Wanting my child to read a book that doesn't involve warring factions, them and us situations and children old before their time

[burntthesprouts]

...that really. My DS is 12 and will devour books and then not read for months - he's gone through Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, Wolf Brother, Noughts and Crosses, The Hunger Games, the Narnia series, Divergence (sp?) - I rejoice in the fact that he's reading and then realise that all the books involve outsiders battling against authority, being thrown into horribly adult, merciless situations and surviving but being damaged in some way. Please can someone give me ideas for books that are uplifting that don't involve the main character being crucified/martyred/tortured etc. And toilet humour/silliness, whilst it amuses him, won't sustain him for the length of a novel. Was thinking Great Expectations but then thought I'm just being a ponce and he might not be ready for Dickens yet! And actually Pip gets shafted on all fronts doesn't he - bloody hell Drama innit!

Oh, yes dd1 has read the Belgariad too, irrc.

I second His Dark Materials and the Wizard of Earthsea series, and I'd also add the Old Kingdom series (Sabriel is the first book) by Garth Nix, which completely sucked me in and sound like the sort of thing he'd like (without having any of the points mentioned in your thread title).

Also: Trudi Canavan's Dark Magician trilogy is very good, as is Raymond E. Feist's Riftwar Saga; however these both contain themes of war as the stories progress.

Give him the phone book to read. It's free from all narrative tension, which appears to be what you want.

He is almost exactly the age at which I became fascinated by death, murder and gore. I read everything I could get my hands on about serial killers, forensic medicine and crime.

and when I say everything I mean down to the autobiographies of forensic scientists

I am fine. not a serial killer.

I think the OP genuinely wanted to widen the reading horizons of her DS, I don't think she's being over protective at all.

She never said she didn't want him to read books with the themes she mentioned, just not only those books .

She's being wide minded not narrow minded

Sorry but the best stories probably are good v evil, us v them them in basic structure aren't they?

Re read narnia ? The bestest ever good v evil saga I reckon.

Agree with Wodehouse for silliness.

Does he have the stick ability for Arthur Ransome and similar escapist adventures?

Historical fiction - shardlake of Falco ? Both somewhat blood thirsty I guess.

Discworld is great but al, the better with the life experience to draw brilliant parallels out.

On the whole though yabvu. He's 12 and he's is reading ! I bet most mumsnetters were like me, reading anything and everything at 12 including Dennis Wheatley and Jackie Collins. We turned out OK ( probably....)

Ah yes the serial killers. My gran had the autobiography of sir Bernard spillsbury. That was interesting !

Trying to remember what I enjoyed at that age - DD1 is only 8 so a bit behind. Have you tried the Little House on the Prairie series, might be a bit young, although the books 'grow' with Laura. Not a girly read at all. Generally I'd go with the children's classics, go back 40 or more years and the language is much more challenging than a lot of children's books now and there's less 'adult' content (i.e. less sexy stuff, although at 12 I had started to read books with some teenage sex scenes in and devoured them. My Mum despaired but remembered the list of banned books at her boarding school and never banned us reading anything).

Great Expectations and Oliver Twist have exactly the same peril theme! They were the first two books I read.
So does To Kill a Mockingbird.

He'd love I Claudius and Claudius the God, some of the themes are adult and you might not feel its appropriate.

This is a great thread for recommendations

Mine is the same, and he absolutely will not read books I've suggested, so I am letting it go. I remember that curious leaden feeling that a book suggestion from my dad gave me.

He's fine as long as there are young teens in peril in a future dystopia.

The ghost of Thomas Kempe by Penelope lively - such a perfect book.

Has he outgrown Frozen in Time? Also very good!

Gerald Durrell - My Family and Other Animals. Totally non-perilous but lovely, funny and thought provoking.

Noel Streatfeild's Ballet Shoes is another good one (not a "for girls" book).

Eagle of the Ninth and other Rosemary Sutcliffes for a bit of Roman or Iron Age peril and conflict.

