indigomama Posted November 3, 2016 Share Posted November 3, 2016 I have lots of booklists, and yet I still feel like I can not keep my 12 DS in books. He's read through a bunch of the major series that I'm aware of: Narnia, Lemony Snicket, Harry Potter, Redwalll, anything Riordin. Plus, he's read through most of the major classics for his age. Help! Any suggestions for a 12 boy, who reads well, enjoys a variety of genres, and doesn't want boy/girl storylines? Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lang Syne Boardie Posted November 3, 2016 Share Posted November 3, 2016 There are undoubtedly more lists coming your way in this thread, but I just wanted to say that this is the stage where I start dropping people off at the library to find their own books. I only keep up with supplying what they need for school. My boys always ask the librarian if there's anything new, and peruse our library's lists of materials coming out soon (books, movies, and music). I should also say that we belong to two large library systems, which is not possible for everybody, I know. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shawthorne44 Posted November 3, 2016 Share Posted November 3, 2016 Do you have a Kindle? I've been impressed with the kids selection in Kindle Unlimited. I've found some good e-books on Unlimited by searching for some of my favorites, and then looking through the "You liked this, so you might like these others" for Kindle Unlimited books. Unlike Amazon, where they can be dangerous on your wallet. Between Amazon and a library e-book service he should be set. Nice thing about the library e-book services, is you can go hog-wild and it never costs money, even in late fees. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LindaOz Posted November 3, 2016 Share Posted November 3, 2016 Rangers Apprentice series 😊 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
indigomama Posted November 4, 2016 Author Share Posted November 4, 2016 There are undoubtedly more lists coming your way in this thread, but I just wanted to say that this is the stage where I start dropping people off at the library to find their own books. I only keep up with supplying what they need for school. My boys always ask the librarian if there's anything new, and peruse our library's lists of materials coming out soon (books, movies, and music). I should also say that we belong to two large library systems, which is not possible for everybody, I know. We do have a decent system, and I've heard the children's librarian is very knowledgeable. I'll try there, thanks. Do you have a Kindle? I've been impressed with the kids selection in Kindle Unlimited. I've found some good e-books on Unlimited by searching for some of my favorites, and then looking through the "You liked this, so you might like these others" for Kindle Unlimited books. Unlike Amazon, where they can be dangerous on your wallet. Between Amazon and a library e-book service he should be set. Nice thing about the library e-book services, is you can go hog-wild and it never costs money, even in late fees. He does have a kindle, but I have access to loading it and am kind of out of ideas to look for. When I was that age, I started crossing into the sci fi and fantasy that was in the regular sci fi section, as opposed to young adult. Authors like Anne McCaffery, Mercedes Lackey, etc. I was not a fan of the classic male sci fi authors like Asimov and Card, but a 12 yr old boy is probably more fond of those. You can also check out all the Star Trek, Star Wars, and Dungons and Dragons books. Episodic and give a series feel, but also, there are like eleventy million of them. And, I mention sci fi and fantasy because your list of Narnia, Snickett, Potter, seems to lend itself in that direction. Thanks, he's not interested just in Sci-fi, he just likes series a lot. I want to give him freedom to read what he likes, but also steer him towards quality books. Thank you for the suggestions . 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farrar Posted November 4, 2016 Share Posted November 4, 2016 When I was that age, I started crossing into the sci fi and fantasy that was in the regular sci fi section, as opposed to young adult. Authors like Anne McCaffery, Mercedes Lackey, etc. I was not a fan of the classic male sci fi authors like Asimov and Card, but a 12 yr old boy is probably more fond of those. You can also check out all the Star Trek, Star Wars, and Dungons and Dragons books. Episodic and give a series feel, but also, there are like eleventy million of them. And, I mention sci fi and fantasy because your list of Narnia, Snickett, Potter, seems to lend itself in that direction. This isn't bad advice... but also... a lot of the old genre fiction that we all read at that age (and I did this exact same thing) is really issue laden from today's perspective. Like, heavy on the sexism, the unhealthy relationships (not that YA is winning that one all the time either, but...), etc. Like, I read a ton of Piers Anthony at age 12 and I now find nearly everything about that guy appalling. And have you reread some of the early Dragonrider books recently? The sexism and rape is pretty jarring from a current perspective. Of course, as a kid, I just glazed over so much of that stuff. And I feel like this is the age at which you really stop censoring books. But since there is so much more out there now - upper end middle grades stuff, YA books, etc. - the volume of books available is just massively more. And a lot of it is better. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farrar Posted November 4, 2016 Share Posted November 4, 2016 Seconding to just let him find the books at the library. But also... Middle grades stuff that's still fun for kids this age... I'll stick mostly with series since you're trying to feed a voracious reader. The Giver - dystopian The Time Quartet (L'Engle) - scifi Mysterious Benedict Society - mystery Winston Breen series - puzzles Young Wizards (Duane) - urban fantasy Hero and the Crown/Blue Sword - fantasy with magic Savvy and sequels - modern fantasy Tale Dark and Grimm and sequels - creepy fairy tale retelling series Artemis Fowl - humorous fantasy Al Capone Does My Shirts and sequels - historical fiction Chains, Forge, Ashes series - historical fiction Gregor the Overlander - fantasy with animals Chasing Vermeer and sequels - art mysteries There are some other authors who mostly write single title books. Jerry Spinelli, Avi, Wendy Mass, Gary Schmidt... Young adult stuff that's fine for a 12 yo. Again, mostly series... The Thief (Turner) - fantasy with no magic Abhorsen (Nix) - fantasy with magic Leviathan - steampunk Miss Peregrine's - creepy fantasy There's plenty of YA that's not fantasy, but it's harder to know for sure if a 12 yo is ready or interested in teenager life and YA historical fiction tends to be kind of heavy. I can do more... that's just off the top of my head... 