"Classics" book recs for 12-yr old

[MoreRabbit]

I have a 12-yr old who's a very keen reader - mainly gloomy YA fiction at the mo, so all the Suzanne Collins, the Lockwood novels, Ready Player One, Anthony Horowitz, James Dashner (Maze Runner.), Phillip Reeve Mortal Engines etc.

He also still enjoys the slightly less dark/more magical stuff like Wizards of Once, Last Kids on Earth (comic apocalyptic relief!), The Hobbit, Michael Morpurgo.

He emphatically is sick of orphans (even though he knows they're a literary device 😂) and hasn't really taken to Phillip Pullman Northern Lights trilogy, which on paper would be perfect for him. (He enjoyed the Clockwork one by him though).

Recently I've wondered if I should be pointing him to some of the classics, to maybe get him out of the post-apocalyptic YA rut...I wondered about The Count of Monte Cristo (he loved Treasure Island and the play and films of Three Musketeers, despite any orphans in these - I think a bit of swashbuckling makes up for a lot...)

I also thought maybe the Phantom of the Opera? Dracula might be another option - he's completely unloaded by scariness/gore generally. I've got Jamaica Inn from the lib and he seems keen to give that a go. If anyone's had success with what you might call other entry-level classics then please pass on your recommendations!

Have a look at the Ambleside Online literature booklists. Very good quality literature, lots of suggestions, albeit with the unavoidable smattering of orphans!

Robinson Crusoe is excellent, but not the easiest read, so perhaps worth considering an audiobook.

Children of the New Forest is brilliant, aside from terribly dry first chapter which just needs ploughing through, but they are orphans.

I enjoyed Call of the Wild at that age, and Of Mice and Men, but can't remember either that well now.

A Tale of Two Cities is excellent. As is Pilgrims Progress, although that's another that's easier via audiobook.

Nothing Else Matters by Patricia St John is gripping and beautiful, and set in the Lebanese civil war. Just a heads up that it's from a strongly Christian viewpoint.

And maybe some Sherlock Holmes too?

Thanks so much @HowDoYouSolveAProblemLikeMyRear! Yes to Sherlock - we actually watched the first ep of the BBC series together and it made me think we should hold off the rest of it til he's read some of the books, as it's such a different beast ( and I LOVED the SH books at that age).

I haven't heard of the Patricia St John one but he's quite ant-religion so thanks for the heads-up 😂 some great other suggestions though. Will look at the Ambleside lists, thank you.

Not a 'classic' in the sense you mean, maybe, but how about Mary Stewart's Merlin trilogy? Starts with The Crystal Cave. It's a really well-written, well-researched retelling of Arthurian legend told from the perspective of Merlin.

For swashbuckling, the Scarlet Pimpernel stories would be good.

And I know it's a bit orphany, but Ursula Le Guin's A Wizard of Earthsea is also really good.

Ivanhoe by Walter Scott is a classic adventure story, it's one of my favourites!
Moonfleet by Meade Falkner is also very good. Rosemary Sutcliff's Roman series starting with The Eagle of the Ninth is excellent.
Another dip into Roman adventures is David Wishart's The Horse Coin.

I like the sound of the Merlin trilogy, @BarnacleBeasley - he does love mythology generally.

Lol at "a bit orphany"

Those all sound like they could work too @AdaColeman - thank you! I think he'd probably enjoy the Eagle of the Ninth. I hadn't heard of Moonfleet.

I'm wondering hat he might like that's a bit more outside his usual comfort zone - something with female protagonists would be good. He has a good ear for comic timing and sarcasm, so I did wonder about something Austen-adjacent.

I wouldn’t worry about holding off watching the Sherlock series. I don’t think any of the episodes bore much, if any, resemblance to any of the original stories!

I second Moonfleet, Call of the Wild and the Scarlet Pimpernel stories.

How about Lord of the Flies? Gerald Durrell’s My Family and Other Animals? That had me laughing out loud at a similar age. Brave New World might also be a good one. The 39 Steps? If he enjoyed Treasure Island, he might also like Kidnapped.

If I remember rightly (and it’s a long time since I them) the Three Musketeers is an easier read than the Count of Monte Cristo.

I love A Tale of Two Cities, but I’d probably go with Oliver Twist as a first Dickens.

The Horse Coin has quite a wide range of characters, including Boudica, so it isn't completely focused on the Roman cavalry officer.
A couple more classics you might consider are The Prisoner of Zenda by Anthony Hope and Kidnapped by R L Stevenson.

I'm guessing that your DS has already read The Hunger Games series?

I gave my 12yo the Midwich Cuckoos recently. She's quite intrigued by it so far.

I'm planning on some of the other classic Science Fiction like Hitchhikers Guide, war of the Worlds etc.

