18 thoughts on “Book Suggestion?”

  1. Susan Cooper’s Dark is Rising series. Although start with Over Sea Under Stone which is sort of like a prequel and probably her best book. I tread the series at least four or five times when I was his age.

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  2. Patrick Rothfuss – _The Name of the Wind_ goes down well with thirteen year olds (although teh sex appears, reasonably tastefully, in the sequel). China Mieville’s _Railsea_ is excellent YA reading.

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  6. Color of Magic? Going Postal? I haven’t read them myself, but my husband and almost 10-year-old daughter are fans of Pratchett’s Discworld. The Color of Magic movie is really good and the Going Postal movie is good. Not all of the Discworld books are appropriate, so this requires some research and parental judgment. (In the Color of Magic movie, a virgin sacrifice initially doesn’t want to be rescued after all the Saturday nights she’s stayed in not drinking mead in order to preserve her qualifications, and many of the books are racier.)

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  7. I’m not unbiased (the author is a friend of mine) but I think this is a great book, aimed at kids his age, but also fun, because of the layers of myth and reference, for older readers, too:

    Justin Allen – Year of the Horse


    I’d recommend against getting him any of those “highlander” books that are coming up as “you might also enjoy” things below this post. He’ll be disappointed that the Clan MacLeod doesn’t show up, and put off by the unrealistic manscaping the cover implies.

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  8. The Dark Is Rising is a fantastic series. I also love The Bartimeus Trilogy, and I know he’ll like it (magic like Harry Potter and cool characters). Although I have not read them, Suzanne Collins’ series Gregor the Overlander is a popular one as is Brian Jacques’ Redwall series. For action/adventure, The Cherub series is popular for boys who liked but had moved on from the Anthony Horowitz Alex Rider series. Another book he’ll enjoy (can’t remember if I gave it to him) is The Emerald Atlas by John Stephens.

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  9. I also love the Dark is Rising series, but I like reading the Dark is Rising first (though it’s now considered he second book in the series).
    I just read the “Name of the wind” and was also thinking it would be acceptable for a child (though there’s some serious violence and some mild sexual content). It can be a bit slow going, but it gets into the mind of the boy.
    I like the Lloyd Alexander books, again, good characterization of a boy growing up in difficult times. Same w/ Gregor the Overlander (and I liked the quirks in that one that deviated from the standard heroic boy story line).
    I loved Graceling, but that might be too adult, too much sexual content for a kid.
    Piers Anthony’s Immortal series (Death is the first) were pretty good when I first read them, and I still like them. The first Xanth novels (also Anthony, much lighter, lots of puns) are also fun.
    The Codex Alera books by Jim Butcher are accessible to kids, I think (violence, some sex, but not too much for a kid, I think).
    The Chronicles of Amber by Roger Zelazny, another set of old fantasy fiction that were quite fun.
    Scott Westerfeld’s Uglies series are worth reading and are out of the mold of the heroic/extraordinary boy faces the world (some violence, but OK for kids, I think).
    As a reference, the Redwall series, discworld, alex rider, Mazeworld, were unable to attract my attention. Mazeworld is the most extreme (a book I simply didn’t get), and I think it’s that I don’t like books that are written to simulate action movies — attempts at vivid action scenes. I want plot & characterizations. The mileage of your average teen boy might vary.

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  10. Has he read the _Earthsea_ books? I think I first read them around his age and loved them. That they are still standing up well now probably shows them to be better than most of what’s coming out now.

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  11. My youngest is devouring the Nicholas Flamel series by Michael Scott. (The Alchemyst, The Magician, The Sorceress, The Necromancer, The Enchantress, The Warlock…)
    Angie Sage’s Septimus Heap series (Magyk, Flyte, Physic, Queste, Syren, Darke…)
    The Mysterious Benedict Society.
    Terry Pratchett’s great. The Night Watch, Thud, Feet of Clay, A Monstrous Regiment, The Truth, Making Money, Going Postal, Nation. (The list continues.) The Johnny Maxwell Trilogy (Only You Can Save Mankind, Johnny and the Dead, Johnny and the Bomb.)
    Good Omens (written with Neil Gaiman), is hilarious, but your 13 year old may not know enough theology to get the humor.
    Neil Gaiman, especially the Sandman illustrated novels. Some of Gaiman’s work is wonderful for teens, too, but there is some mature content, so you should read it first? American Gods and Anansi Boys, Stardust, Neverwhere.

