Need Book Suggestions ---If your 9 yr old likes Isaac Asimov

[Nicholas_mom]

Hi,

 

I am looking for book suggestions. Things he read that he likes:

 

George and the Big Bang Series

Kane Chronicles --- Rick Riordan (He doesn't want to do Percy Jackson)

 

Recently he has loved: Norbie Chronicles and I, Robot from Isaac Asimov

 

He is a voracious reader and I am having trouble keeping up with it. I just have no clue what to suggest next.

 

Thanks.

[AEC]

l _was_ a 9yo who loved Asimov, so let's see if I can remember what I liked around that time.

 

I, Robot are very much like puzzles or mysteries...you spend the whole book wondering how the robot or person will resolve an apparent conflict within the first 3 laws. Lots of SciFi is like that, actually. I'll try to stick to things that I think have some literary redeeming value...also trying to stay away from very distopic things as he's young. Perhaps:

 

-> Azimov wrote a TON of books. Foundation is long, but kind-of a continuation of the I,Robot series. I enjoyed it around 5th grade.

-> The Martian Chronicles, by Bradbury

-> Childhood's End, or The Songs of Distant Earth, by Arthur C Clark.

-> The Time Machine, by HG Wells. Really excellent book. Really. Also...it might help him appreciate it if he knows something about the state of science at the time, and that Wells invented the term 'Time Machine' - it's an amazingly creative book for its time.

-> Most anything by Jules Verne - same comment applies as above.

[Nicholas_mom]

Thank you! You make some execellent points. I am hesitant to continue with any more of Isaac Asimov books --- thinking it would be better a year or 2 later :confused: Maybe not, since you liked them at 9 yrs old, too.

 

Do you think it would be necessary to read the other books suggested(H.G. Wells, Clark, etc) before giving it to my son to read? I guess I would read Jules Verne out loud to him but I never thought of having him read it himself.

 

Thank you again for your suggestions!

[AEC]

Thank you! You make some execellent points. I am hesitant to continue with any more of Isaac Asimov books --- thinking it would be better a year or 2 later :confused: Maybe not, since you liked them at 9 yrs old, too.

 

Do you think it would be necessary to read the other books suggested(H.G. Wells, Clark, etc) before giving it to my son to read? I guess I would read Jules Verne out loud to him but I never thought of having him read it himself.

 

I tried to filter a bit by age...science fiction CAN be an excellent source of the best parts of literature - it's a natural medium for exploring what makes people work, what we'd like to become, what we fear we might become, etc...as such, it CAN be too much for a young mind. I skipped, for example, 1984 or Farenheit451 even though I'd consider them both required reads for, say, a teen. Wells is perhaps pushing it A BIT - it's tense in places, but unless he's a sensitive lad it should be fine.

 

I remember reading and liking The Martian Chronicles, but not exactly which stories were in it...you might pre-read that one.

 

I'd be comfortable just handing him the Azimov books. He'll enjoy them. Like most great works, there's more too them than he'll grasp at his age and the first time through...that just leaves him the opportunity to read them again when he's 16. :tongue_smilie:

 

Upon further reflection, Childhood's End might be slightly more controversial. I don't believe there's any sex and there's not really any violence (certainly noting compared to Riordan) but it's less light-hearted than Azimov or Verne. As I recall, it's dealing with issues of conflict/creativity, individuality vs group harmony and how far that can/should be pushed. It might be too heavy for him just yet. I _think_ was 11 or so when I read it.

 

re: Jules Verne...the 'Classic Starts' versions will perhaps be easier for him than the originals - they're good adaptations, in my experience. My kids read and loved them. In that same series...Sherlock Homes, Robin Hood, Call of the Wild, Robinson Crusoe...it's hard to imagine a 9yo boy who wouldn't think those were all great!

 

Finally - I'll put this in here because you're unlikely to ask again for reading lists when he hits 11.... but my FAVORITE book(s) as a young boy was the Bounty Trilogy.

http://www.amazon.com/Bounty-Trilogy-Charles-Nordhoff/dp/0316611662

 

loved, loved, loved it. I finished the last of it's almost 700 pages and just promptly turned the book over and read the whole thing again. It's truly fantastic! The version linked above was a Christmas gift from my parents when I was 11.5. 9 is probably too young for bits of it...but don't forget it!

Edited October 25, 2012 by AEC

[Nicholas_mom]

Thank you, Thank you! I rememeber my brother reading Martian Chronocles when I was young. In my childhood, I liked E'ngle books but I think I read them around 11 yrs old. We listened to "I, Robot" recently and I really loved that book but we didn't realize the language was something less desirable but as an adult listening to this book it was facinating. I was on my toes wanting to know how are they going to solve this problem.:D

 

Martian Chronocles might be good choice for next reading since he has been watching Curiosity landing on Mars and all the publicity Mars is having. I will pre-read the book just to be sure.

 

Thank you! :)

[Farrar]

Other thoughts...

 

So You Want to Be a Wizard series

Ender's Game series

Artemis Fowl series

Gregor the Overlander series