books for 10-12 year old boys

[babybugmama]

So what do you think are good books for boys around 10-12? I want to make some reccs to my SIL and I'm at a loss. Are there good classics? Or good books out there right now for that age range?

[sapphire_chan]

I'd recommend Edward Eager and E. Nesbit.

At 10-12, he could also start reading some Terry Pratchett.

My little brother and his friends adored "Goosebumps".

[3boysmom]

The Charlie Bone series is a big hit around here. Sorry, the boys' rooms are such a mess that I cannot locate one to find the author. They just bought the latest book (4th) in the series with their own money at the school book fair, so that means something!

[Traci mom23boys]

My 13 year old read *The Thief Lord* by Cornelia Funke last year and still says it is his very favorite book.


Blessings,

[Flor]

Originally Posted by Traci mom23boys

My 13 year old read *The Thief Lord* by Cornelia Funke last year and still says it is his very favorite book.


Blessings,

Funke is popular with the boys.

Have you checked out the "Ology" books? Wizardology, Piratology, Dragonology. . .etc.
They aren't novels, but a very detailed pop-up style book with enevelopes of secret messages, etc.


http://www.amazon.com/Dragonology-Co...e=UTF8&s=books

Dss has many. He also has LOVED the novels Buddy, Not Buddy and The Watsons Go to Birmingham, 1964 just well-written, funny, touching stories. The author is Chirstopher Paul Curtis.

[NewCrunchyDaddy]

Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer (5 Books)
-Artemis Fowl
-Artemis Fowl: The Arctic Incident
-Artemis Fowl: The Eternity Code
-Artemis Fowl: The Opal Deception
-Artemis Fowl: The Lost Colony

Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling (6 Books) [If you haven't already read these, of course)
-Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
-Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
-Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
-Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
-Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
-Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket (15 Books)
-Book the First: The Bad Beginning
-Book the Second: The Reptile Room
-Book the Third: The Wide Window
-Book the Fourth: The Miserable Mill
-Book the Fifth: The Austere Academy
-Book the Sixth: The Ersatz Elevator
-Book the Seventh: The Vile Village
-Book the Eighth: The Hostile Hospital
-Book the Ninth: The Carnivorous Carnival
-Book the Tenth: The Slippery Slope
-Book the Eleventh: The Grim Grotto
-Book the Twelfth: The Penultimate Peril
-Book the Thirteenth: The End
-Lemony Snicket: The Unauthorized Autobiography
-The Beatrice Letters

The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tokien (4 Books) [again, if you haven't already]
-The Hobbit, or, There and Back Again
-The Fellowship of the Ring
-The Two Towers
-The Return of the King and the Annals of the Kings and Rulers

Dragonlance by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman (6 Books)
The Chronicles
-Dragons of Autumn Twilight
-Dragons of Winter Night
-Dragons of Spring Dawning
-Dragons of Summer Flame
The Legends
-Time of the Twins
-War of the Twins
-Test of the Twins

Classics
-The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas
-To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
-Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson
-Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson
-The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson
-The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury
-The Illustrated Man by Ray Bradbury
-Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury
-20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne
-A Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne
-The Invisible Man: A Grotesque Romance by H.G. Wells
-The Island of Dr. Moreau by H.G. Wells
-The Time Machine by H.G. Wells
-The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells

[babybugmama]

Excellent list NewCruncyDaddy!!

I loved To kill a mockingbird! And dh loves most of the other books you listed. I was trying to find really inexpensive gifts for my nephews this year. I landed on The Hobbit. Which I LOVED when I was that age. And big score!! I got them for $6.00 total (so $3.00 each !!) in used-new condition. So, in my mind a cool gift that definitely fits the budget. But I'm going to keep this list for when times are a little easier and I can indulge them a bit more.

[NewCrunchyDaddy]

Originally Posted by babybugmama

Excellent list NewCruncyDaddy!! But I'm going to keep this list for when times are a little easier and I can indulge them a bit more.

Well... there's always the library.

[babybugmama]

OH yes! And for me that's all I use. But as Christmas presents...well a parent can give a library card, but can an aunt really?

[PumpkinSeeds]

What about Rosemary Sutcliff's "Black Ships Before Troy" and "The Wanderings of Odysseus."


