happyhomemaker Posted March 29, 2012 Share Posted March 29, 2012 I've followed some of the threads about Good Books vs Great Books. Some have rightly said that literature for Good Books does not cease in a particular century or decade. My knowledge of children's lit is severely limited when it comes to Modern times, and I was hoping that some of you would share your knowledge and give me some more recent titles to look into for my dc. I am purposely not defining modern as a specific period, so if you consider it a modern work, go ahead and list it. TIA! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zoo Keeper Posted March 29, 2012 Share Posted March 29, 2012 The Sonlilght catalog has many good "modern" titles. Or check out lists of Newberry winners. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
birchbark Posted March 29, 2012 Share Posted March 29, 2012 :bigear: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WTMCassandra Posted March 29, 2012 Share Posted March 29, 2012 Tale of Desperaux is pretty modern and very good. I second the Sonlight and Newbery suggestions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rivka Posted March 29, 2012 Share Posted March 29, 2012 I've been working on compiling a list. :001_smile: It's constantly shifting, though, so who knows what I'll wind up actually assigning. I'm not sure how you want to define "modern" in this thread. That Senior "good books" list stops at World War I. I have trouble considering books written before my mother was born to be "modern," so I'm showing you the section of my list that has been written since WWII. SECOND GRADE The Water Horse. Dick King-Smith. 1990. All of a Kind Family. Sidney Taylor. 1951. Charlotte’s Web. E.B. White. 1952. The Daydreamer. Ian McEwan. 1994. Nim’s Island. Wendy Orr. 2000. The Door in the Wall. Marguerite di Angeli. 1949. Where the Mountain Meets the Moon. Grace Lin. 2010. A Lion to Guard Us. Clyde Robert Bulla. 1981. Ramona Quimby, Age 8. Beverly Cleary. 1981. Sarah, Plain and Tall. Patricia MacLachlan. 1985. In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson. Bette Bao Lord. 1984. THIRD GRADE Ella Enchanted. Gail Carson Levine. 1997. The Tale of Despereaux. Kate DiCamillo. 2004. The Penderwicks. Jeanne Birdsall. 2007. Haroun and the Sea of Stories. Salman Rushdie. 1990. Shiloh. Phyllis Reynolds Naylor. 1991. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. C.S. Lewis. 1950. My Side of the Mountain. Jean Craighead George. 1959. From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler. E.L. Konigsburg. 1967. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.J.K. Rowling. 1998. The Phantom Tollbooth. Norton Juster. 1961. The Wolves of Willoughby Chase. Joan Aiken. 1963. FOURTH GRADE The Book of Three. Lloyd Alexander. 1964. Number the Stars. Lois Lowry. 1989. Where the Red Fern Grows. Wilson Rawls. 1961. The Time Garden. Edward Eager. 1958. Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry. Mildred Taylor. 1976. Savvy. Ingrid Law. 2008 . The Invention of Hugo Cabret. Brian Selznick. 2007. The Egypt Game. Zilpha Keatley Snyder. 1967. A Wrinkle in Time. Madeleine L’Engle. 1962. Catherine, Called Birdy. Karen Cushman. 1994. Mrs Frisby and the Rats of NIMH. Robert O’Brien. 1971. FIFTH GRADE The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane. Kate DiCamillo. 2006 Island of the Blue Dolphins. Scott O’Dell. 1960. The Kite Fighters. Linda Sue Park. 2002. Johnny Tremain. Esther Forbes. 1944. Bridge to Terabithia. Katherine Paterson. 1977. Harriet the Spy. Louise Fitzhugh. 1964 Chasing Vermeer. Blue Balliett. 2004. Bud, Not Buddy. Christopher Paul Curtis. 1999. Moon Over Manifest. Clare Vanderpool. 2010. Pictures of Hollis Woods. Patricia Reilly Giff. 2004. The Wanderer. Sharon Creech. 2002. Dicey’s Song. Cynthia Voigt. 1982. The Graveyard Book. Neil Gaiman. 2008. SIXTH GRADE True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle. Avi. 1990. Holes. Louis Sachar. 1998. Crispin: The Cross of Lead. Avi. 2002. Summerland. Michael Chabon. 2002. Diary of a Young Girl. Anne Frank. 1952. The Hero and the Crown. Robin McKinley. 1984. Carry On, Mr. Bowditch. Jean Lee Latham. 1955. The Witch of Blackbird Pond. Elizabeth George Speare. 1958. The Birchbark House. Louise Erdich. 1999. A Single Shard. Linda Sue Park. 2001. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tress Posted March 29, 2012 Share Posted March 29, 2012 Thank you, Rivka. Great lists! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stripe Posted March 29, 2012 Share Posted March 29, 2012 Thank you, Rivka -- I always think of your advocacy when I think of modern children's books! :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KirstenH Posted March 29, 2012 Share Posted March 29, 2012 Great list, Rivka. I'd also add Lois Lowry's "The Giver" for 6th and up (it's easier reading than that, but the content requires a slightly older mind to really 'get' the point, IMO). