Another recommendation thread, 12 yr DS?

[jeca]

I need book recommendations for DS. He's 12 years old and can read almost anything, he's on an 11th grade reading level. So far his favorite book series is the Percy Jackson series. Does anyone know of something like that?

[JessicaS]

Has he read Artemis Fowl?

The Abhorsen books by Garth Nix are excellent. It is the only book ever bought just because I liked the cover. I have since purchased several copies for relatives who also enjoyed them.

Isn't it pretty though?

http://www.amazon.com/Sabriel-Abhors...830825&sr=1-14

I also liked the Bartimaeus books by Jonathan Stroud

All three have fantasy elements.

[ollyoxenfree]

Originally Posted by abimommy

The Abhorsen books by Garth Nix are excellent. It is the only book ever bought just because I liked the cover. I have since purchased several copies for relatives who also enjoyed them.

All great suggestions. We really enjoyed Sabriel etc. Garth Nix has another, longer series, The Keys to the Kingdom, but for a slightly younger audience, I'd say. It starts with Mr. Monday.

Ken Oppel has a couple of good series - Silverwing starts one and Airborn is the first in the other.

I always skip past classics like Lord of the Rings, because I figure they've probably already been read. If not, 12 is a good age to start the trilogy.

[Thalia the Muse]

My DD is reading the Septimus Heap books right now and LOVES them. There's also Fablehaven, and the trilogy that starts with the Sea of Trolls. And the Inkheart series.

We are really living in a golden age of children's fantasy novels, aren't we?

[raksmama]

I personally don't like them. However the Diary of a Wimpy Kid books have all kinds of boys reading,even those who did not like to read before, so I'll have to give the books some credit.
Ds (11) was a late reader but that series really got him enjoying reading on his own.

He just started the Lightning Thief but it is a little bit difficult for him, so he prefers to read it with me,he reads a page I read a page.

[jeca]

He's read Diary of a wimpy kid and did not care for it much. I think it was "enough" for him. He's read the inkheart series but not Septemus Heap, I will ask him about that one. I didn't even think about LOTR that's a great idea. I will look into all the suggestions, thanks!

[Amaranth]

It's a little violent, but "The Hunger Games" and "Catching Fire" are very good (and my just turned 13 y.o. ds liked them a lot).

He also likes Roland Smith a lot ("Cryptid Hunters" was good, but "Elephant Run" - historic fiction set in WWII Burma - was his favorite).

He loved the Fablehaven series.

He's reading "Zoobreak" by Gordon Korman right now, its a sequel to "Swindle".

This is a hard age - there's a ton of really good YA stuff that my ds *can* read but it's a little too mature in terms of sex and violence, I think. Maybe I'm trying to shelter him too much.

[Suzannah]

I cannot recommend the Maximum Ride series enough. James Patterson.

Also, Margaret Haddix series that starts with Among the Hidden. Substantially younger than 11th grade, but very good.

House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer
Ender's Game series by Orson Scott Card
Gone by Michael Grant

All fabulous, not just by a teacher's standards (me) but also highly recommended by all of my students (boys and girls alike).

[Pinoikoi]

My 11yo is reading Star Wars books.

Originally Posted by Suzannah

Ender's Game series by Orson Scott Card

All fabulous, not just by a teacher's standards (me) but also highly recommended by all of my students (boys and girls alike).

Xenocide (number 3) is HIDEOUS. Awful awful book. So boring. I have even seen comics making jokes out of how awful it is.

Speaker for the Dead (number 2) was not as bad but did take me a while to finish compared to Ender's Game... I have heard that Ender's Shadow is pretty good though as well as some of the newer parts to the series.. but yeah, I hate Xenocide a lot. I wanted to read the series in its original order, and I cannot bear to pick this title up again. Yuck.

Ah yes, this is the one..

http://forums.xkcd.com/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=10049

[NYCVeg]

People have already recommended much of what I was going to:
Fablehaven
Septimus Heap
Suzanne Collins's Hunger Games trilogy

Suzanne Collins's earlier series, "Gregor the Overlander," is also great. We also liked "The Thief Lord," by Cornelia Funke (of the Inheart books). The Mysterious Benedict Society books are also good. Gary Schmidt's books are amazing--not a series, but every one I've read has been fabulous.

Has he read the Madeleine L'Engle books?

[Suzannah]

Originally Posted by Pinoikoi

Xenocide (number 3) is HIDEOUS. Awful awful book. So boring. I have even seen comics making jokes out of how awful it is.

AGREE. I couldn't get through it. I did just have a really unmotivated student finish that book, though, and he said he thought I should try again. Probably won't, but this kid liked it. Speaker for the Dead started off merely okay, but I did like it when I finished.

[simple living mama]

Another one here for Artemis Fowl series. My kids LOVED them. We just read a fun one called Al Capone Does My Shirts. About two young kids living on the island of Alcatraz at the time Machine Gun Kelly and Al Capone were imprisoned there. It was excellent.

[Suzannah]

Originally Posted by simple living mama

We just read a fun one called Al Capone Does My Shirts. About two young kids living on the island of Alcatraz at the time Machine Gun Kelly and Al Capone were imprisoned there. It was excellent.

There's a sequel to that, I think called Al Capone Shines my Shoes. Also, try The Youngest Templar; two books in the series are out, and they are really good.

[Pinoikoi]

Originally Posted by NYCVeg

Suzanne Collins's Hunger Games trilogy

Suzanne Collins's earlier series, "Gregor the Overlander," is also great.

I have read Hunger Games and the sequel, but I didn't think the third one was out yet? Number 1 was MUCH better than number 2, but I liked both immensely, went through them very quickly.

Originally Posted by Amaranth

It's a little violent, but "The Hunger Games" and "Catching Fire" are very good (and my just turned 13 y.o. ds liked them a lot).

Lots of action and the violence seemed appropriate almost in a "survival of the fittest" sense. The main character's actions aren't even violent- mostly outwits the competition- nature vs. man, etc. as opposed to solely man vs. man.. Lots of distopia/utopia themes as well. I would pair it with 1984 or The Giver maybe.

I will have to read the Gregor the Overlander series- I was unfamiliar with her other works.

[simple living mama]

Originally Posted by Suzannah

There's a sequel to that, I think called Al Capone Shines my Shoes. Also, try The Youngest Templar; two books in the series are out, and they are really good.

Far-out! Thanks Suzannah.

[neptunemama]

My dd loved both of the Al Capone books.

I recommend the Alex Rider series by Anthony Horowitz. The first book is Stormbreaker.