Really good book for 11 year old boy

[parentsonthenet]

Not Alex Rider, Tom Gates, Wimpy Kid,

Read Billionaire Boy and Gangster Granny so can take any very good recommendations of David Walliams.

We are looking for two books, don't have to be part of the same series but they have to be interesting from the start and real page turners.

Fighting a losing reading battle here and need to reignite the flame!!

Appreciate any help thanks

Ds has the following on the go

Pokemon ultimate handbook i
The 104 storey treehouse series
Guinness world records 2022
Beano subscription for weekly comics
Harry Potter obvs

DS has enjoyed all the David Baddiel books he has read. He's getting more for Christmas

Percy Jackson books? My ds loves them and he’s hard to engage with reading.

But ultimately he prefers fact books - a lot of kids books are fantasy type and they doesn’t sit well with DS (he likes Percy Jackson because it’s based on the ancient Greeks).

The knife of never letting go by Patrick Ness - has a couple of follow on books as well

DS has enjoyed the Wings of Fire series by Tui Sutherland, and Last Kids on Earth by Max Brallier. Both have graphic novels as well as normal novels as part of the series. A graphic novel could get him motivated? Also, best book for this age and not interested in reading is Holes by Louis Sachar - a really inspiring but easy read!

What are you reading to him? Our reluctant reader, who is 12, will read the Beano, treehouse, dog man etc. then we read higher level books to him - clan of the wave bear, sky priates etc. We're reading A street cat named Bob at the moment, but may not be suitable if your 11 year old is still at primary.

All of the Rick Riordan books (Percy Jackson series and others) were a huge hit with my DS.
Also Artemis Fowl series and anything by David Baddiel. He also liked all of the David Walliams books.

@ShowMeHow

Ds has the following on the go

Pokemon ultimate handbook i
The 104 storey treehouse series
Guinness world records 2022
Beano subscription for weekly comics
Harry Potter obvs

Is Harry Potter a really obvious choice then for this age range? Sorry. I've never read it. 🙈

@Iggly

Percy Jackson books? My ds loves them and he’s hard to engage with reading.

But ultimately he prefers fact books - a lot of kids books are fantasy type and they doesn’t sit well with DS (he likes Percy Jackson because it’s based on the ancient Greeks).

Ah this cropped up when I asked Google this morning and I thought it could sound like a contender.

Is he too old for BeastQuest or Dinosaur Cove?

@PineappleWilson

What are you reading to him? Our reluctant reader, who is 12, will read the Beano, treehouse, dog man etc. then we read higher level books to him - clan of the wave bear, sky priates etc. We're reading A street cat named Bob at the moment, but may not be suitable if your 11 year old is still at primary.

That's why we want two books. One for me to read to him and one for him to read for himself.

@Newchallenge

Is he too old for BeastQuest or Dinosaur Cove?

Beast quest I think is too far fantasy for him. He did try one book once but gave up I'm afraid.

A book to read to him - I would try “The 1,000 year old boy”. It’s such a lovely story and both of us enjoyed it.

If he is into history:

Kevin Crossley-Holland: The Seething Stone (1st in an Arthur Trilogy)

Ds has loved all the books in this series - actually laugh out loud funny… (even I laughed, we’ve been reading some of them together) -

The Chicken Nugget Ambush (Roman Garstang Disasters) www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1848124848/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_DZR339449T7396KQ62CE?tag=mumsnetforu03-21

Holes by Louis Sachar is good
My 12yo is currently engaged by Frank Cotrell-Boyce, reading 'Framed' currently
We've recently read together 'The boy who sailed an ocean in an armchair' and Terry Pratchetts 'The Carpet People'
I'd also recommend quite a few of the Eva Ibbotson books
And for something trickier, but engaging to read together 'The Wolves of Willoughby Chase' (and sequels) or 'The Box of Delights' (which is nicely xmassy)

Percy Jackson got my dt through the first lock down and because they did about ancient Greeks at school they had a bit of background knowledge. Bought all 5 books for £10 at the works. They went on to watch the movies too.
Also David badiel was a hit.
Dt1 is not a reader but loves facts /knowledge so I often get him books about things he's interested in like history and geography.
Dc1 is a reluctant reader due to dyslexia but he read and understood most of the gcse texts in comic form and passed gcse English literature. So books written in comic form for teens maybe an option.

Thanks all for your input this gives me plenty to work with.

I've a very reluctant 11 yr old boy, and he recently enjoyed skellig. Also the Indian in the cupboard.

From March 2020 I tried to get my then just turned 11 year old DS2 (last few months of year 6) to read every day. It didn't quite work as planned but he did read and watch a bit of Horrible Histories most days. We mostly read about 6 Michael Morpurgo books together, that he mostly read to dp and myself rather than otherwise. I never quite got him to read or do much else on his own. I also set him a few mini research projects - sets of questions that he needed to find the answers online to, and talk through things with us. These included bits on the Blitz and the homefront, London during WWII, early years of football history, including some black footballers. This included quite a bit of online reading. Interestingly, when he was just learning to read and when he was quite young, my mum was quite impressed by how much playing games seemed to boost his reading ability.

We live in a very diverse bit of north London, much of it built in the late 19th and early 20th centuries around the developing railways.

DS1 was a bit later starting to read, then was a really keen independent reader from year 3 until year 7. In year 8, he developed a more active social life before the pandemic and started reading the first volume of Lord of the Rings - I keep trying to persuade him to try other books but without much joy. When he was reading a lot at about your son's age, he liked Diana Wynne Jones, Philip Reeves, Rick Riordan, Malorie Blackman - quite a bit of fantasy but mixed with some very recognisable this world reality too.

Stonebird by Mike Revell

My son loves the skullduggery pleasant series. He's almost 11.

The Diamond Brothers series by Anthony Horowitz are very funny.
Maybe a good solid (modern) classic like Goodnight Mr Tom.
Roald Dahl? His autobiography Boy is brilliant.

Tom Mitchell's books are brilliant - start with his first "How to Rob a Bank"

DS2 (nearly 12) is a reluctant reader but will always read Asterix. He is currently doing well on Terry Pratchett's Wee Free Men.