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happyhomemaker Posted March 29, 2012 Author Share Posted March 29, 2012 Thanks for those great lists, Rivka!! I agree that modern to me means at least post WWII. I will also look at Sonlight and Newberry books. Can't wait to hear some more great ideas :bigear: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElizaG Posted March 29, 2012 Share Posted March 29, 2012 Thanks, Rivka! To the OP -- I think you'd find some more possibilities here: Memoria Press Literature Guides Kolbe Elementary Literature (PDF) Kolbe Junior High Literature (PDF) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2_girls_mommy Posted March 29, 2012 Share Posted March 29, 2012 I had a couple of titles in mind, but they made her list. I will be bookmarking that. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosie_0801 Posted March 29, 2012 Share Posted March 29, 2012 Rivka, out of curiosity, why Dicey's Song instead of Homecoming? Rosie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paminoz Posted March 29, 2012 Share Posted March 29, 2012 Google the Lewis Carroll Shelf List and a good list of Newberry type books will be available. Pam who just retrieved her login details after two years of only reading! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nicholas_mom Posted March 30, 2012 Share Posted March 30, 2012 Great lists! :bigear: How about "Swallows and Amazons" book series? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rivka Posted March 30, 2012 Share Posted March 30, 2012 Rivka, out of curiosity, why Dicey's Song instead of Homecoming? Good question. :D Probably because Dicey's Song won the Newbery, but I do also prefer it. I hope my kids read all those books, though. It was very exciting to me to move to Maryland and come to know the locations - especially the Eastern Shore! Oh my gosh. It's so hard to picture what it's like out there, the stands of tall marsh grass intercut with channels of water, and no clear demarcation between land and bay - until you've been there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emerald Stoker Posted March 30, 2012 Share Posted March 30, 2012 (edited) nm Edited November 21, 2012 by Honoria Glossop Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caitilin Posted March 30, 2012 Share Posted March 30, 2012 I love Rivka's list! But...:D it is really a very small but, but it is there. I think many of those books are wrongly characterized grade-wise. Some, like Eager's Half Magic books and The Penderwicks, are easily accessible and appropriate for a strong reader in first or second grade, while others, like The Graveyard Book or Dicey's Song, are more, well, dicey. ;) For example, my ds11, a stong reader, 5th grade, is working through L'Engle's Wrinkle series, and was massively, crying in bed at night, disturbed by aspects of the sequel Many Waters. I love all the books on this list, do not mistake me, and I am NOT a shelterer when it comes to reading material--just be aware that your *placement* of the books in your child's life may differ very widely from this list. :001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rivka Posted March 30, 2012 Share Posted March 30, 2012 Thank you, Rivka -- I always think of your advocacy when I think of modern children's books! :) :001_wub::blush: Nothing could make me prouder! I feel compelled to say that I do have plenty of older children's classics on my elementary reading list too. Right now Alex is tearing her way through The Lost Princess of Oz, copyright 1917. (Oops! After WWI. I'll never learn. :tongue_smilie:) (Also: are the umpteen Oz sequels twaddle, the way series of umpteen books are today? Or have they lost their twaddle nature due to age?) I would also add, to my lists above, the Green Knowe series by L.M. Boston. Children of Green Knowe is the first. They were published beginning in the 1950s, and they're hauntingly beautiful children's fantasies. We're doing them as read-alouds now, so they're not on the list above. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emerald Stoker Posted March 30, 2012 Share Posted March 30, 2012 nm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Element Posted March 30, 2012 Share Posted March 30, 2012 I've been working on compiling a list. :001_smile: I That is a great list, Rivka. Thanks! Google the Lewis Carroll Shelf List and a good list of Newberry type books will be available. Pam who just retrieved her login details after two years of only reading! Thank you for logging in to share that list with us! I'd never heard of it before, but I Googled it and I think I will love it. Here's a link in case anyone else wants to go directly there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stripe Posted March 30, 2012 Share Posted March 30, 2012 Eve Garnett's One End Street books are sweet. They are hilarious. And a welcome change from the rich kids! