Books for my Nine year old

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Hi All,

My son loves to read. He started to really develop his reading abilities when I introduced him to the Hobbit, and then on the the Lord of the Rings. Since then he has read many of the Harry Potter books and he is starting to be interested in books that I’m not familiar with. I am getting concerned about his reading age appropriate materials only. And not only that, but things that will not undermine his morals and faith. My family, when I was growing up in the 80s, had no restrictions on the books we read. They were very liberal. That said, I don’t want to truncate his creativity. I really enjoyed fantasy fiction and scifi when I was a boy and teen. I am hoping that I can get some recommendations from folks on the forums for a good reading list with age appropriate recommendations.

Here is what I was exposed to when I was a kid:
  • Dune by Frank Herbert - This was good, but very heavy. Religion was syncretic. Strange story. I would have to reread it again as an adult with a fully formed faith to see if there is anything problematic about it.
  • Dragon Lance series - This series has a corrupt religious hierarchy who is basically punished by the Gods to trigger a “religious reformation”. It is also polytheistic. Deals with demons, magic, etc… I reallly liked it as a kid, but as an adult, I don’t think this is good material.
  • Lord Foul’s Bane series: Terrible! I can’t believe my parents let me read this.
  • Xanth books and others by Pierse Anthony - - Basically a hedonistic magical world.Not great.
  • Sword of Shannara books. I read the first three in the series and they were pretty good. At least from my childhood perspective. Although they were really dark at times and lacked some of the humor of the Lord of the Rings.
  • The Clan of the Cave Bear and other books: Here is another one I can’t beleive my parents let me read when I was 13. The later books are basically pornographic.
  • The Gandallara trilogy: Not bad although there are some problematic romance sections.
  • Stephen King books - many: When would you start allowing your kids to read stuff like this? He is twisted in many ways. I would guide my kids away from suck generes in general. What do you think?
My son also likes to read my historical books like Herodotus and Thucidides. He finds Herodotus hilarious. I’m worried about this, because some of the sections are really crude. I can’t shield him from everything bad out there. I mean honestly, there are some shocking things in the Bible, which he also reads on a regular basis.

Please let me know other books you might recommend. I also have a daughter who is still only 3, but if you have ideas of good books you might recommend for girls from ages 9 and up, I would also appreciate it.

God bless,
Ut
 
Anne McCaffrey Dragons of Pern series are pretty good. And no sex.

Heinlein’s SF books for kids are pretty good. I’d stay away from his later books like Stranger in a Strange Land and Job.

How about some of the books that are in the game Author. James Fennimore, Robert Lous Stevenson, Alexandre Dumas.

I liked Jack London (White Fang, Call of the Wild).
 
sallybutler said:
Anne McCaffrey Dragons of Pern series are pretty good. And no sex.

Heinlein’s SF books for kids are pretty good. I’d stay away from his later books like Stranger in a Strange Land and Job.

How about some of the books that are in the game Author. James Fennimore, Robert Lous Stevenson, Alexandre Dumas.

I liked Jack London (White Fang, Call of the Wild).
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Good suggestions! I read Dragons of Pern. I remember liking it. I haven’t heard of Heinlein - but I’ll take a look. Dumas for sure - especially “The Count of Monte Cristo”.

I was also thinking about Ursla Le Guin. But maybe that is too new age…

Thank you!
God bless,
Ut
 
utunumsint said:
Good suggestions! I read Dragons of Pern. I remember liking it. I haven’t heard of Heinlein - but I’ll take a look. Dumas for sure - especially “The Count of Monte Cristo”.

I was also thinking about Ursla Le Guin. But maybe that is too new age…

Thank you!
God bless,
Ut
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The Count of Monte Cristo for a 9 year old! It took me a year to read that in College 😊

Neil Gaiman is a great fantasy author. Some of his short stories have adult themes in them, but he writes Novel for kids. NEVERWHERE was good. CORALINE. GOOD OMENS. STARDUST.

HITCHIKERS GUIDE TO THE GALAXY was fun, though I can’t remember if there are any adult themes in it.

Ray Bradbury is good, too.

Books I read when I was his age were also things like MY SIDE OF THE MOUNTAIN and MANIAC MAGEE and HATCHET. They may be a little simple, given his ability, but they’re still fun and age-appropriate.
 
Gordon Korman is a Canadian writer who writes incredibly funny books. Your son might enjoy his “Bruno and Boots” series about two boys who get up to high jinks at their boarding school, Macdonald Hall. (The first book, “This Can’t Be Happening at Macdonald Hall!” was written when Korman was 12 and published when he was 14.) There’s nothing inappropriate in the books that I can see.

