Which books for my son?

[PaWithABra]

when he could be playing on the wii ?

ha ha no.. this jsut seems the most well read part of the forum so i anticipate getting the most feedback.

What books would you recommend for a boy of 10 going on 11 to take for holiday reading.
He has read all the harry potter , percy jacksons is currently reading war horse..

he reads everyday and seems to like long involved stories. to help you gauge his level, he tried the lord of the rings but lost interest ...

cheers

pa

Oooh, I LOVED Alan garner when I was little, had forgotten all about them, off to amazon right now!

Of Mice and Men? To Kill a Mockingbird?

King Arthur-y stuff?

Asterix?!

Second Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman.

its not that i would imagine the books turning him into a racist but i would rather he read them with me .. They are taught about racism and bullying etc in school and it might be a bit odd to read huckelberry finn without me to explain the context.. or indeed to discuss the other collouqualisms

The Alex Rider series by Anthony Horowitz. My ds really enjoyed those.

Mice and men ? I did that for 'o' level .....

Tried to get mine interested in the classics but he just won't go there, have bought him

Alan Garner - Weirdstone of Brisingamen
Goodnight Mr Tom
Stig of The Dump

Soon as I say it's a classic he turns off.

Brian Jacques
Michael Morpurgo
as well as ones above

Artemis Fowl defo.
Younger Terry Pratchetts
Anything by Frances Hardinge would stretch him
The other Rick Riordan series with Egyptian gods (starts slow but improves)
The Magic of Reality by Dawkins (not if you're religious)
Young Bond by Charlie Higson

Lucelulu The dark is rising was by Susan Cooper not Alan Garner

However I would second the vote for her books as well as Alan Garner's Weirdstone of Brisingamen.

Also anything by Michael Morpurgo

Diana Wynne Jones - my personal favourite was A Tale of Time City

Goodnight Mister Tom

Dawn of Fear by Susan Cooper

The Outsiders by SE Hinton

Maybe the Earthsea books by Ursula LeGuin? although they can get fairly dark, so it depends on how well he'd handle that. (although I don't think it's nearly as dark Philip Pullman)

Stig of the Dump ! that was a book ?

Silver Sword? Loved that book and Carrie's War.

I don't for one minute think Huck Finn would turn your lad into a racist.

It made me think though and start to question things.

The only one of Neil Gaiman's I would let a 10 yr old read is Stardust, and maybe Neverwhere.
It's a "difficult" age as they fall between being too old for actual children's books, but not quite old enough for a lot of the teen and young adult stuff. I'd be wary of the Hunger Games too, depending on how "sensitive" he is - some of it is very violent and quite "heavy" in places.
If he likes animals, there's the Adventure series by Willard Price, the first one is Amazon Adventure and there are 13 or 14 in the series. All the animal info in them is spot on, and worked into the story so they learn without realising it iyswim
If he likes fantasy stuff, Garth Nix's "Keys to the Kingdom" is brilliant, I enjoyed it much more than the Abhorsen ones, and there are seven, one for each day of the week, with Mister Monday being first.

The Graveyard Book is the most appropriate Gaiman

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

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

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.

damn cross posted with pombear

thank for all the suggestions..

makes me reflect just how wonderful it must be to be a child of 10 who loves to read and to have all this waiting for him....

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.

Dick King-smith?

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

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.

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...)

Phantom toll booth is another favourite of mine.

Owl Service?

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

so to help me narrow it down.....