What were the big hits this summer for your 8-12s (books)

[roisin]

DS1 (10) has particularly enjoyed:
Hive by Mark Walden
Tunnels by Roderick Gordon and Brian Williams
Shade's Children by Garth Nix Ds1 has not read Garth Nix before, but enjoyed this one. Definitely 'top end' of this age-range though, and eminently suitable for young teenagers.
Troll Fell by Katherine Langrish (Third in the series has just been published - Troll Blood)
Over Sea and Under Stone by Susan Cooper - this is an old one actually, but a new one to us. The sequel "The dark is rising" is being released as a film later this year, and ds1 saw the trailer at the cinema.

We are eagerly awaiting the next HIVE book and the new Charlie Higson (Young Bond) book which are both due out next week, also the latest Alex Rider book which is due out in November.

So what have your children been reading this summer?

Oh, and wrt vaguely Gothic children's literature (and which is thought to be good), I was re-reading Leon Garfield a few months ago (Smith, I think it was) and was quite surprised at how thin it was, in terms of character and plot and historical atmosphere - just about everything really. I wonder if HP (in particular) has raised the bar in ways we don't fully recognise.

My dd 8 has been reading lemony snickett, lemony snickett, and lemony snickett, with a smattering of e nesbit and (sshhhhh) enid blyton thrown in.
My dd 6 has been reading fat stanley and the sophie books. Well I have been reading them to her as she refuses to read on her own, despite being perfectly capable of doing so.

Bink asked> What is "head-hopping"? Is it where you get stuff from one character's perspective, then from another's? Is that a problem?

Yes, it's where you are telling the story in the third person and you jump from one character's perspective to another. Fine, if you are switching scenes or chapters, but some writers do it within the same paragraph - even the same sentence - and I think it's incredibly bad style. e.g.:

"As Jane walked into the room, she wrinkled her nose at the dreadful floral wallpaper and the muddy-brown carpet. Whoever had decorated in here, she thought, was stuck in the 1970s. John was standing there. God, thought John, how hot Jane was looking today. He wanted to take her on the beautiful chocolate-brown carpet there and then."

If you don't find that odd, fair enough.

It's one of those things that you maybe don't notice at first, but when you do, the more you see it the more you want to fling the book across the room. It seems unprofessional - the equivalent of a musician playing a whole bar in the wrong key.

I'm with you UQD. I do like a cleverly constructed dual narrative, but a book without a clear and consistent perspective - be that a single narrator figure or whatever - just irritates me.

I haven't read the book in question though.

A skillful author can subtly invite the reader to deduce what a character is thinking by describing how they react and behave, as well as what they say.

Yes, all part of characterisation. Dialogue which tells you exactly what people are thinking is flat and unnatural. It's often called "on the nose" dialogue, and is a surefire way to sound unconvincing. A lot of the time people won't actually be saying what is on their mind, but betray it in other ways.

It's a bit like in acting classes where you are taught to try and be the character hiding their true feelings rather than showing them. Much more challenging.

I have just been listening to an audio book of The Pickwick Papers. You know exactly how Mr Winkle is feeling about the duel
in chapter two from this:

"He took off his cloak, however, in silence - it always took a long time to undo that cloak - and accepted the pistol".

(I haven't read Dickens for 30 years - I had no idea this book was so much fun.)

Oh, Pickwick Papers is just hilarious.

wrt to "on the nose" dialogue - I've been reading dd's Twins at St. Clare's books, and the scenes where somebody has owned up to a failing & the others congratulate her on her courage - nearly parodic. "You see, it's because what you did wasn't sneaky - really you're natural and kind and we all knew that, even though you were brought up in the circus."

