Originally Posted by kcab
One thought I had was The Mouse and His Child by Russell Hoban as a replacement for Edward Tulane.
We read that in our bookclub - and, though I've forgotten many of the details of the book, I do remember that we adults found the book disturbing (scary, sad), and that quite a bit of our the discussion was about its status as children's book. I'd recommend reading it oneself before giving it to any child, however gifted.

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