Books to read to a very bright 11 year old

[Kuriusoranj]

My oldest child is a super bright just-turning 11 year old, reading age of 15 and a great vocabulary. She reads All. The. Time. We are holding on to our tradition of reading to/with her - it's just such a lovely thing to share at the end of each day, for as long as she still enjoys it. However, we're struggling for some new material, so I'd love some suggestions.

Things she has read alone:

• Rick Riordan in all forms, she loves the bones of him
• The Martian - loved it
• Incorrigible Children series
• Artemis Fowl - didn't like it
• Agatha Christie - she loves them
• The Maze Runner series

Things we have read with her recently:

• HP, just finished book 7
• Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy
• The Golden Compass
• Before that, we did a bunch of classics - Alice in Wonderland, The Secret Garden and so on

We've been trying The Hunger Games but she's struggling to get engaged and wants to read it herself instead. We're all wondering if it's because it's written in the 1st person, but that's only a theory.

We have a general low-censorship policy. The books she's choosing for herself tend to be YA ghost stories/junior horror and so on - she's developing quite a taste for the creepy! By her age I was deep into James Herbert and Stephen King, but she's not there yet. On the other hand, that's not the sort of thing that we want to read to her - she finds it easier to manage her reactions if she reads stuff herself.

Googling brings up lots of suggestions for 11 year olds to read, but not so many for books to read to them. I'm thinking maybe Lord of the Flies next. I'm particularly interested in any suggestions for classics that might be entertaining to read aloud - maybe Jane Eyre? Pride and Prejudice?

Any suggestions. literary mumsnetters? Anyone else faced the same situation?

What about Daphne du Maurier? Hers are fantastic read aloud. Also have you heard of Mary Stewart? I love her books - The Ivy Tree is one of my favourites. She's very underrated, in my opinion.

A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle is good - its part of a series, so there are another 4 or 5 if she likes that one.

Was just going to say daphne du maurier. You could show her the Hitchcock film too!

Also loved Mary Stewart she is a master storyteller her King Arthur series is just an amazing feat of imagination. She is on s par with Philip Pullman ie: a much better writer than JKRowling.

I loved A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula le Guin. This series is hugely underrated and I’m surprised it’s never been turned into a series. The magic has real checks and balances, and profound consequences fir those who use it.

Also The Dark is Rising.

At that age my son loved HG Wells esp The Invisible Man and Jules Verne. Two years on and he doesn't read at all.

I think I'd have found of mice and men very upsetting as an 11 year old, with the torn dreams etc etc. My reading age was vastly ahead but my emotional age was still 11.

My children on paper have advanced reading ages, but emotionally are the age they are! Also, while their reading is technically good, concentration is lacking at times so reading to them is beneficial.

Railway Children? DD found it challenging herself but understood it much more as the listener.

The Darren Shan saga and the Demonata series are both YA horror. The Thin Executioner is also good. Divergent series, beautiful creatures books and Mortal instruments.

My ds had a very advanced reading age but emotionally wasn't ready for some of the books mentioned on here eg To Kill a Mockingbird.

Books he did enjoy at that age were anything by Alan Garner, the Alex Rider series, Animal Farm (although I think some of it went right over his head) and the Michelle Paver series.

I read quite a lot of Dickens and also Jane Eyre when I was 10/11 and was fine with that. However I tried Pride and Prejudice and hated it as I didn't appreciate the humour. I tried it again when I was 18 and loved it.

I’m glad a PP has suggested Bill Bryson as I think reading something that makes her laugh is a good idea.

She might also enjoy The Fib by George Layton and any of his others, which are very funny.

Agatha Christie books are great at that age as they introduce young readers to unreliable narrators, red herrings etc.

DS1 is very into Agatha Christie, Art5hur Conan Doyle and George Orwell at the moment - he's fascinated by politics and spends ages watching Youtube videos about stuff, so he 'got' Animal Farm and 1984, thoroughly enjoying them. He also likes Philip Pullman, Ursula LeGuin, Neil Gaiman and loads of sci-fi stuff like Asimov. He also likes the Young Bond series and things like The Hunger Games, Maze Runner etc.

He is just turned 12 and is a very good reader - he flies through loads of books each week. I still enjoy reading to him at bedtime though. For us, it's a way that he gets to spend some one to one time with me and I get to share books that I like with him that he wouldn't necessarily pick up himself. I doubt he'll want me to read to him for much longer but I'll be sad when we stop! We enjoy talking about what we're reading together.

In terms of what we read together, we've just started the last/latest Skullduggery Pleasant book by Derek Landy. DS loved the whole series. I love Terry Pratchett and knew DS would - he wasn't convinced o I read Mort to him. He was hooked and we're working our way through the series now . Also HP Lovecraft and some of the less terrifying Stephen King short stories.

The other day, my cousin told me that we are 'weird' for still doing bedtime stories! She thinks it's bizarre that I would read to a child who can read to themselves, but then she gets her much younger kids to sleep by letting them watch DVDs in bed, which I have my own judgey thoughts on .

@autumncolour I've never known anyone else to have read A Wrinkle in Time and I'm so glad you reminded me of that book because I'm desperate to read it again!

My 11yo DD loved Wrinkle in Time. I hadn't realised there were more in the series, thank you!

'Haroun and the Sea of Stories', Salman Rushdie's first novel for children, is good to read aloud as so much of it is about language and the act of storytelling itself. I've read it as a bedtime story to my much younger son, but an older reader/listener would appreciate it in greater depth - in part, it's a parable about freedom of speech, and plays with stereotypes and influences ranging from the Arabian Nights to the Wizard of Oz (and has a bit of a dig at 'celebrity' children's books along the way).

If she enjoys YA, is recommend cassandra clare's shadowhunter chronicles - starting with city of bones (the mortal instruments series)

There are a few series set at different times in the same world, so if she likes it there could be plenty to keep her going.

I also loved classics at her age, and my favourite book of all time is the tenant of wildfell Hall by Anne bronte - often overlooked but fabulous.

Alan Garner
I, Claudius
The Little White Horse
Cider with Rosie
Grapes of Wrath
Children of Green Knowe

Second Dark is Rising, Wizard of Earthsea & Terry Pratchett.

Homer's Odyssey.
HG Wells
Jane Austen
Thomas Hardy
John Steinbeck - Grapes of Wrath/Of Mice and Men
Dickens

Sophie’s World?

I think the idea of reading plays is a good one, it’s a different skill compared to reading a book and potentially you could involve your DD and her sibling as time goes on.

Day of the Triffids?

Try some Frances Hardinge - she's a great writer, won the Costa prize last year. Often classed as YA but brilliant for more able Y6 and 7. Her books are quite gothic, incredibly well written, with some great strong female characters.

So many great ideas above. I certainly hope to continue reading to my currently 8yo DD and her younger brother as they get older. DD and I share similar tastes at the moment - from girls’ school stories to fantasy.

I can’t wait to be able to read PG Wodehouse aloud!

I’ve just incurred myself about another £100 of spend adding some of these books to DSs Christmas / birthday in January list

What about any of the Rainbow Rowell books? They are YA and I found e payable to read as an adult

Can I also recommend Back Home by Michelle Margorian. Its about a girl who comes home at the end of WW2, having been evacuated to America. Not only does she have to readjust to returning home, but her, her mother and her brother have to readjust to the return of the father who expects everything to return to how it was before the war. But everyone has changed too much for that.

Tom’s Midnight Garden
Heidi
The Hobbit
The Borrowers
Stig of the Dump