So I'm asking you, dear reader, to help me compile a list of books, new and old. In particular, I have in mind my 10 year old boy cousin, an advanced reader, having a hard time finding things to read.
Let's build this list! Leave your recommendation in the comments, and I'll update this very post with our new list, which all of us can revisit as needed. Indicate the genre, whether you think it's best for boys, girls, or both, and the age group.
Updated 8/22/11
The List: Most I have not read, but all of these come highly recommended by my readers. Please feel free to comment on which you love the best, and I'll add a * for those that get multiple recommendations, a ** means it got very high recs.
This list will be a work in progress, meaning I will be cleaning it up, adding genres and ages, titles and authors when I have time. Please continue to suggest books and vote for your favorites!
Also, a great blog post by Literary Rambles, recommended by one of my commenters: YA Books in Libraries (click here).
- Diary of a Wimpy Kid
- RL Stine's Goosebumps or Nightmare Room series
- Anything by Rick Riordan*
- The Inheritance Cycle by Christopher Paolini*
- The Alchemyst: The secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel by Michael Scott
- Absolute True Diary of a Part-time Indian by Sherman Alexi (YA or upper MG, parental discretion advised)*
- The Dark is Rising*
- Number the Stars
- The Enchanted Forest Chronicles (fantasy, not YA or MG)*
- Eragon
- How to Train Your Dragon
- Fablehaven
- Mudville by Kurtis Scaletta
- Mamba Point by Kurtis Scaletta
- Deltora Quest
- The Seventh Tower series
- Charlie Bone series
- Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld (I highly recommend as well)*
- The Circle of Magic series (I remember reading these--loved them!)
- Tyger, Tyger and the rest of the Goblin Wars trilogy by Kerstin Hamelton (Irish mythology)
- Gary Paulsen's The Hatchet series
- Anything by Brandon Mull
- Artemis Fowl series by Eoin Colfer**
- The Healing Wars Trilogy by Janice Hardy
- Percy Jackson books
- Pendragon books
- Harry Potter*
- Black and Blue Magic, by Zylpha Keatley Snyder (and anything else by Snyder)
- The White Mountains trilogy by John Christopher
- Brian Jacques Redwall Series - Upper MG for Boys*
- Lloyd Alexander The Black Cauldron series - MG for Boys
- The Chicken Doesn't Skate - MG Boys
- Who Put That Hair On My Tooth Brush - MG Boys and Girls
- The Golden Compass Trilogy
- Ender's Game
- Georgia Byng (sp?)'s MOLLY MOON books
- Zazu Corder's LIONBOY series
- Cordelia Funke's DRAGONRIDER
- Louis Sacher's Sideways School books
- THE MYSTERIOUS BENEDICT SOCIETY
- Terry Pratchett's DISCWORLD books (Start with the Tiffany Aching books, then move onto the books about the City Guards (with Sam Vines), then give him the witches)
- Edward Eager's books
- Roald Dahl
- Narnia series
- Brandon Sanderson, young-YA series Alcatraz vs. the Evil Librarians, epic fantasy series Mistborn, The Way of Kings, stand alone Elantris
- The Genius Files by Dan Gutman
- Jake Maddox, sports themed books
- Barbara Park, Junie B. Jones
- Mary Pope Osborne, Magic Treehouse
- The Queen's Thief series, adventure
- N.E.R.D.S. by Michael Buckley, spy adventure
- The Cherub series by Robert Muchamore, upper MG spy adventures
- The Gallagher Girl series Ally Carter, spy adventures for girls
- His Dark Materials trilogy by Philip Pullman*
- Shonen manga
- The Maze Runner trilogy by James Dashner*
- The Uglies by Scott Westerfeld, younger to upper YA*
- Chaos Walking by Patrick Ness
- The Giver by Lois Lowry*
- The Warriors series by Erin Hunter*
- Anything by Louis Sachar
- Peter Pan books by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson
- Kiki and the Shadow City, detective/adventure, MG
- Harriet the Spy, for girls
- The 39 Clues
- The Ranger's Apprentice series
- Chris D'Lacey's The Last Dragon chronicles starting with The Fire Within
- Escape at Night - a civil war adventure by Laurie Myers
- Murder Afloat by Jane Leslie Conly about a boy in 1880's Baltimore who's shanghaied and forced to work on an oyster schooner
- Dark Life by Kat Falls about people who colonize the ocean floor after global warming forces everyone under - it's kind of a western underwater.
- Alex Rider series by Anthony Horowitz, spy adventure
- The Thief Lord by Cornelia Funke about young pickpockets in 18th century Venice
- Inkheart series - Cornelia Funke, boys and girls
- Savvy - Ingrid Law, girls
- Emma Jean Lazarus Fell Out of A Tree - Lauren Tarshis, girls
- Small Persons With Wings - Ellen Booraem, girls
- Shug - Jenny Han, girls
- Coraline - Neil Gaiman, boys and girls
- The Dark Days of Hamburger Halpin - Josh Berk, boys
- Chronicles of Ancient Darkness - Michelle Paver, boys and girls
- The Unwanteds by Lisa McMann, MG dystopian for boys
Happy reading!
