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!

We used to listen to audio books on long journeys. A great way to broaden ones experience:

Dickens, Peter Pan, Three men in a boat read by Nigel Planer, The Ghost of Thomas Kemp, Agatha Christie and Jeeves etc. We used to look through independent bookshops for an interesting selection, preferably of the unabridged kind. Harder now everything is online/mass market.

Three Men in a Boat was a big hit - my DC can recite it word for word

John le Carre

Funny, I read Three Men in a Boat to the dcs and it fell on unamused ears. I was chortling away reading it but the dcs saw no humour in the tin of pineapple nor the maze incident. Otoh they loved My Family and Other Animals and were most appreciative of my Spiro accent.

What about Of Mice and Men? I know it's been done to death by GCSE-ers, but it is a good thought-provoking book. It's also written in a way that some of the racier bits wash over a younger reader.

I think Nigel Planer did a better job of reading it than I could have. Also, it is a series of 'short stories' so works for stopping and starting for shorter journeys. I was very surprised - they love the cheese one and anything about the dog.

The Importance of Being Earnest was also a surprise hit, especially after watching the film with Judy Dench and Colin Firth in it. DD then read a whole book of plays

I loved the "Little House" books, even though they are a sanitised version they do show a difficult life, not really girly at all.

Dd1 always says that animals always die in Michael Morpurgo, so she doesn't want to read them!

His Dark Materials, definitely... and the Narnia books (the anti religion of one balances out the Christian message of the other ).

I remember going through phases with reading at that age (and still, too, really) devouring lots of fantasy... then historical novels... then sci-fi.. then "literature" etc.

To all those who put forward suggestions and comments a big thank you. Especially thanks to those who recommended Terry Pratchett. We went away for a few days with the first Disc World book on the Kindle and, after some initial wariness, my DS got right into it, finished it in a couple of days, and is now on to the second one. I've never read any Pratchett and my DS has been explaining some of the plot to me and it sounds completely bonkers.

Happy that he's back into reading and able to lose himself in another world again

Let him read what he wants. DD only reads non fiction but at least shes reading for pleasure.