is 15.

Ooh and Garth Nix - Keys to the Kingdom series and The Old Kingdom trilogy

Stig of the Dump is brilliant! It's by Clive King.