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jocelyne Posted March 30, 2012 Share Posted March 30, 2012 I should never click on these threads. They just make my Amazon cart fill up and my wallet get empty :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rivka Posted March 30, 2012 Share Posted March 30, 2012 (edited) I love Rivka's list! But...:D it is really a very small but, but it is there. I think many of those books are wrongly characterized grade-wise. Some, like Eager's Half Magic books and The Penderwicks, are easily accessible and appropriate for a strong reader in first or second grade, while others, like The Graveyard Book or Dicey's Song, are more, well, dicey. ;) For example, my ds11, a stong reader, 5th grade, is working through L'Engle's Wrinkle series, and was massively, crying in bed at night, disturbed by aspects of the sequel Many Waters. I love all the books on this list, do not mistake me, and I am NOT a shelterer when it comes to reading material--just be aware that your *placement* of the books in your child's life may differ very widely from this list. :001_smile: As you see from my signature, my child is almost seven. These are not tried-and-tested ages, except to the extent that I remember when I read many of these books myself. Sometimes I think "Yeah, that was a great age to read that book!" and sometimes I think "...I should have waited a year or two." I imagine that I will be juggling the ages as I see how my child matures. Sequels are a different kettle of fish sometimes. I think third grade is a fine age to read the first Harry Potter book, but I would be less happy about my third grader reading the sixth and seventh. We read aloud the first Percy Jackson books and adored them, but I quickly recognized that The Lost Hero is much more YA, and returned it to the library. Many Waters is another book that seems as if it has more of the YA nature than the earlier books in the series. I left the grades in on my list because, well, that was how the list was organized. But I hope that no one would just take my word for it. Even I don't plan to just take my word for it! :lol: Edited March 30, 2012 by Rivka Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rivka Posted March 30, 2012 Share Posted March 30, 2012 Rivka, did you know that you can visit Lucy Boston's house? Wouldn't that be fun???http://www.greenknowe.co.uk/ Our main children's librarian told me that she's been there! I requested one of the books from the closed stacks, and she and I had a happy, excited flurry of "oh my gosh, you know about these awesome books too!" I had no idea that Green Knowe was a real house, but apparently the only thing that's made up is the ruined chapel and St. Christopher. Amazing! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
In2why Posted March 30, 2012 Share Posted March 30, 2012 I should never click on these threads. They just make my Amazon cart fill up and my wallet get empty :D Me too :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stripe Posted March 30, 2012 Share Posted March 30, 2012 You'd be surprised what you can find used. The week after I bought a set of Eager's books (Half Magic etc), I saw a brand new set at a library sale for $2. I have also seen the Moomintroll books, Green Knowe books, Susan Cooper (luckily I had not bought those yet! No idea where my old copies ended up), tons of Beverly Cleary, Diamond in the Window, ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spy Car Posted March 30, 2012 Share Posted March 30, 2012 I like the list. I will lobby for: Second Grade Frindle Andrew Clements 1996 Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rivka Posted March 30, 2012 Share Posted March 30, 2012 You'd be surprised what you can find used. The week after I bought a set of Eager's books (Half Magic etc), I saw a brand new set at a library sale for $2. I have also seen the Moomintroll books, Green Knowe books, Susan Cooper (luckily I had not bought those yet! No idea where my old copies ended up), tons of Beverly Cleary, Diamond in the Window, ... :iagree: I've been working on my collection of elementary readers since my daughter was born. I never miss a library book sale. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emerald Stoker Posted March 30, 2012 Share Posted March 30, 2012 (edited) nm Edited November 21, 2012 by Honoria Glossop love books! