Books for 11 year old & 14

[Alakazam8]

This is more complex than the title suggests. They have a reading age of 16 plus, done by test at school but are quite a young 11. Likes books like The boy in the back of the class (got the new one) and interested in Geography and Languages.
i just need two more to add to his stocking.
Also my 14 year old is a reluctant reader at around a 10 year old level and likes princesses, fairies etc. any ideas for a couple of books for her would be great. She’s read all the fairy book range with me when she was younger…

My 11 year old (year 6) liked the boy at the back of the class and is now really into the Percy Jackson books, plus all the spin offs. Based on greek mythology, so not geography but at least based somewhere else. He also really enjoyed the nowhere emporium and the other books in this series. He is a good reader, but I doubt at the level your describing so they may be a little too easy? (though they are not small books).

https://shop.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/brilliant-maps-an-atlas-for-curious-minds/

Rooftoppers by Katherine Rundell - or any by her.

Her new one, Impossible Creatures is lovely.

What about the Disney Twisted Tales for your 14-year-old? There's a lovely book called Rumsaya which is a retelling of Rapunzel and Sophie Anderson's books are great (Castle Of Tangled Magic, Girl Who Speaks Bear etc). You could look at Tyger by SF Said, Night Bus Hero (same author as The Boy At The Back Of The Class) or Boy, Everywhere by A M Dassu. There's a gorgeous new verse novel called The Final Year which is about the last year of primary and the move to secondary school which is super popular in my library (I'm a high school librarian so this is my specialist subject ). Feel free to shout if you'd like any more suggestions.

Thanks for all those suggestions they are great. Do you have any other suggestions with a geographical slant @Scootergrrrl
i have looked at impossible creatures today but wasn’t sure if he would find it too easy. He gets put off if a book seems easy even if good

@Alakazam8 - you could look at Melt by Ele Fountain or The Last Bear by Hannah Gold which are both centred around climate change. I'll have a look on our geography shelf tomorrow for you too if you like!

For the 11 year old, the last final year by Matt Goodfellow. It's exceptional

@pinkberet I agree. It's absolutely amazing.

Thanks have ordered impossible creatures and the last final year for 11 year old. Still struggling a bit for 14 year old. They like music if that’s any help to suggest titles @Scootergrrrl do you have any ideas for a ‘younger reader’ ?

I've heard The School for Good and Evil is a good series. ( mine are not into that kind of thing sadly.)

Has the 14 yr old read the Princess Pirate books by Judy Brown by any chance? I think there are 4 of them, they may be out of print now but you could look on abebooks.
For the 11 yr old, is it a bad thing for me to suggest the Hunger Games series? I know that can be divisive. My DD loved those at the same age and is similarly an advanced reader.

The Strangeworlds travel agency sounds like a great fit, as does the Land of Stories series.

Thanks will look at all those titles

Ordnance Survey also have a quiz book out with a map on one page and the questions on the other, great for practising map reading skills and learning places in the UK.

I found my high ability reader actually like easier books at that age to read for pleasure so if they liked Percy Jackson then Artemis Fowl is good. Or start exploring the classics, even the children's books use more challenging vocab than most modern children's books and lead to interesting discussions on modern cultural differences. Sherlock is great for that age too.

For the 14yr old try HeartStopper Alice Oseman - it's a very age relevant graphic novel so easy on the reading but teen themes.
Or
Karen M McManus One of us is lying... there is about 6 in a series.

Or Dr Proctors Fart Powder and others isn't that series

Ayesha Dixon has written a series too which are much younger but a 14yr old still into faries might like...

For the 10yr old I'd try Horrible Geographies (like Histories- they also do maths and science series) my similar 10yr old devours these.

He's also currently into Michael morpurgo but specific books - he likes the history/war ones like Shadow.

For the younger reader- find some older classics as they are far more challenging vocabulary and literacy levels than modern writing. Things like Toms midnight Garden, Godnight Mr Tom, Stig of the Dump or even the animals of farthing wood…

For your 14 year old what about another classic like Heidi? Or Bambi? (Warn her that thumper isn’t in it though!!)

@Scootergrrrl could I jump in & ask if you wouldn’t mind providing a (as short or long as you like!) list of recommendations for an 11 year old girl with a reading age of 16+. (It’s not like there’s much else going in December! 🤪)

im finding it difficult to find books that she enjoys but the subject matter isn’t too old for her age!

she loves reading but feel like we’ve hit a wee bit of a wall at the moment. She devoured Jaq Wilson, if that’s any help. Not a fan of Sci fi.

Thank you in advance.

This wouldn’t post so putting it on as a photo-

@Alakazam8 for your DD you might want to look at books that are formatted for dyslexic readers, generally there are more pictures to break up the text and fewer sentences per page, and a large font so the book isn't so overwhelming.

If she likes magical things the illustrated Harry Potter books are beautiful. She might also like the Witches series by Terry Prachett, they are part of Discworld but can be read independently Wyrd Sisters is my favourite and comes in a beautiful cloth bound edition. Good Omens By TP and Neil Gaiman might also be a good shout and Graveyard by NG comes in an adult format and child format although it's the same book.

Skullduggery Pleasant is also a hit with your childrens age group as well as the Dar Materials series.

@Scootergrrrl has she read Sherlock? You can get a lovely clothbound edition from Penguin Classics (DD collects them). There's a Lucy Worsley doc on Arthur Conan Doyle on BBC at the minute too

I’m still struggling a bit with finding books just right for my 14 year old-if anyone has any other ideas. She is a very young 14 and a bit of a reluctant reader unfortunately as she doesn’t find it easy so a lot of the above mentioned aren’t right for her.

OK.. I'm struggling with where your 14yr old is at... I'm used to 2 dyslexic teen girls at the oposite ends of the reading spectrum but that's not helping...

Books they liked a bit younger - when faries and alesha dixon were a thing.. these were all around year 6 in school I think...

Sibèal Pounder did a Witch series 'Witch Wars' and a Mermaid series.

Zoe's rescue zoo

David Walliams

13 story tree house

Diary of a wimpy kid

My story / my royal story - history based

Chronicals of Narnia

Katherine Rundell

When Hitler stole pink rabbit

Ballet shoes

Boy at the back of the class - and others by the same author

Just a thought on the reluctant reader... have you tried the coloured overlays? These have brought on one reluctant reader very well in their reading... but did nothing for dyslexic dd! So don't work for all but definatelty worth a try...

You could also try arbookfinder.co.uk which is a reading scheme. Search for books she's recently read and note the book level, the search of the recently released fiction for that level ' use middle readers as the age band.