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It helps a ton, minnie!

Thanks for your thoughtful (and prompt) reply!

Hi all
Love this thread! New favorite, just grabbed off the shelf at the library. The extraordinary Adventures of ordinary boy series, first one is the hero revealed. It's about an ordinary boy in superolis - he is the only one without powers.
Odinary boy

DeHe

I am so glad someone else found Ordinary Boy. My DS9 has read the series three or four times so far. I read them to him at bed time as well and enjoyed them almost as much as he did. The title character, being the only one in town without a superpower, finds he must use his brain more instead of relying on a power to get through life. This leads to a bit of conflict throughout the series - at one point Ordinary Boy asks to learn about the history of the town and his teacher asks why he would want to do that - it is all in the past.

The only down side, as far as my son is concerned, is that there are only three books in the series

We have similar pickiness here, but maybe not quite so extreme. What is the Olympus series? Is that the same as the Percy Jackson books?
If not, please let me know, ds10 loves anything greek-myth oriented!
Also just curious what Stephen Hawking is good for that age...ds loved the secret key books but I was not sure what else might be appealing from Hawking. (at this age)

This one sounds great Minnie, I will check it out for ds...'bookweird', thanks for posting about it!

That always happens to us too, especially when you get a book that just clicks like ordinary boy. I usually try then to find other books by the author but that only goes so far, we are waiting currently for the next calendar mysteries, Danny dragon breath, and a few more I can't keep track of!!

Is there anything DS9 liked as much? Preferable same emotional and scary level, trying to avoid the older stuff but its tough with DS5 reading so far ahead, why did they call him a nerd mommy, what does it mean? We picked up the max disaster books and he loves the graphics and the idea of alien eraser but it's also about a boy dealing with divorce, so for days, he was very concerned about our relationship!! So when I find a book which is interesting w/o being dumbed down but not dealing with stuff he isn't
ready for. Intellectually he gets it but it worries him because he chews over whatever he read, so try to avoid the tough stuff for now. He would so love harry potter and some advanced sci fi but way too scary most of the time.

DeHe

Ordinary Boy looks like lots of fun, DeHe and kec, thanks!

I wonder if your kids would enjoy the Bagthorpe books by Helen Cresswell? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bagthorpe_Saga
There are lots of books in the series, about a large family with several "extraordinary" members and one "ordinary" one (the first book is called "Ordinary Jack"). There's more to Jack than there appears, of course; the children solve various problems very inventively. We've only read a couple of them (loved "Bagthorpes vs the World"), but possibly they might appeal?

mm

OTGM-
Not a series but I think your animal lover would enjoy Nurk by Ursula Vernon (author of the Dragonbreath series). It's relatively short, but had a great story and I'm pretty sure it had a high lexile.

My son also loved "The Secret Zoo" which has a sequel coming out soon. It's got a touch of bad guys in it but mostly adventure and talking animals too!

Thanks CA mom - tried last week to get Nurk from the library but it was "lost" I hate lost, its always good but not super well known that disappear. I checked out the Secret Zoo and it sounds perfect -a review said:

"This book, which is the first of a series, is a fast-paced mix of mystery and fantasy. There is enough action and suspense to keep the most reluctant reader entertained while simultaneously emphasizing the importance of friendship and teamwork"

He's not reluctant but I love when they say stuff about friendship. We have enough issues in pre-k that I don't want it in his books yet! Or if they have it, they tell how to deal with it!

DeHe

http://www.nybooks.com/books/browse/all/?imprint=childrens

I found a few different books here. They are reprints from older books. DS has not read any yet. I thought they might be useful for someone else out there trying to keep up with their kid's reading.

ooh, this looks great! Perfect timing too, he's finished the 3rd ordinary boy and nurk is next in line. He's asked me what else the online people have recommended!!!

DeHe