Reading recommendations for an 11yo boy

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Thanks everyone for the responses. I find some of the recommendations “heavy”, so I have ordered him a copy of Homer Price which I think I read at his age.

I have written down the list that you have provided me with and will present various ones to him as time progresses. Next on the list is Encyclopedia Brown. I read the Magicians Apprentice to him years ago, and I think I might continue with the Narnia series and then read the Hobbit to see how that works out. I’ll complete Horatio first as he seems to have some interest in it, but I don’t think he has the interest to fight his way though it yet.

So thanks again!

Hilary
 
O_Duirnin said:
I wouldn’t give too much credence to a publisher’s ideas of exactly which books are suitable for which age groups either. The Hobbit’s good in many ways. It has quite a gripping, adventurous theme, it moves along a relatively quick pace, it has just the right amount of well timed moments of comic relief, and has enough depth to keep an adult helping the child out with it entertained.

I borrowed the Hobbit out of the library when I was about 10 or 11, despite my mother’s insistence that all Tolkein was dry and boring. I ended up devouring it in about two or three sittings and before I knew it I’d moved on to the Lord of the Rings. Despite my understanding of the Lord of the Rings being rather limited, I still found it absolutely terrific, and going back to it at about 14 or 15 gave it a much greater depth.
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Reading levels of children’s books are based primarily on the vocabulary in the book, and I believe that the organizations that assign these levels are various library science groups, literacy groups, etc., not publishers. Perhaps the publishers utilize the software that these groups have developed to assign reading levels to their books.

My novels for children are assigned a reading level of “8th grade.” (Harry Potter books, BTW, are assigned a 6th grade reading level, so I’m surprised that no one has suggested these great books for the 11-year-old in the OP). I think what pushed my novels up to this level is the use of all the skating terms which are unfamiliar to most children (lutz, choctaw, back lunge intersection, freestyle, salchow, axel, zamboni, Mondors, rocker, toepick, soakers, blade guards, synchronized skating, three-turns, mohawks, Ina Bauers, eggbeaters, etc.) I also have a fictional world police organization in my novels, and of course that means a fictional list of departments, officer rankings, duties, etc. (e.g., the Innovation Lab, the Juvenile Specialist, the Supervisor, Consulting vs. Active Officers, holster, Chief Information Specialist, Chief Medical Officer, funeral, covert operations, etc.)
 
How about John D. Fitzgerald’s “Great Brain” series (especially “Me and My Little Brain”? What boy (or girl) can’t identify with a protagonist who has a brilliant older brother whom he tries to emulate, but then discovers his own talents are more than enough when he has to save his kid brother from an escaped murderer? And believe it or not, it’s funny!

Or, “The Three Investigators” series (the original one, by Robert Anderson) is also great!
 
Take a look at Redwall, if he devours those, get him Watership Down.
 
hilarycotter said:
Thanks everyone for the responses. I find some of the recommendations “heavy”, so I have ordered him a copy of Homer Price which I think I read at his age.

I have written down the list that you have provided me with and will present various ones to him as time progresses. Next on the list is Encyclopedia Brown. I read the Magicians Apprentice to him years ago, and I think I might continue with the Narnia series and then read the Hobbit to see how that works out. I’ll complete Horatio first as he seems to have some interest in it, but I don’t think he has the interest to fight his way though it yet.

So thanks again!

Hilary
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Homer Price! Great choice. Great memories!
 
Hilary, I keep a copy of O’Brien’s A Landscape With Dragons in my library bag. The book itself is for parents and discusses the importance of reading good stories to our kids. At the back of this reprinting, the publisher has added a book list divided into age groups. I use this many times to find books for my homeschooled boys.

My 10-yo and 12-yo both enjoyed Homer Price, but that was their school for the past six weeks (Beyond Five in a Row). They are currently reading the graphic novels based on the Warrior series by Erin Hunter. My 12-yo especially is a reluctant reader, so I have him read to me. When he is interested, he does much better.

And if you are the Hilary Cotter I remember from Cathswap chat, you might want to let people know that you are the dad.😉
 
Pretty much anything by Howard Pyle

Men of Iron
The Adventures of Robin Hood
King Arthur and His Court

Also many libraries have some or all of the “We Were There…” books. These were a series of historical fiction books that placed kids in historical events. For instance, one of them recounts the battle of Gettysburg from the standpoint of a young boy (about your son’s age) whose family owned a farm that became part of the battlefield.

There are a slew of them and they were written in a much earlier era when standards for children’s literature was more circumspect.

Here is a website with some information about them.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/We_Were_There

readingwell.com/pg-wewerethere.html
 
I took a class in children’s and adolescent literature and the professor put me on to the Redwall books that many others have mentioned. I also like the idea of the illustrated classics. You can even find comic book versions of some of those. Another series my professor recommended was “The Dark is Rising” by Susan Cooper. It is Arthurian legend allegory. The first book is called “Over Sea Under Stone.” Some others I remember are “Tuck Everlasting” and “The Hobbit.” In my paper for the class, I looked at a lot of Robert Heinlein “juveniles” which were science fiction adventure stories written for boys about the age of your son.
You might also try Sherlock Holmes stories.

-USM
 
kage_ar said:
The Narnia books

The Redwall series

The Hobbit/Lord of the Rings
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👍

I completely agree with this list. I had kids that hated to read, and these were fantastic for them Start with Narnia, and then go down.

For some reason my kids loved the classics more than the “fun” books. It wasn’t until they began to read the classics that they started to read with enthusiasm and joy. Sometimes the “fun” books are just too “easy” for them to enjoy or hold their interest.
 
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