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meggie Posted March 30, 2012 Share Posted March 30, 2012 I'm not a children's lit expert by any stretch of the imagination, but here are some that I recently read and just WUB :001_wub: Princess Academy by Shannon Hale Alcatraz Vs. the Evil Librarians series by Brandon Sanderson I would guess they would be good around 5th grade-ish Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TGHEALTHYMOM Posted March 30, 2012 Share Posted March 30, 2012 What about Honey for a Child's Heart: and Teen's Heart? We usually look at SL, VP and this year TOG. CC has some great picks too! I think my favorite Read aloud was, Carry on, Mr. Bowditch! Narnia series was wonderful too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paminoz Posted March 30, 2012 Share Posted March 30, 2012 Australian authors to watch out for: Jackie French (careful, there's two authors by this name. Only one is Australian and I think the other doesn't write quality books but I'm not positive on this.) Anyway, most of this JF's fiction is young adult/middleschooler Australian stuff but she has written Hitler's Daughter, which is excellent and a great book called, I think Pharoah. Ruth Park has written everything from children's to serious adult literature. Look for Playing Beattie Bow. Nan Chauncy, older books for mid to late elementary to read alone Colin Thiele, excellent and British authors, Rosemary Sutcliff of course Noel Streatfield (lighter but lovely) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emerald Stoker Posted March 30, 2012 Share Posted March 30, 2012 nm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spy Car Posted March 30, 2012 Share Posted March 30, 2012 The list has no Roald Dahl Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emerald Stoker Posted March 30, 2012 Share Posted March 30, 2012 nm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
delaney Posted March 30, 2012 Share Posted March 30, 2012 I should never click on these threads. They just make my Amazon cart fill up and my wallet get empty :D I have been grabbing them from paperbackswap! I listed some books my kids didn't want. some scholastic stuff...in a few days I had tons of credits! Great way to get books. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stripe Posted March 30, 2012 Share Posted March 30, 2012 (edited) Philippa Pearce, Minnow on the Say (well, we liked all of PP, but this was a special favourite). Penelope Lively, The Voyage of QV66. JBS Haldane, My Friend Mr Leakey. Clive King, Stig of the Dump. ETA: Eva Ibbotson! Especially Journey to the River Sea, The Dragonfly Pool, and The Star of Kazan. Rosemary Manning's dragon books (Green Smoke, Dragon's Quest, etc.). Ursula Le Guin's Earthsea books (just the first three, I'd say). Sally Gardner's I, Coriander. You know, I ordered a bunch of these books, but they fell out of the package so we never got to read them. We did read Stig of the Dump! I've also got an Elinor Lyon book (House in Hiding). The kids are off by themselves finding abandoned, centuries old houses to live in on uninhabited islands. There so many books from the UK, especially from a certain time period, about the glories of life on a boat (Swallows and Amazons, Wind in the Willows, Minnow on the Say,...). Edited March 30, 2012 by stripe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justamouse Posted March 30, 2012 Share Posted March 30, 2012 I love Rivka's list! But...:D it is really a very small but, but it is there. I think many of those books are wrongly characterized grade-wise. Some, like Eager's Half Magic books and The Penderwicks, are easily accessible and appropriate for a strong reader in first or second grade, while others, like The Graveyard Book or Dicey's Song, are more, well, dicey. ;) For example, my ds11, a stong reader, 5th grade, is working through L'Engle's Wrinkle series, and was massively, crying in bed at night, disturbed by aspects of the sequel Many Waters. I love all the books on this list, do not mistake me, and I am NOT a shelterer when it comes to reading material--just be aware that your *placement* of the books in your child's life may differ very widely from this list. :001_smile: :iagree: That is a great list, but I think they need to be looked at to see where each kid might match up. Mine read many in there at earlier ages. My 6th grader thought Crispin was far too easy. Caitlin, mine has also just read L'Engle series and doing the same (she's 4th). They are very easily collected at used bookstores/library sales, too, so if you just collect them and keep the shelf 'open' so to speak, you can grab and go. The whole darned series of Swallows and Amazons, yep! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leeannpal Posted March 30, 2012 Share Posted March 30, 2012 What about a post-modern list? While I like the titles Rivka listed, many of the books are 50-60 years old. Surely, there have been good books written in the last 20 years or so? Or has enough time simply not elapsed to be able to judge more recent literature effectively? