tammyw Posted November 21, 2016 Share Posted November 21, 2016 I'm sure this has been asked before. My son is 10.5 and finally become passionate about reading thanks to the Harry Potter series. He will soon be finished and I am determined to have books as good waiting in the wings. Any excellent suggestions? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UCF612 Posted November 21, 2016 Share Posted November 21, 2016 My HP loving kids have also loved The Lightning Thief and Gregor the Overlander. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wabi Sabi Posted November 21, 2016 Share Posted November 21, 2016 My HP loving kids have also loved The Lightning Thief and Gregor the Overlander. Yep. I was going to recommend both of the same series. We LOVED listening to the Gregor audiobooks as a family, FWIW. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
debi21 Posted November 21, 2016 Share Posted November 21, 2016 Yes mine went on to Percy Jackson (the lightning thief). My librarian recommended the Rangers apprentice. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lori D. Posted November 21, 2016 Share Posted November 21, 2016 (edited) The only thing I can think of that is a LOT like Harry Potter (and it's very enjoyable!): - The Secret of Platform 13 (Ibbotson) Not wizards and magic, but, our DSs who enjoyed Harry Potter also really liked: - Percy Jackson and the Olympian series (Riordan) --modern kids/Ancient Greek mythology - Artemis Fowl series (Colfer) -- modern "evil genius" boy meets modern tech-oriented fairy world characters - Ranger's Apprentice series (Flanagan) -- medieval, with teen boy with "ninja-like" archery and forestry skills - Dragon series: Dragon of the Lost Sea; Dragon War; Dragon Cauldron (Yep) - Tiger Apprentice series: Tiger Apprentice; Tiger's Blood; Tiger Magic (Yep) - Warriors (Hunter) -- original series: Into the Wild; Fire and Ice; Forest of Secrets; Rising Storm; Dangerous Path; Darkest Hour -- clans of wild/warrior talking cat clans Books our DSs loved at age 10-11: - By the Great Horn Spoon (Fleischman) - The Wolves of Willoughby Chase (Aiken) - Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH (O'Brien) - Sign of the Beaver (Speare) - My Side of the Mountain (George) - Samurai mystery series (Hoobler) - mini-mystery collections by Donald Sobol, Hy Conrad, and Jim Sukach - Half Magic, Magic by the Lake, Knight's Castle, The Time Garden, Seven Day Magic (Eager) More ideas: - So You Want to Be a Wizard series (Duane) - The Enchanted Forest Chronicles (Wrede) - Dragon Spell; Dragon Quest; Dragon Knight (Paul) - Sea of Trolls series (Farmer) - Redwall series (Jacques) - Kane Chronicles (Riordan) -- modern kids/Ancient Egyptian mythology series - Magnus Chase series (Riordan) -- modern kids/Norse mythology - Mysterious Benedict Society series (Trent) -- modern kids, special mission - Peter and the Starcatchers series (Barry) - Gregor the Underland Chronicles (Collins) - Leviathan trilogy (Westerfeld) -- alternate WW1, with lots of steam punk elements Edited November 25, 2016 by Lori D. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alisoncooks Posted November 22, 2016 Share Posted November 22, 2016 (edited) If the child likes the magic/magician/underdog aspect, I'd recommend: The Magic Thief series (Prineas) Septimus Heap series (Angie Sage) Edited November 22, 2016 by alisoncooks 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanaqui Posted November 22, 2016 Share Posted November 22, 2016 We want to get the highest possible chance of success so - what does he love about Harry Potter? Is it the friendships? The angst in the end? The quirkiness of the earlier books? The magic + great destiny bit? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdventuresinHomeschooling Posted November 22, 2016 Share Posted November 22, 2016 He may like The Giver or Narnia. My 11 yo son likes the Herriot books and The Hardy Boys too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tammyw Posted November 22, 2016 Author Share Posted November 22, 2016 We want to get the highest possible chance of success so - what does he love about Harry Potter? Is it the friendships? The angst in the end? The quirkiness of the earlier books? The magic + great destiny bit? You know, I can't pin that down. As a family, we all adore Harry Potter -- everything about it! The friendships, the magic, the whole shebang! :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eternallytired Posted November 22, 2016 Share Posted November 22, 2016 I agree that the Septimus Heap series is in the same vein as HP. Magical kids on adventures and quests... (DH thinks it's actually better than HP; I can't go that far, though I do find it enjoyable.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mamaraby Posted November 22, 2016 Share Posted November 22, 2016 Definitely try the Artemis Fowl series. The audiobook version was awesome. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reign Posted November 22, 2016 Share Posted November 22, 2016 (edited) My oldest loves Harry Potter. She is also into all thing Rick Riordan, Redwall, Neil Gaiman's kid books, and Mythology. She loves the D'aulaires and the National Geographic illustrated myths. Oh and she liked Ember but never got to the sequels. Edited November 22, 2016 by reign Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erica in OR Posted November 23, 2016 Share Posted November 23, 2016 The Charlie Bone series by Jenny Nimmo is excellent. Combo of friendships and magic too. Audiobook narrator is wonderful, if your library has copies. Susan Cooper's The Dark Is Rising series is also very good. Erica in OR 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peaceful Isle Posted November 23, 2016 Share Posted November 23, 2016 The keeper of the lost cities -series. All my kids love these!!! Well, except my 5 year old who can't read it, lol 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heidi Posted November 24, 2016 Share Posted November 24, 2016 Following Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mlktwins Posted November 24, 2016 Share Posted November 24, 2016 We are all HP fans here. We did them as a read aloud although my boys could have read them on their own. We did The Mysterious Benedict Society series immediately following. They loved that series. We are now reading Trenton Lee Stewart's new book, The Secret Keeper. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madteaparty Posted November 24, 2016 Share Posted November 24, 2016 Gregor the Overlander series. And after that, there's nothing that comes close :( Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maize Posted November 25, 2016 Share Posted November 25, 2016 The Enchanted Forest Chronicles Also, the Royal Institute of Magic books; we read these on kindle, I think they are self published but quite well done. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maize Posted November 25, 2016 Share Posted November 25, 2016 The False Prince series is also good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blue plaid Posted November 25, 2016 Share Posted November 25, 2016 My son really enjoyed The 39 Clues series. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farrar Posted November 25, 2016 Share Posted November 25, 2016 All these are good suggestions, but honestly... I feel like you never know what will hit after Harry Potter. To me, I feel like worldbuilding, not too difficult writing, and a good build to a solid climax are kind of the best things about HP as a series. But nothing else quite recreates it, IMHO. A lot of the things that are the best in that genre have a much more difficult reading level, which is something to keep in mind. I'll vote to try Gregor next. Just because I think the build to a climax and the worldbuilding are similarly amazing. However, it's a smaller canvass and a much darker world than HP. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HeWillSoar Posted November 29, 2016 Share Posted November 29, 2016 My boys liked The Fire With Series by Chris D'Lacey. My 13 year old just requested I check them out at the library for him to reread, which is why I even thought of it. Also, the Percy Jackson books were read over and over. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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