DS1 would like adventure/mystery stories that are not Famous Five.

[Vagaceratops]

Any suggestions?

He is 11 and a good reader but quite sensitive so nothing too old.

Has he read Harry Potter?
What about Swallows & Amazons?

My ds enjoyed the secret series, need to have a good sense of humour though

Ooh just remembered Robert Arthur's Alfred Hitchcock books are great

He liked the first two HP, but the PoA scared him with the werewolf bit, so he wont read any more.

I tried Northern Lights too but he turned his nose up at that.

Lauren st Johns books would be perfect for him. Contemporary adventures written with quite an old fashioned gentleness.

The Roman mysterys no good if he's squeamish. The new series, roman mystery scrolls, better then. The description is something like "less blood and more poo!"

Maybe Septimus Heap books?
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Septimus_Heap

Charlie Bone?
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Children_of_the_Red_King

Tunnels series:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tunnels_(novel)

Villian.net & Hero.com
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hero.com#Hero.com_and_Villain.net

I have 12 and 11 year old boys and they read these probably a couple of years ago but they are probably aimed at the 10/11 age group. They read a lot of Darren Shan/horror stuff too but not really suitable for uour son.

apart from the Hero/villain books, I have read at least some of each of the above series and would say they are suitable - the tunnels ones like the Harry Potter books probably get less suitable as you get to the later books.

The charlie Bone books are like a softer version of Harry Potter - lots of magic and adventure.

also maybe Artemis Fowl too:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artemis_Fowl_(series)

and has he done Skulduggery Pleasant yet?

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skulduggery_Pleasant_(series)

Anthony Horowitz - Diamond Brothers series or Alex Rider?

Enid B's The island/castle/whatever of adventure series..DS gobbled these up aged 10,and he hadn't enjoyed FF much either.

The Spiderwick Chronicles are great, with fantastic illustrations.

The Joshua Files series has been a big hit, ordinary boy gets sucked into helping a remnant of an ancient mayan society save the world from total destruction - highly recommended.

The second two suggestions have scary bits in, but not so as to freak DS out he is also an imaginative worrier

Ranger's Apprentice series - absolutely fab, my son loved them and I did too.

In fact, his English teacher asked him to write a recommended books list last year for her. Will go and look for it. BRB.

If he enjoyed Famous Five how about the Secret Seven? I second Swallows and Amazons series. Chronicles of Narnia also fab and the Phillip Pullman His Dark Materials books are amazing.

This is what DS put together for his English teacher. Hope it helps. Although it says Boys 12-13 I think he read all of them at 11 or earlier.

Recommended Reading, Boys 12-13

1. Inheritance series (1st book Eragon) ? Christopher Paolini
2. Rangers Apprentice series (1st book The Ruins of Gorlan) ? John Flanagan
3. The Enemy series (1st book The Enemy) ? Charlie Higson
4. The Spooks Apprentice series (1st book The Spooks Apprentice) ? Joseph Delany
5. The Chronicles of Ancient Darkness series (1st book Wolf Brother) ? Michelle Paver
6. CHERUB series (1st book The Recruit) ? Robert Muchamore
7. The Roman Mysteries series (1st book The Thieves of Ostia
8. Alex Rider series (1st book Stormbreaker) ? Anthony Horowitz
9. Skulduggery Pleasant series (1st book Skulduggery Pleasant) ? Derek Landy
10. Holes ? Louis Sachar Anything by? Michael Morpurgo Willard Price Anthony Horowitz Rick Riordan

re. Swallows and Amazons - if he doesn't take to S&A itself (there's a lot of sailing vocabulary, which I was familiar with, DD wasn't but didn't mind) you could go straight to Swallowdale/Pigeon Post/Winter Holiday.

What are the Malcolm Saville Lone Pine books like? I've never read them. You can get them from Girls Gone By for £13, but also on Abe Books for cheaper.

(Rereading Swallows and Amazons as an adult, I found myself continually worried about them!! Mother is great, but she's just left her 9-year-old alone on an island at night time! The comments section on Amazon is full of "this is what children did back then, no cotton wool etc. etc!", but it's also been pointed out that Ransome probably did take a bit of dramatic licence in terms of what the children were allowed to do! But then that's what children's books do.)

Has he read the Narnia books yet? DS (7) is reading them at the moment, but I'm pretty certain I came to them later.

And I fondly remember a whole series of books from the library called things like "Whale Adventure", "Lion Adventure" "African Adventure" about 2 brother aged 11 and 14 who went off on amazing trips with their dad who was an explorer/archeologist or somesuch. They were definitely written for a male audience :)

Willard Price: Hal and Roger Fillybuster dd2 loved them.

Alex Rider and The Cherub Series definitely
Possibly Charlie Moon (Jenny Nimmo), Dd1 hasn't enjoyed them, found them a litle bit disappointing after the first.

Malcolm Saville books are great adventures. He also wrote other series including the Marston Baines series, which are spy books. Buckingham series are a little girly, I think, but the Jillies books he also might get on with. Ebay usually has Armada ones at okay prices, they're okay if he wants to try, but the hardback/GGBP are unabridged and much better adventures imo.
A little old fashioned now, but still great-I've just lent the first 5 to a friend in his 60s who hasn't read them since he was a child

Hardy boys
3 investigator
Joan Aiken's Bridle the Wind/Saddle the sea/whatever the third one is trillogy.
Young Bond
Other Enid Blyton-the adventure series is a bit harder than the Famous Five, or there's also the Five Find outers.
Arthur Catherall wrote some good adventure stories-again out of print, but usually some on ebay.
Ditto John Putney (I think) the Fred and I series are great adventures.

For the Swallows and Amazons, I could just about get the 9 year old sleeping on the island, but what about "Secret Water" where they're marooned on the tidal islands with no grown ups at all including Bridget who I don't think's older than about 5yo.

OP - a lot of these suggestions are great books, but I wouldn't give them to a child who was scared by the 3rd Harry Potter, personally.
Make sure you read things (or at least flick through) before giving them to him. One of mine is sensitive as well and it's easier putting the time in before handing them a book then dealing with the nightmares or tears!

Just William is a favourite here.

The grk books by Joshua Doder are also quite good.

And there are some books for kids by Bear Grylls which are adventure stories but also have survival type stuff in them.

Hardy boys?

at 5-year-olds on tidal islands. That completely passed me by as a child - I remember the fact she was young being an issue, but I also must have thought of John as practically grown-up. (And then in We Didn't Mean to Go to Sea they have to pretend to be grown-up by sounding drunk - the irony!).

What about Edward Eager's Half Magic etc.?

There is a series about a spy called something like Jack Stalwart that DS1 has been reading. Each one is set in a different country.

Alex Rider
Percy Jackson & the lightening thief and subsequent books