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beaners Posted March 30, 2012 Share Posted March 30, 2012 What about a post-modern list? While I like the titles Rivka listed, many of the books are 50-60 years old. Surely, there have been good books written in the last 20 years or so? Or has enough time simply not elapsed to be able to judge more recent literature effectively? I would guess that the majority of the books we think of as "good modern books" are ones that we read ourselves. I know there are some books that I really love (Tor Seidler's Wainscott Weasel) which were written in the last 20 years. I'm not sure if it can compare to the good books that are so often mentioned, but I know I love it very much. I also know I wouldn't ever have considered it if I hadn't been given a copy to read when I was in middle school. We like what we find familiar. :001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rivka Posted March 30, 2012 Share Posted March 30, 2012 I would guess that the majority of the books we think of as "good modern books" are ones that we read ourselves. I know there are some books that I really love (Tor Seidler's Wainscott Weasel) which were written in the last 20 years. I'm not sure if it can compare to the good books that are so often mentioned, but I know I love it very much. I also know I wouldn't ever have considered it if I hadn't been given a copy to read when I was in middle school. We like what we find familiar. :001_smile: I've got 16 books from the 21st century, but I'm always looking for more. Farrar Williams from this board (http://farrarwilliams.wordpress.com/) really keeps up with current children's lit and posts frequent reviews, so her blog may be the best place to start. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stripe Posted March 30, 2012 Share Posted March 30, 2012 (edited) I would guess that the majority of the books we think of as "good modern books" are ones that we read ourselves. Totally! I am a big fan of Dell Yearling books for just this reason! Their covers make me feel very happy! Angela at http://satorismiles.com/childrens-book-list/ has a booklist too. I know a lot of us contributed ideas as well as Angela's, so there were a lot of minds behind this one, and Angela nicely organized it to boot! Edited March 30, 2012 by stripe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amsunshine Posted March 30, 2012 Share Posted March 30, 2012 I agree with most of the suggestions. I would add: Misty of Chincoteague (Henry) Lassie, Come Home (Knight) Chronicles of Narnia Gosh, I could probably go on and on.... We also just loved "The Willoughbys" by Lois Lowry, but I don't see it discussed much. It was published fairly recently. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zoo Keeper Posted March 30, 2012 Share Posted March 30, 2012 My oldest just flew through The Thief, and its sequels, The Queen of Attolia, The King of Attolia, and A Conspiracy of Kings. He highly recommends them. :) *Amazon lists these as 5th grade and up* Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momto2Cs Posted March 30, 2012 Share Posted March 30, 2012 The list has no Roald Dahl Bill Yes, and that's just wrong! ;) So I'd add in Roald Dahl, especially Danny, Champion of the World. The Search for Delicious, by Natalie Babbit Tuck Everlasting, again Natalie Babbit Just about anything by Zilpha Keatley Snyder Abel's Island, by William Steig The Girl Who Could Fly, by Victoria Forester A Single Shard, by Linda Sue Park The Night Fairy, by Laura Amy Schlitz The Ordinary Princess, by M.M. Kaye Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zoo Keeper Posted March 30, 2012 Share Posted March 30, 2012 [quote name= The Ordinary Princess, by M.M. Kaye[/quote] This is one of my favorites...:) And we love this audio version of James and the Giant Peach... Jeremy Irons is just fabulous in this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lailasmum Posted March 30, 2012 Share Posted March 30, 2012 Our main children's librarian told me that she's been there! I requested one of the books from the closed stacks, and she and I had a happy, excited flurry of "oh my gosh, you know about these awesome books too!" I had no idea that Green Knowe was a real house, but apparently the only thing that's made up is the ruined chapel and St. Christopher. Amazing! I love love love Green Knowe books and have been hoarding the books as they went out of print for a while. They make me very emotional, I think because I really remember the feelings I had when reading them the first time. They've made a film adaption now too. It's called From Time to Time. It is filmed at the manor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nmoira Posted March 30, 2012 Share Posted March 30, 2012 There are good books for reading, and good book for school/literature studies. There are some of each here, but I don't have the energy to tease them out. Here's a list I included in a recent thread -- What are your favorite children's books written in the last 10-20 years. But