I recently read "When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit" by Judith Kerr with my niece and nephew. It is set in WW2 but it mainly centres on the experience of the children in a family who leave Nazi Germany because they are Jewish. It's told from a very innocent, childlike point of view though (as the parents shelter the children from the reality of their situation) and it talks about their new schools and friends. I think both genders would enjoy it because there's a sister and brother who are featured a lot.

I would second the recommendation for Adrian Mole and The Ghost of Thomas Kempe.

Books I liked at that age, that he might like too are:

Fade by Robert Cormier, which is about a boy who can become invisible.

The Machine Gunners by Robert Westall, about a group of children in WW2.

Interstellar Pig by William Sleator, Sleator also did a great book about clones too.

The Absolutely True Story of a Part Time Indian by Sherman Alexie, is not the most cheerful of books, but I love it so much and think that everyone should read it.

Arf at Ballet Shoes for the average 12-year-old boy.

I consider myself something of an expert on Noel Streatfeild (I love a good NS thread), and I think her books have most appeal for those looking for a good bit of outrage at entitled behaviour.

What about Da Vinci Code et al? Ds read those at that age. Not high literature, but decent yarns and ds went on to read other conspiracy-type stuff.

Let him read what he wants fgs. Uplifting books.... Oh sorry, books you feel r uplifting... Presumably he feels divergent, hunger games etc r quite uplifting tho perhaps not in way u want.

He's on his way to becoming an adult, let him alone in terms of his reading. Surely warring factions, rebelling against authority describe most books, even your uplifting worthy ones.

You can suggest some of the alternatives here, but honestly, if he wants to read these kinds of books, let him. I would not appreciate someone telling me not to read murder mysteries because "they're violent" or whatever. Just be glad you have a son who reads at all!

There's nothing wrong with trying to direct a child's attention to books you think are more worthwhile!

We only have a finite time to read all the great literature of the world - so I'm quite often heard to point out to a child that the book they're reaching for is a waste of time, entirely derivative and a poor imitation of this and this and that - so why not read those instead? And I am relentless in alerting them to completely new stuff that they might not know about.

But all I can do is offer guidance. Can't fight the tide of YA sameness ...

rhodabull I love NS! Have you read "the Whicharts"? It's fascinating to see the adult first draft of "ballet shoes".

I just bought "pioneer girl", which is the first adult draft of the little house books. That should be an interesting read - I love those books, but there's a lot of unpleasant stuff beneath the surface as well as things she cut out (running away from rent arrears; her baby brother dying etc).

Sorry, I am digressing massively now! Some brilliant suggestions on this thread. I hope DD grows up to like reading.

Rhoda, and that's why my teacher who regularly read Ballet Shoes to her classes used to wrap it in brown paper and not reveal the title until several chapters in. To be fair, the class were aged 11 not 12, but it was usually a hit.

Definitely the original Sherlock Holmes stories - start with one of the short story collections rather than the novels. I loved them when I was 12 and they're adult enough. Then I read the Father Brown stories.

Pratchett - yes. I was too snobby to read them at the time but started aged 16 or so and loved them. Discworld though rather than the other ones.

Books about people's jobs, especially funny ones, can be fascinating and also you learn stuff about work, about history, about adult life. James Herriot like others have said - hilarious. Roald Dahl's autobiography. I liked Monica Dickens's autobiographical novels One Pair of Hands and One Pair of Feet. Sure there are lots of other examples too.

Oh and the Forestwife trilogy which is quite brutal etc in parts but really vivid and well-researched. And on a more fantasy note, Diana Wynne Jones as others have said is just wonderful. Gripping, funny and adventurous. The Howl's Moving Castle series (he might already have seen the film) and the two Derkholm books are probably my favourites.

scarednoob - dh bought me Pioneer Girl for Christmas. I can't bear to read it because then I'll have read it - if you see what I mean!! I've read a lot of background stuff on LH and it was interesting that the friendly Boasts were sheep in wolf's clothing as they asked Laura for her baby as she was young and they were infertile. It was a tough old life. Dh was raving about The Revenant, but I said, "Well, you should read Little House on the Prairie then."

Some of the older Michael Morpurgo are worth a read:

Private Peaceful and Kensuke's Kingdom (just realised the book cover is based on Hokusai's wave picture).