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mamaraby Posted November 4, 2016 Share Posted November 4, 2016 I'd second Artemis Fowl, Mysterious Benedict Society, and Savvy. Ds (11) really enjoyed them. He's also read a fair number of books from The 39 Clues series which is maybe a bit young. He really liked the Tiffany Aching series from Terry Pratchett. There is a little bit of a boy/girl storyline towards the end of the series, but it's not overly so. Oh, and the Prydain Chronicles. Mostly, we visit the library, he goes to the shelves and browses. He's been a bit of a re-reader lately - Harry Potter and Horrible Histories. Part of me wishes he branched out a bit more, but seeing as there are a couple of series I've read 4-5 times I guess I can't really judge. ;) 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
indigomama Posted November 4, 2016 Author Share Posted November 4, 2016 Seconding to just let him find the books at the library. But also... Middle grades stuff that's still fun for kids this age... I'll stick mostly with series since you're trying to feed a voracious reader. The Giver - dystopian The Time Quartet (L'Engle) - scifi Mysterious Benedict Society - mystery Winston Breen series - puzzles Young Wizards (Duane) - urban fantasy Hero and the Crown/Blue Sword - fantasy with magic Savvy and sequels - modern fantasy Tale Dark and Grimm and sequels - creepy fairy tale retelling series Artemis Fowl - humorous fantasy Al Capone Does My Shirts and sequels - historical fiction Chains, Forge, Ashes series - historical fiction Gregor the Overlander - fantasy with animals Chasing Vermeer and sequels - art mysteries There are some other authors who mostly write single title books. Jerry Spinelli, Avi, Wendy Mass, Gary Schmidt... Young adult stuff that's fine for a 12 yo. Again, mostly series... The Thief (Turner) - fantasy with no magic Abhorsen (Nix) - fantasy with magic Leviathan - steampunk Miss Peregrine's - creepy fantasy There's plenty of YA that's not fantasy, but it's harder to know for sure if a 12 yo is ready or interested in teenager life and YA historical fiction tends to be kind of heavy. I can do more... that's just off the top of my head... These are great, thank you! We'll go through them together and see what he gravitates towards. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maize Posted November 4, 2016 Share Posted November 4, 2016 The Green Ember, Ember Falls, Black Star of Kingston 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maize Posted November 4, 2016 Share Posted November 4, 2016 The False Prince and sequels 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maize Posted November 4, 2016 Share Posted November 4, 2016 Anything Lloyd Alexander (not just Prydain) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garga Posted November 4, 2016 Share Posted November 4, 2016 I loved books by Jane Langton at that age. I'd start with The Swing in the Summerhouse. You swing on the swing, and if you jump off the swing through one of the archways in the summerhouse, you find yourself in another world. Has he read The Great Brain books? Some people read them when younger, but I remember reading them a few times as a kid, and I'm pretty sure that I re-read them around 12. How about some Asimov? I would pick up a book of Asimov short stories at that age. These all might be old-timey suggestions, but I think these might be books that stand the test of time. No boy-girl stuff in them. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idnib Posted November 4, 2016 Share Posted November 4, 2016 Not sure if you include Lord of the Rings in the classics he's already read. Gormenghast is one that managed to slow down my voracious 12 yo reader. :) 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J-rap Posted November 4, 2016 Share Posted November 4, 2016 It was about at that age that we began looking in the juvenile biography area. There are some pretty amazing and inspirational stories out there bout real-life people. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wishes Posted November 4, 2016 Share Posted November 4, 2016 Margaret Peterson Haddix has a a bunch of good books. A couple series some of my guys have enjoyed are Among the Hidden and the "Found" series. You said classics; has he read Robin Hood and The Sword and the Stone? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted November 4, 2016 Share Posted November 4, 2016 Nancy Farmer Scott Westerfield James Patterson Maximum Ride series Agatha Christie Joseph Bruchac Robert Peck Theodore Taylor Jane Yolen Jules Verne Robert Louis Stevenson Virginia Hamilton Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
indigomama Posted November 4, 2016 Author Share Posted November 4, 2016 The Green Ember, Ember Falls, Black Star of Kingston He's read these, and really enjoyed them! It looks like the author has plans for more books, all my kids are excited. The False Prince and sequels Will add this to our last, thank! Not sure if you include Lord of the Rings in the classics he's already read. Gormenghast is one that managed to slow down my voracious 12 yo reader. :) He's read the Lord of the Rings series and the Hobbit. We'll look for Gormenghast, thanks! It was about at that age that we began looking in the juvenile biography area. There are some pretty amazing and inspirational stories out there bout real-life people. We read through biographies a bit for history, but I should tell him to look through biographies not necessarily related to our current time period. I loved biographies as a kid, still do :) Margaret Peterson Haddix has a a bunch of good books. A couple series some of my guys have enjoyed are Among the Hidden and the "Found" series. You said classics; has he read Robin Hood and The Sword and the Stone? He's read Robin Hood and the Sword in the Stone. We will look up Haddix, thank you! Nancy Farmer Scott Westerfield James Patterson Maximum Ride series Agatha Christie Joseph Bruchac Robert Peck Theodore Taylor Jane Yolen Jules Verne Robert Louis Stevenson Virginia Hamilton We've read a few of these, but some look new to us, thank you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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