Back to orig. purpose of thread: I've just been to the brilliant children's library in the Barbican (hidden gem for anyone who lives or works - NB you can join on your work address - in the City) and have taken out:

• for dd (6 but can read anything, though I'm careful to do age-appropriate content): The Little Grey Men, B.B.
• for ds (8): Jennings Goes to School and another Agent Z book
• for both: The Secret Garden

Jennings is great. Even if I did spend the first ten books or so puzzling over why Linbury Court only had seventy-nine pupils!

(And it's best to gloss over how Jennings and Darbishire manage to stay in Form 3 for something like 30 terms...)

And what's Dan Freedman done to get a clickable link to his Amazon entry above? Hmm?

He probably doesn't even exist. He's probably just a committee and a load of freelancers (mostly middle aged women, who have to keep referring to a crib sheet on how football is played).

My eight year old doesn't yet read on his own, so I am very envious of you all! I love reading children's books, esp. that 8-12 range, and I can't wait until ds's reading catches up with the rest of him (he's dyslexic and hasn't yet got good enough to read to catch the bookworm bug). I can't understadn why films are made of books which then completely dump the plot line and everything that is important about a book. why don't they just make up another story for their films? I remember the Dark is Rising sequence as fantastic, and read it several times as a kid (although was a bit disappointed re-reading it again a few years ago). I wonder about the studio Ghilbi adaptation of the Earthsea books for the same reason - the preview stuff looks a bit muddled up.

DS (8) has been reading Harry Potter, the first one of the Roman Mysteries set from the Book People, Philip Ardagh's Awful End, Martin Booth's Doctor Illuminatus and Soul Stealer, Angie Sage's Physik and Cornelia Funke's Dragon Rider. I bought him Tunnels but he hasn't read that one yet. I'm looking forward to giving him my old Dark is Rising set and Northern Lights trilogy (though may wait a bit yet - if he starts a series he usually wants to read it all and I think the last one of the Northern Lights trilogy is particularly difficult in terms of concepts etc).

nooka - were you really disappointed on reading the Dark is Rising series? Oh no! That was one of my favourites!

re-reading I mean

I was. Not massively, just that it was a series that made a big impact on me when I was growing up and I guess my expectations were maybe too high. I still loved the one with Bran though, it always made me cry when his dog was shot, and still did when I was grown up. It's still on my bookshelf though, and I think the children will enjoy it.

I have to say I don't remember the stories that well - I just know I loved them.

I am resurrecting this thread and looking for more ideas for a bright 10 year old . Her teacher has recommended The Ropemaker by Peter Dickinson, I have ordered Tunnels, Troll Fell, Shade's Children and Over Sea, Under Stone from the library on roisin's recommendations!

Any more ideas for books on a similar level greatly appreciated.

my ds (8) after a summer obsessed with Harry Potter has moved onto the Roman mysteries series - he loves them. He is also reading one about a cat recommended by Blue Peter apparently - I can't remember what it is called though(vardak paw?) I used this thread and he did read a few - he liked HIVE. I have read Northern Lights and really enjoyed it, but I think he is waiting a bit - although now I've read it he wants to.

He also likes the animal ark ones because his younger sister is reading these.

Can anyone recommend any 'gritty reality' type fiction for a bright almost-11-year-old boy who would prefer to read about boys rather than girls and is not very interested in the fantasy genre currently so prevalent for readers his age. He loved Holes and Small Steps_ by Louis Sachar.

How I Live Now by Meg Rossoff was a big hit last year with my two older sons (11 and 14 at the time).
www.penguin.co.uk/nf/Book/BookDisplay/0,,9780141380759,00.html
I read it too and it is excellent.

Varjak Paw! It is truly wonderful!

Cremola - dito re My Family & Other Animals _ I read it on hols @ half-term and was laughing do much that DS (9) swiped it after me and really enjoyed it. Like me his favourite character was the wasp-ish Larry, which prompted me to read the latters' books (tho' not letting DS near those just yet

The Fire Eaters by David Almond is fab, it is aimed at boys.
We also enjoyed Skellig, Secret Heart and Heaven Eyes by him too.