Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums General Discussion Books for 10yo who's read it all

ultramarina, Thank you for your post. I feel like I am in a very similar situation with my 10 yo DS. His preference is fantasy. Among the many already suggested including Enders Game, Hitchhikers, Rick Riordan series, Gregor series, Tolkien, my son has enjoyed:

The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel (6 Books) Michael Scott

The Keepers (3 books so far...) Ted Sanders

The Thickety (4 books) J. A. White

City of Ember (4 books) Jeanne DuPrau

The Secret Keepers - Trenton Stewart Lee

What If?: Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions - Randall Munroe

DS is currently finishing Watership Down.

Keep the suggestions coming... lots of good new titles to research, thanks.

Yes, he's read all of Redwall (this was a huge favorite and kept him busy for a long time! Thank you, Brian Jacques!) He read some Warriors, some Wings of Fire, and some Rick Riordan, but never loved them as much. City of Ember he has read and enjoyed. The Thickety--he just noticed there are some new ones and is excited to get to them. I'll look at the others!

I loved science fiction as a kid. My favorite author was Isaac Asimov. I think his stuff would be suitable, because they have interesting philosophical themes, but not a lot of romance etc. I also loved Arthur C Clarke.

Another cool book is Sophie's World, it's a fictional novel about the history of philosophy, but the main character is a teenage girl. It has a super cool plot twist in the middle.

I had already responded awhile ago, but just thought of another book that was inspirational to my 9-year old. "A Long Walk to Water", though nonfiction, is told in more of a story narrative than. It has some acts of violence, but the character was a child so I figured if he lived it, my child can read about it! My son thoroughly enjoyed researching the authors current projects online afterward.

Hi--I need more books! My son is frustrated with middle grade fantasy, commenting that he finds it boring/babyish. I find him rereading Calvin and Hobbes and Bloom County or other comedy books a lot.

I would like to thank you all for these past suggestions, some of which he loved (Summerland and the Schwa was Here were two hits that surprised me a bit). There was one big failure--he actually got upset at me for giving him Ender's Game (which I have never read). He said it was really disturbing and he hated it and wished he'd never read it. So, although he has read plenty of books with violence etc, apparently there is a level of disturbing that is too much for him and I need to be more careful. YA dystopia seems to be out.

ETA: He is currently reading Anne of Green Gables, which he likes pretty well, but I'm not sure I see him progressing through the series.

Dan Gutman's books (The Genius Files (series), Flashback Four (series), a variety of sports-related realistic fiction). TGF has a nice road trip/US geography element to it, plus spies, GT protagonists. FF has historical elements. DG was a teacher (social studies, I think), which adds some fun factoid/edutainment qualities to his writing.

Also, DC picked up Call of the Wild, and really enjoyed it. This was in the midst of a similar Warriors/Redwall phase.

We also liked the Asian Children's Favorite Stories series (Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Indian, etc.), which is a collection of folktales from traditional Asian cultures.
(search Amazon for "children's favorite stories", and most of the series will come up) Beautiful illustrations, too.

DS11 recently read and loved Watership Down, My Side of the Mountain trilogy, Old Yeller, and Savage Sam. He is currently reading Call of the Wild and likes it.

I realize those aren’t off the beaten path but thought I’d mention them in case he hadn’t read them.

I have a ton of Anne McCaffrey novels that I’m holding off on for my son because of the romance elements.