Twenty books for a thirteen-year-old in Singapore

A month ago, a friend asked me to recommend twenty books that his 13-year-old son might consider reading. In the meantime, my friend's son finished his own list, which tells me he has a bright future. I still thought this was an interesting thought exercise... I would have liked to be more global, for sure. And perhaps more modern.

Summer Lightning
Just William
The Murder of Roger Ackroyd
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
The Golden Fortress
The Man-Eater of Malgudi
Best Short Stories of Anton Chekov
Around the World in Eighty Days
The Housekeeper and the Professor
The Devotion of Suspect X
The Little Prince
The Shadow of the Wind
The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency
To Live
Aunty Lee's Delights
Shane
HMS Ulysses
Sudden Makes War
Emily of Emerald Hill
Pietr the Latvian