Here's another book called Viking Tales, that's really nice if you include a book about Norse Myths

[NewCrunchyDaddy]

Originally Posted by babybugmama

OH yes! And for me that's all I use. But as Christmas presents...well a parent can give a library card, but can an aunt really?

Sorry ... for some reason I thought this was for a DS. I guess it's waaaaay too late (or early) to be online.

[oliversmum2000]

dark materials trilogy - philip pullman

sabriel / lirael / abhorsen - garth nix

[PiePie]

sherlock holmes and teh baker street irregulars, by mack and citron

the looking glass wars, by beddor

weedflower, by kadohata

[heartmama]

Ds is 10. He can read at a high level, however he does not like small print or long chapters when he reads fiction.

So, the favorites here are:

The Boxcar Children Mystery Series (very tame, but ds likes the pace of the story).

Encyclopedia Brown Series.

Choose-Your-Own-Adventure Mysteries

And honestly, ds is really into old favorites, like the original Paddington, or Pooh books. He could not read those when he was 5 and 6. They are written at a 5th or 6th grade level. So, he can really read them now, and he finds them very funny.

Mostly, ds does not like fiction, never has, and prefers non fiction.

So we have to keep it light and easy reading for fiction to succeed here.

[heartmama]

Oh!!

Roald Dahl. I swear he was writing his books specifically for 9-12 year old boys.

Titles include:

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator
Danny Champion of the World (my all time favorite Dahl book)
James and the Giant Peach

Another great series for this age:

The Narnia Chronicles by C.S. Lewis. The typeset is too small for ds, but in another year I think he'll be able to tolerate it.

Also

The Never Ending Story

A Cricket In Times Square

The Wizard of Oz

A Wrinkle In Time (for those closer to 12)

[heartmama]

Me again:

Also consider

The Hardy Boys Mystery Series

The Henry and Ribsy books and the Mouse and the Motorcycle books by Beverly Clearly


These are all somewhat "pleasant" books, so if your reader prefers something darker, he might find all of this stuff dull.

[Justmee]

Just lurking from new posts:

I love "The Great Brain" series from J.D. Fitzgerald. AP warning there are descriptions of boys fighting, I think some spanking, it takes place in Utah in the 1890s. (I would say simmilar issues as the Little House on the Prarrie series).

http://www.amazon.com/Great-Brain-Jo...e=UTF8&s=books

[Vellorian]

Edgar Rice Burroughs
24 Tarzan books
11 Mars Tales
6 Venusian Tales
3 Moon Tales
Various others

Horatio Hornblower
11 books of Napoleonic naval warfare (and an excellent treatment on leadership and management) There is some sexual content, but it was so vague that I had to reread the section a couple times to be sure that's what it was.

I've heard that the O'brian books (basis for Master and Commander and written by a man who was disappointed that there were only 11 Horatio Hornblower books) are also quite good, but I haven't read them yet.

Bazil Broketail
There is some sex in these books, though it's not blatant. There is a "one night stand" in the first book within the first chapter, no details, just that it happened and the sadness it created. Later, there are some additional trysts, but it's never detailed like in a romance novel, it's mostly that it happened, not what happened.

Dune
My daughter read the Dune series of books at 9/10 and missed most of the overtones. It's a great and imaginative series, but keep them away from the last two books until you've had a chance to instill your family's particular mores into them.

Star Wars
Just about any of the Star Wars books are quite fun, action packed and enjoyable. I've met the author who wrote most of the X-wing series. Excellent books. Great guy. Well worth looking into. (Michael Stackpole, by the way.)

As a young man, I was much more interested in sci-fi than fantasy, so while the previous recommendations above that are heavily into fantasy are good, they would have left me cold and disinterested as a youth.

Larry Niven, Jerry Pournelle, Piers Anthony, Arther C. Clarke, Isaac Asimov, Andre Norton, Robert Heinlein (be careful of his later works, they can get to be a bit "dirty old man telling tales"). Gary Gygax, one of the three men who created Dungeons and Dragons is actually quite an engaging writer.

Hope this helps.

[ian'smommaya]

subbing.

[simple living mama]

Don't forget the Asterix series and Tin Tins. They are graphic novels and are perfect for his age. My 9 and 8 year old love them and they get a new one every birthday.
http://www.asterix-obelix.nl/
http://www.navrang.com/?Page=Categories&ID=8

Ps. What the heck does "subbing" mean?