If he’s into adventure books, he might enjoy some of Robert Louis Stevenson’s books, especially if you are able to find adaptations for children.

The Hardy Boys series was a favourite of mine growing up - these are mysteries solved by two brothers, aged 17 and 18. Obviously they’re quite a bit older than your son, but there’s nothing inappropriate in them.

Eric Wilson is another author I quite enjoyed. You might have to search a bit to find his books - they might not be available outside of Canada and/or the U.S. Most of his books are set in Canada, with the exception of “Disneyland Hostage”. He writes about two siblings and their adventures solving mysteries. Some books involve only one sibling, while others involve both.
 
The chronicles of Narnia are easy to read and involve fantasy elements, which it sounds like he likes.
 
I’d like to suggest the Redwall series. It’s a fantasy series centering on mice protecting an abbey and the surrounding area.

I loved these books as a kid.
 
I can recommend two recent books by author Clare Vanderpool: “Navigating Early,” and “Moon Over Manifest.”

With regard to science fiction, when I was young I read the Isaac Asimov Foundation trilogy: “Foundation,” “Foundation and Empire,” and “Second Foundation.” These were all enjoyable. His later additions to the series I liked less.

If he hasn’t already read Gary Paulsen’s “Hatchet,” it is a good read for the realistic account of a city boy forced to survive by his own wits in the Canadian wilderness after a small plane crash.

There is also “The Wednesday Wars” by Gary Schmidt, about a middle school boy whose class is half Catholic, half Jewish. Every Wednesday his classmates are released one hour early to attend catechism class or Hebrew school. But our boy is a lone Methodist, so he spends this one hour every Wednesday with his teacher.
 
X2 for The Chronicles of Narnia…

I have an 8 year old daughter, and I read these along with her. We discuss them and examine the symbolism in them…and what she thinks they represent.

Great books for that age group
 
“The Wind in the Willows” by Kenneth Grahame is magical without being set in a fantasy world. It’s about the adventures of Mole, Rat (a river rat), Toad and Mr. Badger. Although the characters are animals the stories certainly aren’t infantile. The writing is beautiful and the stories full of rich imagery, poetry, and rememberable descriptions of places and characters.
 
utunumsint said:
Here is what I was exposed to when I was a kid:
  • Dune by Frank Herbert - This was good, but very heavy. Religion was syncretic. Strange story. I would have to reread it again as an adult with a fully formed faith to see if there is anything problematic about it.
  • Dragon Lance series - This series has a corrupt religious hierarchy who is basically punished by the Gods to trigger a “religious reformation”. It is also polytheistic. Deals with demons, magic, etc… I reallly liked it as a kid, but as an adult, I don’t think this is good material.
  • Lord Foul’s Bane series: Terrible! I can’t believe my parents let me read this.
  • Xanth books and others by Pierse Anthony - - Basically a hedonistic magical world.Not great.
  • Sword of Shannara books. I read the first three in the series and they were pretty good. At least from my childhood perspective. Although they were really dark at times and lacked some of the humor of the Lord of the Rings.
  • The Clan of the Cave Bear and other books: Here is another one I can’t beleive my parents let me read when I was 13. The later books are basically pornographic.
  • The Gandallara trilogy: Not bad although there are some problematic romance sections.
  • Stephen King books - many: When would you start allowing your kids to read stuff like this? He is twisted in many ways. I would guide my kids away from suck generes in general. What do you think?
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The only one I’m familiar with is Stephen King. I would say no to that one. His stories are scary, but what’s worse is they’re dark and depressing. I wouldn’t want my son to get wrapped up in them.

However, my son is also 9 and loves to read. At the moment he’s reading “Lightning Thief.”

He’s read “Hatchet,” and “The Trumpet of the Swan.” In general, I **HIGHLY **recommend any book written by by Jerry Spinelli for anyone, boy or girl. Funny, sweet, sentimental, encouraging. “Crash,” is a must read.

I also HIGHLY recommend books by Jon Gantos. They’re ‘youth lit’ but my wife and I both think they’re hilarious. Hilarious–but not stupid, or silly, or inappropriate.

Gary Paulsen (“Hatchet”) is another great writer for youth lit. His book, “Lawnboy” is truly funny.
 
Maybe some Terry Pratchett? I don’t think there are any adult themes, I don’t remember any adult content.

The *Discworld *books are hilariously funny, but each one has a really good underlying fantasy story.

