Books for Year 8 DS - any thoughts?

[pollycazalet]

My DS is a good reader and has always read a fair bit but has been reading less recently. I've always found books for him - he's not very good at finding things in bookshops/ libraries and am a bit stumped about what to try next.

He's recently enjoyed the Patrick Ness series (knife of never letting go) , the cherub stuff, seemingly endless zombie and apocalyptic type books like Charlie Higson, Hunger Games. Tried him on Hound of the Baskervilles at Xmas but he wasn't enthused, similarly Lord of the Rings. He loves graphic novels but would like to keep a balance with text style books

Any suggestions? I wonder if he should be getting into more adult books - had thought of Fever Pitch, Catch 22, but read both so long ago I can't remember whether they'd be ok for him. Any suggestions?

Good age to feed them classics - my DD is now 14 but at 12 she was enjoying stuff like to kill a mockingbird, treasure island, catcher in the rye. She's trying out John Grisham's teen book at the moment.

The Northern Lights trilogy is a good one. Also Eragon and the second book, it gets a bit tired by the third book (I have not read the forth). Sabriel, lirael and Abhorsen by Garth Nix were great.

DS suggests Time Riders series by Alex Scarrow, Anthony Horowitzes Alex Rider series (teen spy) his Diamond brothers series, also Fire series by Chis D'Lacey. And he adores Percy Jackson and Kane Chronicles seies by Rick Riordan.....

DS suggests Time Riders series by Alex Scarrow, Anthony Horowitzes Alex Rider series (teen spy) his Diamond brothers series, also Fire series by Chis D'Lacey. And he adores Percy Jackson and Kane Chronicles seies by Rick Riordan.....

'Holes'-Louis Sacher
Chocky- John Steinbeck
Ds1 yr 8, currently reading Hitch-hikers Guide to the Galaxy and Robert Muchamore, new series set in WW2.

DS suggests Time Riders series by Alex Scarrow, Anthony Horowitzes Alex Rider series (teen spy) his Diamond brothers series, also Fire series by Chis D'Lacey. And he adores Percy Jackson and Kane Chronicles seies by Rick Riordan.....

DS suggests Time Riders series by Alex Scarrow, Anthony Horowitzes Alex Rider series (teen spy) his Diamond brothers series, also Fire series by Chis D'Lacey. And he adores Percy Jackson and Kane Chronicles seies by Rick Riordan.....

eh? sorry...phone must be playing up

The lost series Michael grant. Andy mcnab wrote a couple for teens that mine liked. Chris Ryan too I think.

DS (just turned 14) has read things by Bill Bryson, Nick Hornby, Ben Elton etc over the past year. After the Hunger Games trilogy, which he read I think when he was 12, he seemed to lose interest in anything marketed as for children/teens, and has just followed his own interests in adult books. He's currently on the third or fourth volume of a crime/spy series set in Germany and Eastern Europe in the 1930s-1950s.

I'm not too bothered about a bit of adult/sexual content in what he reads (eg in High Fidelity) but if it bothers you I suppose you can skim through things first. Though I think some of the teen things like Robert Muchamore have as much sex as a lot of adult novels.

Hitchhikers Guide or some other classic sci-fi (Asimov, Philip K Dick etc) might e a good avenue to try. Or in young adult books, has he read any Malorie Blackman?

If you can find copies, anything by HM Hoover will probably go down well if he likes the Apocalyptic stuff, or the Gone series, or if he likes a bit of humour, try Harry Harrison's Stainless Steel Rat series and Bill the Galactic Hero series.
Or Robert Asprin's Myth Inc.
Shade's Children is a one off, that and the Keys to the Kingdom series are by Garth Nix, and I enjoyed them more than his Sabriel ones.