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Joined: Aug 2010
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I feel like we are "out of books" for my just turned 10yo very advanced reader (Lexile measured at something over 1000 last year). I am the child of a children's librarian, so I am pretty familiar with the classics and try to keep up with the new stuff. He is voracious, and I just feel like we have been through almost everything, so now he just kind of motors through whatever semi-garbagey new middle-grade fantasies appear at the library and it's like nothing is really available to excite or stretch him anymore.  The issue is that he is definitely still a kid...the most adult books he has read (and liked) are all of Tolkien, Hitchhiker's Guide, Once and Future King, and some Terry Pratchett, but you do have to be a bit careful with Pratchett. Just looking for some good titles that we might have missed, because it feels like we're just...out of books!! (He isn't much on nonfiction.)
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Joined: Feb 2012
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Does he like science fiction, as well as fantasy? If so, he might enjoy the David Brin Uplift series (first book in the first one is Startide Rising. Or some John Scalzi? I guess he sometimes has some sex in his books, so you'd want to screen a bit. My kid loved The Martian at that age, although I did have to have a talk with him about just because we were letting him read a book with the f-word in it didn't mean he was allowed to say it at school. Ender's Game often resonates for gifted kids.
How about Watership Down? Or The Wednesday Wars? (That might get him to read some Shakespeare, too!)
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Joined: Oct 2011
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A big seconding to Ender's Game and all of the related books... honestly, I find the stories about Bean to be more interesting than the ones about Ender.
Because he likes Pratchett and Adams, he might very much like Carl Hiassen... different genre, but very similar humor. He's primarily known for the piles of stuff he has written with strongly adult themes, but he's now doing some for the young/teen reader group. Start with Hoot and see how that catches on.
Mark Twain is another great source of that sort of humor, with little worry about adult themes.
Some fantasy I was reading in my middle school years that I'm reasonably sure is free of adult themes:
The Belgariad/Mallorean - David Eddings
The Sword of Shannara (there's a related Netflix series my daughter and I are currently enjoying) - Terry Brooks
Riftwar Series (enormous, begins with Magician: Apprentice) - Raymond Feist
Guardians of the Flame series - Joel Rosenberg
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Does he like mysteries at all? Classics like Agatha Christie are often good forays into "adult" books for this age. Also Tony Hillerman's mysteries, which contain some interesting cultural and regional-specific information which could be followed up with interesting nonfiction books.
Has he read any Robert Louis Stevenson? What about a nonfiction adventure tale like "Endurance" (about the Shackleton voyage)?
To Kill a Mockingbird might be great at this age, but obviously with parental guidance to discuss the more disturbing or mature themes. My father read it to me when I was only 7 and it was OK.
I second Mark Twain, though again with parental guidance on certain language/themes. Definitely second Ender's Game and sequels/relatives. And I'm assuming he's already read The White Mountains and sequels.
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Joined: May 2013
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Amazon has a way to sort by award winning books - Newbery, Caldecott, maybe other (it's been awhile) - plus age, subject, etc., etc. We found many books we had never heard of that turned out to be of great interest to DD. (and I was re-acquainted with Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, my childhood favorite  ) I suggest focusing on quality writing and interesting subject matter over Lexile ratings. DD was supposedly "Lexile 1419-1569" at 10, but picking up Don Quixote would have been a pointless exercise. The important part is the act of reading itself, IMHO. Harry Potter's in the past, I assume...
Last edited by Cranberry; 02/23/18 05:53 PM.
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Wow - we have never come close to running out of books! On second thought, the pool is much larger when you include non-fiction and teen/young adult books. Perhaps he may find some web serials that are high quality although I know DS has read many junky serials. Perhaps consider translations of foreign titles. By that age, DS will sometimes just browse the library shelves alphabetically to find new (to him) authors.
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Joined: Apr 2014
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When searching for books based on Lexile, one may also wish to consider that measures of Lexile usually focus on instructional level, whereas leisure reading should typically be at mastery level, which for most readers is about 50-100 Lexile points below instructional. So a child measured at 1000L would be expected to have the most enjoyable and successful pleasure reading with texts at or below 900L or so.
...pronounced like the long vowel and first letter of the alphabet...
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I'm not ready for him to read anything with sex or profanity. I think To Kill a Mockingbird, etc is probably over his head thematically. Don't want to go into YA. That's the issue, really...Trying to keep him a kid a little longer. I haven't gotten Ender's Game because I'd heard it was more YA? The Belgariad/Mallorean - David Eddings
The Sword of Shannara (there's a related Netflix series my daughter and I are currently enjoying) - Terry Brooks
Riftwar Series (enormous, begins with Magician: Apprentice) - Raymond Feist
Guardians of the Flame series - Joel Rosenberg I'll look at these. I was warned that Sword of Shannara has aged very poorly as far as attitudes towards women. The book lists in Resources I've been through. We've kinda done the Newberys that are of interest. The Mensa list (dated list, I gotta say) does have a few he's missed (Cheaper by the Dozen--he'll like that!), so I'll get them, but mostly done. It's not that I'm so focused on Lexile as that I just want to make it clear that he CAN read just about anything. He's been expressing boredom with some kids' books, too. A series he used to like came out with a new sequel and he felt sad to find that it didn't interest him anymore. I get a sense that he's just chewing through pap middle-grade fantasy restlessly. Send more if you've got 'em. Like, big thick kids' books that are still kids' books. An example of a series that kept him nice and busy was Redwall. He really reads a lot...
Last edited by ultramarina; 02/23/18 08:29 PM.
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Lexile website is suggesting Anne McCaffrey. Is that appropriate or is she YA?
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