Hardy Boys were my go-to back in tha day – I am trying to rebuild my collection, getting some of the old ones, etc. Beware, though, in some of the older ones there are some negative racial stereotypes. I also liked some of the Tom Swift books, the second series written by Victor Appleton II.

I used to like Encyclopedia Brown as a kid, but I found out later that a lot of the mysteries were based on false premises, so that EB was either wrong or possibly right but for the wrong reasons.

Books I remember reading around age 8-10 (and enjoying):
  • The Call of the Wild, Jack London
  • Never Cry Wolf, Farley Mowat
  • 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Jules Verne
  • Around the World in 80 Days, Verne
  • Tom Sawyer, Abroad, Mark Twain – altho’ this will require a bit of discussion re racial epithets and slavery in the antebellum US
  • Huckleberry Finn, Twain - ditto
  • The Swiss Family Robinson, Johann Wyss
  • A Wrinkle in Time, Madeleine L’Engle
  • The *Narnia *books (I read The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and A Horse and His Boy), CS Lewis
  • The Mouse That Roared, Leonard Wibberley
  • The Mouse On The Moon, Wibberley
  • How to Eat Fried Worms, Thomas Rockwell (one of my faves!)
  • Watership Down, Richard Adams
  • Where the Red Fern Grows, Wilson Rawls
  • A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens
  • Frosty: A Raccoon to Remember, Harriett Weaver
  • Little Men, Louisa May Alcott
Also, maybe a good collection of short stories. I liked Bradbury and O. Henry. There is also a character named Professor Augustus S. F. X. Van Dusen*, Ph.D., LL.D., F.R.S., M.D., M.D.S. (a.k.a. The Thinking Machine), by Jacques Futrelle; the first story I read him in was “The Problem of Cell 13”; I read it when I was 11, but I don’t think it is too advanced for a bright 9-year-old.

*Wanna bet with initials F.X. he’s Catholic? 😃
 
Has he gone through the Percy Jackson series? My 9 year old (almost 10) also loves fantasy and sci-fi and just got through the series (she read all 5 books, plus a couple of the other books that aren’t in the series but part of the Percy Jackson line up, all since starting school in September.) She loved it.

She’s also reading though The Adventures of Robin Hood. I can’t vouch for how age appropriate this is though. We downloaded it for free off of Amazon (it’s old enough to be in the domain) in a moment of “I ran out of books to read off of my shelves and need to have something to read for school!” but she’s liked it well enough and hasn’t mentioned anything sordid (and she’s the type who would.)

My only other suggestion would be to talk to the local librarian, especially if you have a children’s librarian. Or the school librarian. In my experience, they are more than happy to talk to parents of kids who have advanced young readers to find something up to par yet appropriate! And then if you have any doubts, read it before he does.
 
sallybutler said:
Anne McCaffrey Dragons of Pern series are pretty good. And no sex.
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I agree that the books are good. I’ve read most of them myself. However I have to DISAGREE about the no sex. It is there, if only by implication - very heavy implication in a few instances. OP - it all depends on how mature your son is as to whether he’d pick up on this.

Also, the dragonriders are tied to their dragon’s animal instincts and taken over by them when the dragons mate.Is that how you want your son to see the sexual act? As an animalistic act that cannot be controlled so you should Just Do It?

Finally, when two dragons mate, their riders mate as well, often with each other. And there is only ONE female dragon rider in the entire series (that I’m aware of) that does not ride a Queen dragon. Queens mate with Bronzes, and occassionally Browns. Browns, Greens, and Blues mate with each other. So, while the author does not OPENLY advocate for homosexual acts, it’s there if you read between the lines.

As I said earlier, I’ve read the books. I still own many of the books. The auther is a very talented storywriter who can bring life to a whole world with her words. But I would not let my 11 year old son read them yet.
 
Thank you all for your recommendations. Here the list of authors recommended so far in alphabetical order:

