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9 year old book list


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I'm sorry if this has been covered...I am new to the group, and this is my first time in the AL section.

 

I really need help with figuring out what leisure books would be good for ds9 this summer. I really do not have time to read everything prior to him reading to make sure it is appropriate. I really have only had to start worrying about that, and I am not familiar enough with current young adult literature to know if it is ok for a 9 year old.

 

His interests are....well, he likes book series...his favorites 2 summers ago were Spiderwick Chronicles and the Narnia series, and he still often revisits these. Last summer he read some of The 39 clues, but seemed to get a little bored. Then he read Moby Dick a few times and loved it. Tom Sawyer and Robin Hood he also liked. Right now he is reading Gulliver's Travels and is really enjoying it. When he is finished with that, I just don't know where to go. But I need to get something on his Kindle or in his hands soon, b/c he likes go between several books at once. When I downloaded Gulliver's Travels from the Kindle Classics store, I also got Jungle Book and The Velveteen Rabbit. He was very much not impressed. I am just at a loss right now. Any help would be greatly appreciated!!

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Chronicles of Prydain

Peter and the Starcatchers (there are 4 or 5 books in this series)

Percy Jackson Series

Wrinkle in Time series (1st 4 books)

Harry Potter

Pendragon series by DJ MacHale

Warrior Cats by Erin Hunter (OK...I don't really like these, but DD10 thinks they are awesome)

Brandon Mull's Fablehaven series (we also liked Candy Shop War)

Edge Chronicles by Paul Stewart

Seventh Tower series by Garth Nix

Ranger's Apprentice series by Flannigan

Redwall series

Septimus Heap books by Angie Sage

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These are the books my 9 yo has read this year. Perhaps they might give you some ideas:

 

Mrs Frisby and the Rats of NIMH

The Cricket in Times Square

The River by Gary Paulsen

From the Mixed up Files of Mrs Basil E FrankWeiler

Where the Red Fern Grows

Bud Not Buddy

Toothpaste Millionaire

The Whipping Boy by Peter Sis

Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets

Hatchet by Gary Paulson

The River by Gary Paulson

Brian's Winter by Gary Paulsen

My Side of the Mountain by George

Stories of Freedom

Shark Life True Stories about Sharks and the Sea

Go Free or Die A True Story about Harriet Tubman

The Rise and Fall of American Slavery by Time McNeese

Silverwing

Sunwing

Fire Wing

Dark Wing

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Ann of Green Gables

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea

The Adventures of Pinocchio

Heidi

The Jungle Book

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

Just So Stories

Peter Pan

The Secret Garden

Narnia series

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

Anything about faries

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My son also likes series. Some of them are pretty easy and he can read them very quickly, but he enjoys that, too.

 

Guardians of Ga'hoole

Fudge books by Judy Blume

Hardy Boys

Diary of a Wimpy Kid

Harry Potter

anything by James Howe

 

He's also liked all of the classics above (from PP) plus

 

James and the Giant Peach

Pinocchio

Dr. Jeykl and Mr. Hyde

Frankenstein

Journey to the Center of the Earth

 

I can't think of any others right now. I can always post more later. :)

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My son's all time favorite is also the Warriors series... there are actually four series within the larger one, and he's read all of them!!

 

I haven't gotten him to try Harry Potter or Percy Jackson. He says he's not into fantasy... I refrained from pointing out that a series about clans of talking cats isn't exactly realistic fiction... :D

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Thanks so much! This has been extremely helpful! He wants to start the A Wrinkle in Time series and The Hobbit.

 

When did you (or do you) pre-read books to check for maturity content? It's so hard now b/c just because he CAN read like a 12 year old doesn't mean he SHOULD read what a 12 yr old is reading....well, maybe I have another year or 2 before I really have to worry about that sort of thing? :confused: Thoughts? Experiences?

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Thanks so much! This has been extremely helpful! He wants to start the A Wrinkle in Time series and The Hobbit.

 

When did you (or do you) pre-read books to check for maturity content? It's so hard now b/c just because he CAN read like a 12 year old doesn't mean he SHOULD read what a 12 yr old is reading....well, maybe I have another year or 2 before I really have to worry about that sort of thing? :confused: Thoughts? Experiences?

