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

What about the Young Sherlock Series. My son has read many of the same as your son and just read all these. (He doesn't like Perry Jackson or any Sci fi type books).

We really enjoyed The Carpet People by Terry Pratchett. It's about tiny people who live in a carpet and a battle. I guess it's kind of Tolkien like but lighter with humour.

Horrible histories box set. Anything by Rick Riordan. Mine also enjoyed the Willard Price animal adventure books but quite old and probably not 'PC' anymore.....

The Alex Rider series by Anthony Horowitz has been a firm favourite here

Also The Explorer

Anything by Katherine Rundell - there are quite a few

The Castle of Tangled Magic, The Girl who speaks bear, and the house of chicken legs all by Sophie Anderson

Dragon Mountain by Katie and kevin Tsang

Anything by Onjali Q Rauf

Smelling by David Arnold

The switch by Anthony Horowitz

Holes

Tom Mitchell is one of DS’ English teachers!

Anything by Darren Shan. Cirque du Freak saga is excellent it is a 12 book saga but worth it. Other series by Darren Shan will be shorter. His books are like kids horror (not scary) cirque due freak is about a vampires assistant

My 12yo has just spent months reading The Chronicles of Ancient Darkness (8 book series).

If he's not keen on fantasy what about some more realistic children's classics like The Machine Gunners, Tom's Midnight Garden (timeslip but otherwise no fantasy), Stig of the Dump, The Boy with the Bronze Axe, Swallows and Amazons, My Family and Other Animals, The Silver Sword, or Danny Champion of the World (my favourite Roald Dahl).

Redwall series by Brian Jacques.
Narnia series by CS Lewis.
The Green Ember series by SD Smith.

My DS adores all of these, and frequently returns to Tintin and Asterix as well.

Machine Gunners - Robert Westall

Percy Jackson and other Rick Riordan books
Harry Potter
Matt Haig (to be a cat, and another one about trolls)
Podkin One Ear
Holes

Also 39 Steps series

All of Ross Welford's books are great.

Yes, Machine Gunners
Roman Mysteries by Caroline Lawrence

Oops I think I didn't hit post:

CHERUB (though if he didn't like Alex Rider he may not like these).

I second Artemis Fowl.

The Wind Singer

Children of the Lamp

Lion Boy

For reading together, depending on his sense of humour, some of the Terry Pratchett books might be suitable.

Not great works of literature, but they are written to grab kids' attention - maybe the goosebump series? Or an anthology like "Scary stories to tell in the dark."

As for Harry Potter etc, yes suitable for 11 year olds. I would recommend starting soon (if he wants to read it) as otherwise he might find the first two books a bit babyish.

Also Groosham Grange but there are only 2 books (the series was left as it is a wizarding school series and Harry Potter was climbing in popularity at the time).

My reluctant reading tween was turned around by Rick Riordan. I think he's finished all the Percy Jacksons and now ploughing through Magnus Chase.

Definitely Harry Potter too. He's a great age to start.

Is Harry Potter a really obvious choice then for this age range? Sorry. I've never read it.
Yup. The first book starts as Harry turns 11 y.o.

DS loved the Special Forces Cadets series by Chris Ryan who was in the special forces so they are quite realistic (although they cadets are children) he didn’t like Alex Rider as he said it was too far fetched and his spy cadets were silly 😂.

He’s outgrown Harry Potter but if your DS hasn’t read them yet, he would probably enjoy them.

CHERUB is worth a punt, I preferred them to Alex Rider by some margin, they do get quite adult by the end of the series if he gets into them though.

Harry Potter also a good shout, and agree with the recommendation for Artemis Fowl and for Percy Jackson.

One of my favourite books as a child (which is only a two book series so might be more accessible feeling than a long series?) was called Harry and the Wrinklies. It's about a boy who goes off to live in a rambling mansion with assorted aunts and uncles who turn out to be criminals and the high jinks that follow.

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_and_the_Wrinklies

I've looked at the Cherub books on Amazon and the reviews are very good, but I saw that his mum dies and I'm not sure about that.

We did try to start Beetle Boy once and it was a bit sensitive and he didn't want to go further with the book.

As I think I'd enjoy Harry Potter too and we can follow up with the film I'm going to get that one for me to read to him.

The trouble with a lot of children's adventure stories is that they have to kill off the parents or how do you facilitate the children having loads of adventures?

If you think about it harry potter's parents have died, Artemis Fowl the father is missing presumed dead and the mother is having a breakdown, Harry and the Wrinklies the parents have been killed, even books like The Secret Island by Enid Blyton the parents are missing. It's a plot device to allow for fun stories.

I don't know if that's something that would help if you explained it or just ruin a load of books?

I read books on Net galley pre publication. A couple of months ago I read Pony by RJ Palacio. It's about a boy who has a ghost as a friend. One night his father is kidnapped and the boy goes to look for him. It is an adventure story with a supernatural magical element though not frightening. It is aimed at 9-11 but even as an adult I loved it. Would definitely recommend.

My Brother is a Superhero

Underdogs by Chris Bonnello, neurodiverse dystopia series, full of action and thought provoking. My 11 year old son loves them.

My ds absolutely loves Ross Welford

• Time Travelling with my hamster, The dog that saved the world, The 1000 year old boy.

They're funny but with a bit of a science / history twist.