not not everything my list is for Gr.4-5. Summerland by Michael Chabon anything by Nancy Farmer (the Sea of Trolls trilogy is OK for the middle grades, the rest for a bit older kids) Haroun and the Sea of Stories and sequel by Rushdie Michael Morpurgo Peter Dickenson Garth Nix Michelle Paver's Chronicles of Ancient Darkness series Skellig and My Name is Mina by Almond Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy M. T. Anderson Philip Reeve (particularly his Mortal Engines Quartet) Walter Moers Grace Lin Daniel Pinkwater Diana Wynne Jones Un Lun Dun by China Miéville Cornish's Monster Blood Tattoo series Tamora Pierce Scott Westerfeld Terry Pratchett's Tiffany Aching series Margaret Mahy Bone by Jeff Smith Neil Gaiman (I had to break this post up... too long) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nmoira Posted March 30, 2012 Share Posted March 30, 2012 And for a thread asking for books for an Advanced 9yo (I've edited out most of the older books) The Little Grey Men and Down the Bright Stream (each have an intense chapter involving death, though not of a beloved character) Also by BB: Brendon Chase Swallows & Amazons series The Wolves Chronicles by Joan Aiken (Wolves of Willoughby Chase is the first); also Aiken's books of short stories Lloyd Alexander, including The Prydain Chronicles M.T. Anderson's Pals in Peril series (Whales on Stilts is the first) The Poisons of Caux series by Applebaum The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making (everyone should own this :D) Peter Nimble and His Fantastic Eyes The Hotel Under the Sand by Kage Baker Blue Balliet T.A. Barron's three Merlin series (These have recently been republished as one series... here's the first, The Lost Years; and a list of the original titles at wikipedia) Oz (don't miss Marvellous Land of Oz/Land of Oz or Ozma of Oz Anybodies series by N.E. Bode (more clever than you'd think) Green Knowe series by L.M. Boston (The Children of Green Know is the first) Elise Broach - Masterpiece and Shakespeare's Secret Sisters Grimm series by Buckley (the last volume is due out in another month or so) The Gideon Trilogy by Buckley-Archer The Underland Chronicles by Suzanne Collins (Gregor the Overlander is the first) anything by Padraic Colum The Dark is Rising Sequence by Cooper Lionboy series by Corder Kevin Crossley-Holland's Arthur series (The Seeing Stone is the first) Edward Eager Michael Ende (not just The Neverending Story) Elizabeth Enright, including the Melendy Quartet Nancy Farmer's Sea of Trolls series (some violence, conservative Christians may have some trouble with this) Jules Feiffer's middle grade books (as opposed to picture books): A Barrel of Laughs, A Vale of Tears; The Man in the Ceiling; A Room with a Zoo The Great Brain series by Fitzgerald Sid Fleischman Cornelia Funke Alan Garner Jean Craighead George Rene Goscinny's Nicholas series (and Asterix, of course :001_smile:) Stephen & Lucy Hawking's George's Secret Key to the Universe and sequels (the third will be out in the US this year, or can be ordered from Book Depository if you can't wait) Hermux Tantmoq series by Hoeye Polly Horvath much of Eva Ibbotson (the descriptions will give a pretty good idea of the ones written for a bit older kids) Redwall Moomins Chronicles of Crestomanci by Wynne Jones Konigsberg: From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler A Book Dragon by Kushner A Wrinkle in Time and sequels LaFevers' Theodosia series Caroline Lawrence's Roman Mysteries series (some tense moments) Robert Lawson Astrid Lindgren -- Ronia, Rasmus and the Vagabond much of Margaret Mahy The Daydreamer by McEwan Walter Moers -- 13-1/2 Lives of Captain Bluebear, Rumo Mowll's Guild of Specialists series Garth Nix - Seventh Tower and Keys to the Kingdom series, plus kids' sci/fi. Then look at the Abhorsen trilogy. Robert O'Brien - NIMH books and The Silver Crown Oppel's Silverwing series (his later books are more YA) Edward Ormondroyd: Time at the Top, All in Good Time, David and the Phoenix Michelle Paver's Chronicles of Ancient Darkness series (these are very good, but you may wish to wait a year or so) Daniel Pinkwater - Neddiad, Yggyssey, anything else in the middle reader section Brandon Sanderson - Alcatraz series Mysterious Benedict Society series Sylvia Waugh's Ormingat trilogy -- starts with Space Race Cat Weatherill's Barkbelly and Snowbone ETA: Summerland by Michael Chabon (one character has a violent, alcoholic father, but this is handled sensitively) Bone by Jeff Smith (graphic novels) Tintin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stripe Posted March 30, 2012 Share Posted March 30, 2012 I love love love Green Knowe books and have been hoarding the books as they went out of print for a while. They're in print now! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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