Ooh I read midwich cuckoos at that age and loved it.

i then went through a Jeffrey Archer phase, my gateway from young adult to adult. I still have very fond memories of Not A Penny More, Not a Penny Less.

I can't get my 12 year old out of his much narrower rut still, but when I was 12 I loved Ursula le Guin's more political sci fi.

Lots of lovely books recommended here, how does he feel about fantasy? The hobbit and LotR? Terry Pratchett?
there is a series that starts ‘bodyguard’ both my boys enjoyed, if he likes adventure (you could try him on treasure island if he does too!!)

HG Wells
Jules Verne
RL Stevenson
John Wyndham

What about some Terry Pratchett if he has a good sense of humour. The Discoworld novels are brilliant and I began reading them at a similar age.

Lord of the Flies

The Chronicles of Narnia.

I loved these and can't wait until my DCs read them.

Agatha Christie and maybe also Georgette Heyer's modern murder novels as she has an Austenish wit at times. Yes to Monte Christo, Tale of Two Cities and Scarlet Pimpernel. If you think he'd like Rosemary Sutcliffe then he could try some SImon Scarrow - there are a series of YA books and a very long series about two Roman soldiers which is extremely well researched and would keep him quiet for a long time if he liked them. If you'd like a female protagonist then maybe one of the retellings of the Greek myths - Pat Barker's Silence of the Girls maybe or Margaret Attwoods Penelopeiad.

something with female protagonists would be good. He has a good ear for comic timing and sarcasm, so I did wonder about something Austen-adjacent.

Georgette Heyer. They are not just romances. Several of them have boys or very young men among the characters.

Has he read childrens classics such as Arthur Ransome?

Biggles - the early stories, where he's serving with the RFC? They get a bit formulaic after that, though the Second World War ones are quite good. (Biggles is an orphan, but it's not a major plot point.)

Agatha Christie?

I see someone recommended The 39 Steps. I also highly recommend Greenmantle, the second Richard Hannay novel.

The 39 Steps was loved by ds at that age - and some of the others in the series.

Also A Daughter of Time and The Franchise Affair by Josephine Tey.

Some of the Joan Aiken's are good, the Saddle the Sea trilogy is good.

Machine Gunners also went down well.

He also loved the Marston Baines series by Malcolm Saville, but they're hard to get hold of.

Jules Verne - I loved 80 Days around the World at that age. Journey to the Center of the World is also good.

The Count of Monte Christo is good but long. I think The Three Musketteers are a better introduction.

Depends what you define classic timewise but Umberto Ecco Name of the Rose maybe

Agathe Christie - I prefer Poirot to Miss Marple, Murder in the Orient Express or Death on the Nile are good.

Anne of Green Gables? It is often sold as girly but I found them a good study in Victorian/Edwardian rural Canada

There’s loads I’d agree with esp the John Wyndham suggestion and also I’d recommend George Orwell.

A kestrel for a knave
Hitch hikers guide to the galaxy (and other Douglas Adams)

I'm following with interest. Although the no more orphans criteria narrows the choice a bit!

My twins both love the Skandar books. One is obsessed with Warrior cats, there are about 7 series of these. Percy Jackson is popular too with both. I know you said classics, the only one I can think of not mentioned yet it To Kill a Mockingbird. I was impressed ds enjoyed it. It's fairly adult themed but also suitable and thought provoking. Also 1984

"- something with female protagonists would be good. He has a good ear for comic timing and sarcasm"

Although definitely not in the realm of "classics", there's a series of books by Jasper Fforde that might fit that.

Thursday Next is the female protaganist in a series of books set in a parallel world that is very similar to ours but also with some distinct differences.

The first book in the series is "The Eyre Affair". Thursday works for an organisation that protects books. A villian has managed to kidnap Jane Eyre from the pages of the original manuscript and this causes the text of all copies of the Jane Eyre novel to abruptly end at the moment of Jane's kidnapping, roughly halfway through the book.

Thursday has to return Jane to the novel and deal with the villian.

ps both parents still very much alive

Yes yes yes - Earthsea is a fantastic read. Also (obviously) The Dark is Rising series.

Agatha Christie is good at that age; these are some 'classics' I loved at that age:

Weirdstone of Brisingamen
My Family & Other Animals
All the Anne of Green Gables
Watership Down - epic, brilliant book
Emil & The Detectives/ & The Three Twins - Eric Kästner - hilarious
The Phantom Tollbooth

They are written for children, but recently I got totally addicted to The Wingfeather Saga series of 5 books.

More scifi/ horror based - try Ray Bradbury Something Wicked This Way Comes, Philip Dyck's Minority Report, etc

Shogun is very good but maybe leave it a few years!