Books for kids

[dadofandrew]

Specifically, my 8 year-old son, who reads at a 11-12 y/o level. He has devoured Harry Potter, Magic Treehouse, Encyclopedia Brown, 29 Flight Down, and the Hatchet series. He has a long bus ride, and knocks out titles daily. He also enjoys non-fiction science and technology stuff.

[TheEndless7]

Might be a little advanced but I'd suggest Coraline or The Graveyard Book both by Neil Gaiman. Graveyard book won the Newberry in 2009, and Coraline was made into a pretty good animated film a year or two ago.

 

When You Reach Me by uhm...I want to say Rebecca Stead isn't bad, either, but my skew a bit more to a female audience. It's kinda like a more modern Wrinkle in Time. I think it won the Newberry in 2010.

 

Holes by Louis Sachar may be pretty interesting too, it's about a kid sent to a juvinile detention camp for a crime he didn't actually commit.

 

The Giver is a staple, but I think it's taught in a lot of Freshman English classes in high school anymore.

 

Neil Schusterman's The Schwa Was Here may also be something that may interest him.

 

Really, it'll be hard to go wrong with anything that won the Newberry, althogh some titles may skew a bit younger. As he gets a few years older, too, anything that won or was nominated for hte National Book Award in young people literature, or the Printz award will be a good bet. Although some of the Printz ones lately have been a tad confusing ((Punkzilla standing out in 2010)) and they are starting to skew a bit more from the 14-18 crowd to an 18+ crowd.

 

Of the ones above, The Graveyard Book is probably the best of the bunch. And Neil Gaiman is by far the best author mentioned above. No offense to the others, he's just in a league of his own.

 

The biggest issue with literature for this age group from around 11-18 is that most of it skews very heavily toward a female audience. It's hard to find many quality things that are engaging to boys. Again, as he gets a tad older it becomes easier, when things like Orson Scott Card's Ender's Game are more at the age level, but that's probably closer to 13-14.

[JoeHova]

Anything by George Orwell or Evelyn Waugh.

[RobertR]

Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories might be a little advanced, but would seem to fit his interests.

 

The Graveyard Book is a good recommendation. Michael Chabon's Summerland probably would fit as well. There are about a dozen well regarded Robert Heinlein juvenile science-fiction books out there.

 

Robert

[1992casey]

Anything by George Orwell or Evelyn Waugh.

 

I think it's important to remember that the boy is eight. An advanced reading level doesn't necessarily mean that he's ready to understand or appreciate content that's advanced for his age. Along with that, there's a lot of "advanced" content that his parents might not appreciate him reading until he's a teenager. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif

 

Maybe he'd like to try the Narnia books.

[rwa12]

Ender's Game might be around his level. One of the few Science Fiction books I enjoy!

[GoudaBrew]

I really enjoyed The Giver when I was a kid. I was probably more like 12 when I read it though.

[RobertR]

The Hobbit probably is a good idea for a young reader as well, although the rest of Tolkein's books are better held off on.

 

Robert

[hammytime]

I'm currently reading The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster with my 4th and 5th graders. I love it because of the rich language and the way the author plays with words. I talked it up before we started, and my class (27 students, varying levels of ability) are all enjoying it. The characters are wonderful, and there is a lot to make you think.

[Schlitz001]

I'll second The Giver. I read that in 4th grade. I also really enjoyed Watership Down around that same time. Those are still two of my favorites.

[stoutdude04]

The boy who saved baseball is a 4th-5th grade level book.

[Point Beer Is Best]

At his age I had an extensive collection of "Choose Your Own Adventure" books, and was really into simplistic biographies of past Presidents.

 

Also, and I will deny it under oath, I was really into Star Trek: The Next Generation fan fiction.

[TracyThom]

I am trying to get my son into the Encyclopedia Brown series. I loved them when I was a kid. They have been reprinted and are readily available at Barnes and Noble.

 

I think your son might like the Three Investigators series. (by Robert Arthur) I really liked them when I was 11 years old. However, they are out of print and may be hard to find.

[stoutdude04]

Matt Christopher is a popular sports author as well.

[RobertR]

I think your son might like the Three Investigators series. (by Robert Arthur) I really liked them when I was 11 years old. However, they are out of print and may be hard to find.

I really liked those books as well at that age. Definitely ones to look out for.

 

Robert

 

 

[bork]

I enjoyed reading HG Wells and Jules Verne when I was in grade school.

[et bbal]

The Three investigators and Matt Christopher. Ahh the memories. Along with The Hardy Boys, these were my faves growing up.

[RobertR]

I mentioned it earlier, but a list and synopsis of each of Heinlein's juvenile science fiction books can be found at http://www.severing.nu/juvie.htm .

 

I suspect Al would enjoy The Moon is a Harsh Mistress by Heinlein as well.

 

Robert

[docduany]

I was a big fan of Matt Christopher's books.