 

I read aloud books that I may be a little iffy on. Others I save for later. There is plenty of time to read books with mature content. This year I've been giving my son some easier reads because they are classic books I didn't want to skip. Sometimes I listen to books on CD or Librivox while I am working at night. That helps me decide about some books. I tried reading just ahead of my son, but soon discovered that the book he had started was quite inappropriate:tongue_smilie:

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You really need to screen the books content. I made the mistake of using the ALA recommended books and many were too mature for my ds. He is not sensitive to sad stories, but he is too young to understand adult themes.

 

I read the negative comments on Amazon to see if any objectionable content in the book would bother my son.

 

For school, I assign 1-2 books a week. We have assigned reading time until the book is finished plus he reads before going to sleep. Last year, he was burning through books, daily reading 2-3 books, like Magic Treehouse or Secrets of Droon. He was hauling home book stacks feet tall until I started assigning reading. I also limit his book haul to what can fit in a small book bag. Now, he tends to pick books based on thicknesses and print size. Thicker books and smaller font are better!

 

His assigned reading this year:

A Lion to Guard Us by Clyde Robert Bulla

The Broken Blade by William Durbin

The Samurai's Tale by Erik C. Haugaard

Homer Price by Robert McCloskey

Fever 1793 by Laurie Halse Anderson

The Black Stallion by Walter Farley

The Ghost in Tokaido Inn by Dorothy Hoobler

Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of Nimh by Robert C. O'Brien

At the Sign of the Sugared Plum by Mary Hooper

The Enchanted Castle by Edith Nesbit

The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare

Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt

The Cricket in Times Square by George Selden

The Sign of the Beaver by Elizabeth George Speare

My Brother Sam is Dead by James Lincoln Collier

The Year of the Hangman by Gary Blackwood

Carry on, Mr. Bowditch by Jean Lee Latham

The Whipping Boy by Sid Fleischman

The Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Patterson

Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli

Moutain Light by Laurence Yep

The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster

Midnight is a Place by Joan Aiken

The Devil's Highway by Stanley Applegate

Victory by Susan Cooper

Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell

Julie of the Wolves by Scott O'Dell

Amos Fortune, Free Man by Elizabeth Yates

 

Assigned, but yet to be read:

Zulu Dog by Anton Ferreira

Only the Names Remain by Alex W. Bealer

Old Yeller by Fred Gibson

In the Shadow of the Alamo by Sherry Garland

Call It Courage by Armstrong Sperry

By the Great Horn Spoon by Sid Fleischman

 

His free reading:

My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George

From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E. L. Konigsburg

Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls

Bunnicula series by James Howe

The Indian in the Cupboard series by Lynne Reid Banks

The Starcatcher Series by Dave Barry

Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (I didn't let him read the remaining books)

The Redwall Series by Brian Jacques

Plus far more books than I can list here of easy readers, particularly series like 39 Clues, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, The Secrets of Droon, and Gordon Korman's adventure books (Titanic, Dive, Island, Everest)

 

Ds read these when he was younger:

The Underland Chronicles by Suzanne Collins

The Dark is Rising Series by Susan Cooper

Percy Jackson series by Rick Riordan

The Chronicles of Prydain by Lloyd Alexander

Eragon by Christopher Paolini

The Candy Shop War by Brandon Mull

The Castle in the Attic series by Elizabeth Winthrop

Hatchet by Gary Paulsen (ds read the books following Hatchet, but doesn't recommend them)

Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh

Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling

A Wrinkle in Time series by Madeleine L'Engle

Edited by ErinE
Correct errors
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In addition to many of the books already mentioned, there's a series of books by Gary Paulsen of Hatchet fame about a young man, Francis Tucket, who was headed west on the Oregon Trail and got waylaid by adventures: http://www.randomhouse.com/features/garypaulsen/library/tucket.html

 

These books dovetailed nicely with our history unit. I don't see them mentioned much but my son really enjoyed them last fall just before he turned 10.

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