You're absolutely right, CFK--great suggestion.

Another excellent series for kids in the same boat is Rex Stout's Nero Wolfe mysteries (74 in total, I believe); I do think Archie Goodwin is one of the great comic voices in American literature!

peace
minnie

My DD just read The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane as well. She really liked it. We just started the Mysterious Benedict Society. So far, it's very interesting! She's 7 and I thought I'd read a little with her to see how it is for her since the RL is 6.3 (though I don't put much stock into those since they seem to be way off in my eyes, Or else my view is scewed... one of the two .)

A little while back, we read Rosemary Sutcliff's "The Eagle of the Ninth" (1954, repr 2004 OUP, ~300 pp.); it's a terrific story of Marcus, a young Roman soldier who puts himself at grave risk to save his men during an attack on the fort which is his first command posting. He is discharged from the Roman army afterward with a career-ending injury, but finds new purpose in life when he decides to try to retrieve the missing eagle that had been lost when his dead father's legion disappeared in the north of Britain. He travels north of Roman territory on a dangerous quest in search of the eagle, with his friend (and manumitted slave), Esca. Marcus grows in maturity over the course of the story; his friendship with Esca, his relationship with his uncle Aquila, and his courtship of a British girl, Cottia, are very tenderly handled. It's very well-written and enjoyable--all of my kids liked it a lot.

Hopping ahead a few hundred years, another good one (for 8 or 9 and up, I'd say) is Eloise McGraw's "The Striped Ships," the story of a Saxon girl, Juliana, immediately before and during the year following the Norman Conquest of 1066 (Margaret K. McElderry Books, 1991, ~225 pp). As it is essentially a book about war and its effect on children, this one is rather darker than our norm around here (Juliana's family loses everything, her father dies, she sees one of her friends killed, and there is an implied attempted [but thwarted] r@pe). It sounds in summary darker than it really is, though, because the dark bits are very carefully written, and because Juliana is consistently brave and resourceful throughout, as well as very adaptable; she gets her young brother to the monastery in Canterbury which he longs to join, and she finds her own way to a new and independent life, as she is taken on at the workroom where a team is embroidering the Bayeux Tapestry.

We're rereading an old favourite right now: Farley Mowat's "Owls in the Family" (1961, repr. McClelland & Stewart, ~100 pp). This one's a Canadian classic--everyone here of a certain age whom I know has read this at some point or another. It's the true story of a small-town Saskatchewan boy who rescues two orphaned baby great horned owls, and the adventures he has with them. Lots of funny incidents, a snapshot of a way of life that has disappeared (the story takes place in the early 1930s), and engagingly written, like all of Mowat's many books, for both children and adults. Lovely for any age.

peace
minnie

http://cty.jhu.edu/ctyonline/languagearts/yrml.html

In the books Matilda by Roald Dahl, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J. K. Rowling, and Inkheart by Cornelia Funke, a young person learns the joys and pitfalls of acquiring unexpected powers


I just discovered a new source to find reading for my DS9. Look at what gifted online classes are teaching. I gave one example above. We have not used these yet.

Other sources are school summer reading lists,I find these on school websites and library websites and find books in catalogues/websites like http://www.montessoriservices.com/store/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=91_196

Finding books has been a big challenge for me. Hope this is helpful to someone.

iWoz by Steve Wozniak, I picked it up for GS10 to use for a source for a report. He's loving it!

Thirty days has september by Chris Stevens, cool ways to remember stuff.

I found this to be a very unitimidating source for history, geography, spelling, and math. It's only 1/2" think.

I think this would be a great book to give my DS9 before he starts his online writing class this summer. He does not have much experience with puctuation yet. This would be a great intro. and reference.

My DS7 used to love the Droon series, but now has moved on to Guardians of Ga'Hoole and the Dragon Slayers Academy books. The Guardian books are intense, and the DSA books are hysterically funny. He alternates between the two. -- FYI: I just heard that they are making a Guardians of Ga'Hoole movie that will be out next fall. I think it's great when the kids can read the books first and then compare them to the movies.

My son has been into the secrets of Droon. He will probally finish the series.

A quick thankyou to Minniemarx (I think it was your recommendation?) - we're a few chapters into Ned Kelly and the City of Bees and DS7 has pronounced it The Best Book We've Ever Read. Wow - take that J.K & Enid.

You're welcome! I'm so glad he's enjoying it!

peace
minnie