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  12. Check out the Gary Paulson books. Everyone knows Hatchet, which is really geared at slightly younger readers, but he has a ton of nature/outdoor stuff, including a nonfiction one about the Iditerod.

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  13. Also another vote for Terry Pratchett, including Maurice & his Amazing Rodents, but you can totally skip Monstrous Regiment.

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  14. There’s a new series — forget the author — but the first two volumes are “Divergent” and “Insurgent”. My daughter is obsessed with these books (14 year old with a major thing for dystopian fiction). I’ve heard that they’re “the next Hunger Games” — FWIW.

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  15. From my 15-year old son:
    1. Harry Potter Series (Rowling)
    2. The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings (Tolkien)
    3. Eragon (Christopher Paolini)
    4. Swords of Shannara (Terry Brooks)
    5. Thieves World (Robert Lynn Asprin)
    6. The Dark is Rising (Susan Cooper)
    7. The Book of Three (Lloyd Alexander)
    8. Wizard of Earthsea (Ursula K. LeGuin)
    9. Percy Jackson and the Olympians (Rick Riordan)
    10. The Ranger’s Apprentice Series (John Flanagen)
    11. Brotherband Series (John Flanagen)
    12. Cherub Series (Robert Muchamore)
    13. The Lost Hero (Rick Riordan)
    14. The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel (Michael Scott)
    15. Pendragon Series (D.J. MacHale)
    16. Maximum Ride (James Patterson)
    18. HIVE (Mark Walden)
    19. Mistborn (Brandon Sanderson)
    20. Unwind (Neal Shusterman)
    21. Bleach, volume one: Strawberry and the Soul Reapers (Tite Kubo) (this one is a manga)
    22. Ender’s Game (Orson Scott Card)
    23. Airman (Eoin Colfer)
    24. Gunpowder Empire (Harry Turtledove)
    25. Leviathan (Scott Westerfeld)
    His commentary: Okay, these are for the most part fantasy, but there is some historical fiction, alternate history (there may be a steampunk in there, i only read a few of those), and quite a bit of sci-fi in there. All good, and most of these, if not all, are starts to a series. Some, of course, are series titles. Those are all excellent series, and will keep you reading for a while.

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  16. Bartimeus and Mysterious Benedict Society are good recommendations. Dark Is Rising is good also. We had a good time with Westerfeld’s Leviathan series.
    I personally think Eragon is pretty crap but a lot of teens I know like it.
    Strongest possible recommendation for Lloyd Alexander’s series starting with the Book of Three. Mind-blowingly good. Deserves to be much more famous than it is.
    Nnedi Okorafor, Akata Witch
    Ysabeau Wilce, Flora Segunda
    are also very good YA fiction with female protagonists that I think he’d like.
    Pullman’s His Dark Materials is a good read.
    Nancy Farmer’s House of the Scorpion isn’t fantasy but I found it remarkable.
    But in the specifically Skyrim vein, consider:
    Throne of the Crescent Moon (very nicely done 1st book in a new fantasy series)
    Moorcock’s Elric series still has a real pull to it. Some violence but nothing extraordinary by Skyrim standards. I think there might be some extremely discreet sex in one or two books but it’s very much of the fade-to-black type.
    Roger Zelanzy’s original Amber trilogy is terrific, particularly the first book.
    Earthsea’s been mentioned already, I remember really liking it at 13-14 or so.
    The original Conan books are pulpy, cheesy fun but yeah, they have sex and violence. I’d let a 13-year old read ’em but YMMV. Certainly very Skyrim-esque in some ways.
    I loved the first book of T.H. White’s The Once and Future King at that age. The later stuff on Lancelot, Guinevere, etc. lost me as it was much more about adult issues (but not at all explicit or ‘mature’ in some prohibitive sense).

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  17. Wow. Much appreciated, sweet friends! I made a master document of all your suggestions and am hitting B&N later this morning.

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