What is your gifted child reading?

[Mom31]

Ds just finished the Harry Potter series and we are looking for a new series for him.  Right now he is interested in the Holocaust and reading The Diary of Anne Frank. Any suggestions?  He is 8 and in 2/3rd grade....( does some third grade classes)

[LuckyMommaToo]

DS finished the HP series during the summer after first grade, so I know where you're coming from. Percy Jackson is his second love after HP, so definitely try that (plus he's now an expert on Greek mythology!). Others to look into:

-- the Septimus Heap series

-- Spiderwick Chronicles

-- Dragonrider (not a series though)

-- The Extraordinary Adventures of Ordinary Boy

-- Dan Gutman and Gordon Korman have a lot of great books for that age. (Gutman's "million dollar shot" series, Korman's "Swindle")

-- the three "Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing" books were a huge success. But they do nod to the truth behind Santa, so if your DS is true believer, avoid these.

-- for non-fiction, look up the Childhood of Famous Americans series. DS loves those.

I'm sure I'll think of more and come back. I love children's lit (and my local library!).

-e

[Mom31]

thanks!!!  I will for sure look for these- his passion is the used book store!  Too bad it is a few towns away so we can't go often.

[joensally]

If he's sensitive, I'd steer him away from Anne Frank.  It's a true story, as opposed to fantasy.

There's a lot of good children's fiction, including lots of series. Make friends with your librarian.  Some of My Best Friends are Books is a good book to reference.

[Mom31]

He is handling it fine- he reads war books too...  from usborne. He likes non fiction.

[LuckyMommaToo]

Oh, DS also LOVES war books. Keep an eye out for a series called Horrible Histories.

http://www.amazon.com/Blood-Curdling-Horrible-Histories-Terry-Deary/dp/1407108158/ref=pd_sim_b_1

DS got them for Christmas and is really enjoying them.

[Mom31]

wow- thats pricey- I am going to write these suggestions down to take to the library once we get our library cards!!!

[joensally]

Horrible Histories are available through Scholastic now.

[Mom31]

cool- i will keep my eyes out for them in the book orders!

[Tigerle]

For a not-sensitive (!) child interested in war: Good Night Mister Tom, about british wartime evacuees. there is another one by the same author, can't remember the title. Rusty?

[Youngfrankenstein]

What about the Little House books?  My dd,7, just started reading Redwall after watching the cartoons on Netflix.

[Mom31]

We have already read the little house books :)  We love them.  Last night he read and read anne frank- I am so shocked how fast he reads and retains since this is a book I am very familiar with it was fun to question him on what he was reading.... and he really grasps it. 

[sewchris2642]

Dragonriders by Anne McCaffrey is a series.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dragonriders_of_Pern  Dragonriders contains the first 3 books of the series. 

Dylan, at age 8, was reading the Eyewitness books.  He was (and still is) more interested in gathering facts that he could use than in the words on the page.  But then he is an auditory learner.  We still use videos and the History Channel more than textbooks.

[lonegirl]

My son is younger than your child.   He is 5. Right now he is really into Geronimo Stilton.  Especially the Kingdom of Fantasy trilogy.  He also loves the Bad Kitty books too (pretty funny series). 

[emmaegbert]

we are loving Dragonrider by Cornelia Funke right now (apparently there are a few books with a very similar name!) with my first grader (my son is not really an advanced independent reader, we are doing it as a read-aloud). I like the other book of hers we read- Igraine the Brave. I really think the characters are deeper and more interesting than those in HP. I have read and liked- but not introduced to my own kids yet- both the Artemis Fowl and Fablehaven series.

[boston_slackermom]

My 7yo daughter has turned mainly to non-fiction on a pretty wide range of topics:

technology, anatomy, history,

biographies of scientists and inventors,

magic/illusions, spies, and detectives

The public library is the best!  Our system has a limit of 75 items per library card, which the librarian didn't know until we showed up and made her computer freeze. 

[ollyoxenfree]

Originally Posted by boston_slackermom 
The public library is the best!  Our system has a limit of 75 items per library card, which the librarian didn't know until we showed up and made her computer freeze. 

That is brilliant!!  I was just reviewing my library account on-line, because I got an e-mail notice that I have a dozen books that are waiting to be picked up. Of course, I put another half-dozen on hold while I was signed in to the library website. I'm wondering if I will hit my limit this week, since I already have a bunch signed out.  

OP, to answer your title question, my teenage gifties are reading:

DD -  It's Kind of a Funny Story by Ned Vizzini, about a suicidal teenager on a psychiatric ward

DS - Plato's Republic. 

Perhaps your DS might like Number the Stars by Lois Lowry, about the Danish resistance during WWII, written from the perspective of a young girl. I recently read it after it was mentioned a couple of times in this forum and in the Books forum. It's quite good. He may also find Watership Down interesting, although typically it's read by an older audience. It's a story about anthropomorphized rabbits in search of a new home, but it covers a lot of political territory as the rabbits encounter different community structures on their journey, including a fairly fascist regime. I wouldn't normally recommend either for an 8 y.o., but since he's handling the Diary of Anne Frank....

[moominmamma]

Yes, I was going to suggest "Number the Stars." Also "Lord of the Nutcracker Men" by Iain Lawrence, a really well-written children's novel about the home front during the First World War, including the story of the 1914 Christmas Truce. Multiple levels of symbolism, but it works for young children at the literal level too. Poignant and thought-provoking but not disturbing. I wish it were better-known. I think it's an excellent book. 

Miranda

[Cassidy68]

Iain Lawrence is an excellent writer. I loved The Seance... Harry Houdini, spiritualism and murder-- how can you go wrong? Also, for kids who like historical fiction, The Greener Grass by Caroline Pignat is pretty hard to put down (and is set during the Irish potato famine). My son is pretty keen on fantasy these days though, so we're reading Kenneth Oppel, Rick Riordan, John Flanagan, Margaret Haddix Peterson etc... all fun.

[Cassidy68]

Originally Posted by Cassidy68 

Iain Lawrence is an excellent writer. I loved The Seance... Harry Houdini, spiritualism and murder-- how can you go wrong? Also, for kids who like historical fiction, The Greener Grass by Caroline Pignat is pretty hard to put down (and is set during the Irish potato famine). My son is pretty keen on fantasy these days though, so we're reading Kenneth Oppel, Rick Riordan, John Flanagan, Margaret Haddix Peterson etc... all fun.

oops, sorry- Margaret Peterson Haddix! Also, has anyone read the Mysterious Benedict Society trilogy? We both enjoyed these books tremendously.