Alexandre Dumas - Yes, the Count of Montecristo is probably too old for age 9 🙂
**Asimov Foundation **- Isn’t he an atheist? Not that kids should never read books by people who think differently than we do, but is it wise?
**Clare Vanderpool ** Looks promising!
Encyclopedia Brown Interesting
Farley Mowat - I read Never Cry Worlf when I was a kid too.
Gary Paulsen Very very very recommended on this thread! 🙂 I’ll look into the Hatchet series.
Gary Schmidt Looks promising.
Gordon Korman I read him when I was a kid. I certainly liked his stuff.
Harriett Weaver Looks like a classic.
Robert A. Heinlein I feel compelled to read him now that I know he is the "Dean of scifi writers. 🙂
**Jack London ** For sure.
James Fennimore Last of the Mohicans! Absolutely. I had read this too when I was young. The movie isn’t half bad either.
**Jerry Spinelli ** Another one who has been highly recommended here. I’ll look into it.
Johann Wyss The Swiss Family Robinson, for sure!
Jon Gantos I’m having a hard time tracking down his works.
Jules Verne I just bought 10000 Leagues Under the Sea. My son is already very interested.
**Kenneth Grahame ** Interesting.
Leonard Wibberley Also interesting.
Louisa May Alcott My boys and my girl will have no choice but to see Little Women. I did not know there was a sequel called Little Men.
Madeleine L’Engle Oh, this might be a good one. A Wrinkle in Time seems very promising.
Mark Twain Yes!
Neil Gaiman I have seen the movie Coraline. It was erie. I wonder what the book would be like.
O. Henry I like books you can find on the public domain.
**Ray Bradbury ** Yes
Richard Adams Yes
Robert Lous Stevenson Yes
Terry Pratchett I might try to read this myself first.
Thomas Rockwell I read How to Eat Fried Worms when I was a kid. Yes!
Ursla Le Guin Not sure this would is good.
Wilson Rawls Seems promising.

Good point about the Dragons of Pern books. You know, I never even registered that, although I read it a long time ago. This is the kind of stuff I want to defend my kids against.

And yes, absolutely, I will not introduce my son to Stephen King.

Has anyone ever heard of Elena Maria Vidal and her books on the French Revolution? Would they be good for kids?

God bless,
Ut
 
Interesting article about Pratchett. He does not believe in God, but he is not anti religious.

dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1028222/I-create-gods-time–I-think-exist.html

"I don’t have much truck with the ’ religion is the cause of most of our wars’ school of thought because that is manifestly done by mad, manipulative and power-hungry men who cloak their ambition in God.

I number believers of all sorts among my friends. Some of them are praying for me. I’m happy they wish to do this, I really am, but I think science may be a better bet."

That is kind of him. But what does this guy have to teach my sons and my daughter? There is a balance between exposing my kids to different perspectives, and giving them teachers in non-belief. Is Pratchett one of these for my kids? Or Asimov? Is it worth the risk?
Someone called Ursula Le Guin New age - I’d like to protest this strongly as someone who has read a lot of her work. She is far superior to that sort of drivel and I’d highly recommend the Earthsea Series.
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I also read a lot of her works, and liked them. But that was so long ago, and I read them uncritically, so I don’t know.
Another set of books I’d recommend for a child who loves to read and is fairly mature in outlook is TH White’s, ‘The Once and Future King’. Especially for the way he shows a compassionate understanding of humanity, it’s just as shame the writer was not so compassionate towards himself.
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Looks interesting.

God bless,
Ut
 
utunumsint said:
Hi All,

My son loves to read. He started to really develop his reading abilities when I introduced him to the Hobbit, and then on the the Lord of the Rings. Since then he has read many of the Harry Potter books and he is starting to be interested in books that I’m not familiar with. I am getting concerned about his reading age appropriate materials only.

Please let me know other books you might recommend. I also have a daughter who is still only 3, but if you have ideas of good books you might recommend for girls from ages 9 and up, I would also appreciate it.

God bless,
Ut
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Have you tried the “Dear America” series? Probably easy reading level for him but interesting historical topics. Definitely Chronicles of Narnia. If at all interested in horses, The Black Stallion series by Walter Farley (male main characters throughout and totally clean).
And if you’re okay with the tv series, there are literally hundreds of Star Trek (and ST:TNG, etc.) books out there by Pocket Books - might be a few implied intimate encounters (but nothing graphic that I recall - certainly nothing more than was on the show!) - that have lots of sci-fi, lots of action and actually quite a bit of morality in them.

For your dd, when when she’s ready, Little House books and books by Marguerite Henry (if she likes horses). My dd is above the reading level, but still enjoys the Junie B. Jones books as well as the Boxcar Children.

Good luck!
 
It’s true that Asimov is an atheist. It doesn’t seem to affect his fiction, especially his early fiction, unduly. In the Foundation series, for example, it is not so much that religion is deprecated, it is simply ignored. It is as though Asimov just expected religion to quietly disappear as the centuries went on. It was a blind spot for him, but I didn’t take much note of it as a kid reading the Foundation series.

He wrote a short story called “The Final Question” which can be read on line, and which I read in a SF magazine at about the age of 11. The story ends with the universe sort of creating itself. It’s a very clever story, and I liked it even then, but it never adversely affected my faith.
 
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