Books for my son who loves Alex Rider - he's 8

[foothesnoo]

He has read two of the Alex Rider and is keen to read them all - I would like him to have a bit of variety!

Any recommendations for me?

the young James Bond books by Charlie Higson?

The James Bonds are good, but maybe a bit adult for an 8 year old - depends on him really Foo. Ds who is nine loves Charlie Higson but I do think they are not universally approved of at this age
Has he read Spy Dog, Grrk and Varjak Paw already yet?

The Book people have Alex Rider as a boxed set at the moment. which isn't what you were asking for but never mind!

My DS2 enjoyed the Alex Rider books and has really loved the Chronicles of Ancient Darkness books by michelle paver.

I don't think Young Bond are any better/worse content-wise than the Alex Rider books. So if you're OK with Alex Rider, then should be fine with Young Bond IMO.

In a similar vein HIVE books are very popular.

At a similar reading level, but different content, children I know love:
Skulduggery Pleasant
Percy Jackson

What about Robert Muchamore -his series of books (again about child spies), starts off with 'The Recruit'. There's about ten books I think.

Duh! Percy Jackson. Those are fantastic! Ds has whizzed through the series so far and is busy resenting Rick Riordan for not getting another published quickly enough.
Muchamore/Cherub series definitely needs vetting by you Foo IMO. They are extremely good reads but the language is fairly strong and the covers say not suitable for younger children. Ds likes them but he is the only person in his class reading them, I notice. So it all hinges on whether you and ds think of him as younger or not .
Derek Landy (Skulduggery Pleasant) and Michelle Paver have also gone down well, so to continue the genre hopping, ds likes The Edge Chronicles a lot too.

Grk

Oh yes, Michelle Paver: definitely. The first one is Wolf Brother

I'd also echo Marina wrt caution over Cherub series. I am the last person to suggest censoring books, but these are pretty hard hitting. ds1 started reading them aged 10, but at my school it's usually the 13+ boys who are reading Cherub. The author suggests that there's nothing in his books that's worse than an episode of Eastenders, so if you're happy for your children to watch Eastenders, you should be fine. It doesn't work for us as dss don't watch EE, and I wouldn't want them watching at this age!

ds2 is 9 and I haven't steered him in the direction of Cherub: there are plenty of fantastic books around which are less explicit, rough and raw.

Sorry - yes I agree 8 is a bit too young for the Cherub books, I read OP as Year 8, not age 8.

Saying that, DS and most of his friends were reading them in Year 6. Robert Muchamore visited the school for a talk, and it certainly encouraged a lot of the boys to start reading.

The rest of Anthony Horowitz books are very good

Sorry, real life intervened just after I started this thread! You're all brilliant.

He's done grk and V paw, also the Michelle paver books - loved them all.

Have looked at young Bond and they seem a bit old for him to be honest - they seem quite knowing and sophisticated. He also has a really vivid imagination (and sometimes has to have 10 mins with a beano after A Rider before he goes to sleep as they set his mind racing!)

Those Percy Books look just the ticket though - will also have a look at the other horowitz.

Was going to recommend Michelle Paver, which my dd1 loves.

Dd is also 8 (and has quite 'un-girly' tastes!) and has just read and enjoyed this. Not sure if it's part of a series or not.

She also loved this over the summer.

Am going to go and have a look in a bookshop tomorrow am, armed with these ideas!

I anyone has any ideas for 6 year old girls, soee my other thread (thanks for posting on both ellbell!)

I know you've probably been shopping by now -but the series written by Joe Craig about the character Jimmy Coates is good if your son enjoys Alex Rider. The first one in the series is called Killer.

Hive , Cherub and Percy Jackson are all aimed at older readers would have thought 8 too young for content.

howabout Series of Unfortunate Events. DS enjoys both those and Alex Rider.

Definitely the Jimmy Coates series by Joe Craig!

The series transformed my boys' attitudes to books. They are now completely hooked, and 8 is the perfect age to start them off.

The HIVE books are good too, but my number one pick would be any Jimmy Coates book.

Presume he's done Harry Potter? I haven't ventured to Alex Rider for our 8yo yet on the advice of a friend with slightly older boys but she did recommend the Eoin Colfer series (Artemis Fowl). You could also go back to some classics - Dick King Smith and the like.