What's the Name of That Book??? discussion
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Looking for books for my 8 YEAR OLD; reads at a 10th GRADE LEVEL
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Laura
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Nov 11, 2016 03:52PM
I am having trouble looking for books for my 8 year old son. He LOVES to read, but gets bored easily. He goes through books like Captain Under Pants, Zombie Goldfish, etc. in a matter of minutes. He has never found the Wimpy Kid series interesting. He's read all of the Harry Potter books and loves them. He also likes the Spirit Animals and Five Kingdom series. We are currently reading the Atlantis Gene together -- I won't let him read it alone because some of the content is not appropriate for someone his age, so I edit it out while I am reading to him. He LOVES this book & cites it at his favorite. I am looking for anything similar that he could read on his own (i.e., material appropriate for an 8 year old, but complex enough for a high schooler). Thank you in advance for any suggestions you may have for us!!
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Charlotte's Web
Stuart Little
Homer Price
Treasure Island
Caddie Woodlawn
The Phantom Tollbooth
A Wrinkle in Time
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
Oliver Twist (the abridged version)
Also check out this list of Puffin Classics, many of which are abridged:
http://www.exodusbooks.com/puffin-cla...
Another suggestion is the listopia for suggested books for 8 year olds:
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/8...
and conveniently there are links to the lists for 9 yr olds, 10 yr olds, etc. up to 13 year olds.
Thank you so much for all of those wonderful suggestions. He has read some of those, but not all. He really likes sci-fi, fantasy, and mysteries. I will definitely check out those lists, thanks!! :)
Since he likes Harry Potter and fantasy what about something like the Percy Jackson series? The Lightning Thief
Aerulan wrote: "Since he likes Harry Potter and fantasy what about something like the Percy Jackson series? The Lightning Thief"Anything by Rick Riordan. He has has about five series now.
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The Encyclopedia Brown series, which are mysteries. I was into these as a kid.
Gregor and the Overlander bu Suzanne Collins. There are a whole series of book.
Has he tried The Tower Treasure (The Hardy Boys) books?Goosebumps? I don't think he's ready for Fear Street yet.
How about series based on kids tv shows? Animorphs, Star Trek/Star Wars, comic books, Power Rangers, Ninja Turtles, Yu-Gi-Oh, Pokemon?
Eragon? Charlie and the Chocolate Factory? Artemis Fowl?
He's a bit young, but in a few years maybe Infinity Chronicles of Nick.
Airborn by Kenneth Oppel! A great YA/MG steampunk-esque adventure story about a boy who works on an airship. He befriends a girl who's trying to track down some mysterious winged creatures her dying grandfather described in his journal. I can't recommend this one highly enough! It's pure adventure with a little something for everyone (pirates, mythical creatures, crash landings on desert islands, strong female characters...) A little bit of budding romance and some colorful language ("hell," "damn"), but nothing sexual. The Literate Mother has a good parent's guide to the book on her blog if you want more detail.
I second Infinity, especially if he's reading at a higher level. I think he may enjoy The Dangerous Days of Daniel X and Confessions of a Murder Suspect by James Patterson too. Confessions has a little content that may be a little old for him, but Dangerous Days should be about right. It's aimed at middle school readers. It's a series, so it may keep him busy a while.
The Boundless by Kenneth Oppel, steampunk MG about a train. Great adventure/fantasy. The BoundlessCastle Hangnail by Ursula Vernon. Fantasy, very funny. Castle Hangnail
The Mad Scientists' Club by Bertrand R. Brinley and its sequels. Very funny, not quite SF but reads like it. The Mad Scientists' Club Author's Edition
The Search for Delicious by Natalie Babbit. Fantasy, humorous. The Search for Delicious
The Rolling Stones and Have Spacesuit, Will Travel, both by Robert Heinlein. Classic SF. The Rolling StonesHave Spacesuit Will Travel
The Forgotten Door and Escape to Witch Mountain, both by Alexander Key. More classic SF for slightly younger readers. The Forgotten DoorEscape to Witch Mountain
Mars Evacuees by Sophia McDougall Mars Evacuees
The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making by Catherynne M. Valente and its sequels. The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making
The Dark is Rising Series by Susan Cooper. Classic fantasy. Starts with Under Sea, Over Stone, but I'd skip it and go straight to The Dark is Rising. The Dark Is Rising
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Dawn of WonderThis book is great for early fantasy enthusiasts because of the detail it gets into about blacksmithing, fletching, scouting etc. Fun stuff for every boy and girl who still have imagination enough to play to know while educational to boot. Does have adult themes like child and spousal abuse, nothing sexual, but may be upsetting for some kids. The protagonist faces his fears in the end of course, and its the first of the series.
He might like the Chronicles of Pyrdain series by Lloyd Alexander. The first book is The Book of Three.
What about The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and the rest of that series. I was an advanced reader and loved these books.I just recently read The Call, and it has a 12 year old protagonist, no inappropriate content, except for a bit of violence that's not too bad, and I found it very engaging, even reading it as an adult.
Stranded, was good as well, if he likes survival stories.
Anne McCaffrey's books, particularly the Pern novels.I also liked Alan Dean Foster a lot in my middle grades.
I would second the suggestions of Airborne and Artemis Fowl, and Eragon too although that one is more advanced I'd say. The Kingdom Keepers books are also great (this is the first one: Disney at Dawn ) or anything else by Ridley Pearson, he wrote another book I liked that was more of a mystery. The Kingdom Keepers was one of my favourites though, it's about kids who wake up as holographs in the Disney parks after going to sleep and have to defend the parks from the Disney villains.
Leviathan by Scott Westerfield is also amazing, it's more science fiction. it's kind of like an alternate history: I loved and still love that one.
I also remember liking Charlie Bone: Midnight for Charlie Bone.
Silverwing is another one.
The Xanth novels by Piers Anthony. C.S Lewis Narnia series. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Skulduggery Pleasant series. Cairo Jim series by Geoffrey McSkimming.
I have the same problem! My 8 year old son is a very advanced reader. He's not into fiction too much but he is reading Bunnicula right now and seems to enjoy it. He also likes Star Wars books, though they can be violent. I really only screen his books for sexual content (I'm not ready for that conversation yet).Is your son into non-fiction? Books on the solar system, science and paleontology are interesting for boys and you don't have to worry about content.
My son enjoys Dinosaurs: The Encyclopedia (Dinosaurs the Encyclopedia)
Thought of more:Stormbreaker by Anthony Horowitz
The Screaming Staircase by Jonathan Stroud
The Akhenaten Adventure by PB Kerr
Mortal Engines by Phillip Reeve
dream house kings series... starts with house of dark shadows. fast, yet excellent series with a stunning ending.the books of elsewhere...
def. third the Artemis fowl and skullduggery!
If he likes animals he may enjoy the world of the Warrior Cats Universe. I believe Into the Wild is the first book of the main series. There ae also prequel series, and next generation series as well.I would also suggest just about anything from Rick Riordan. He purposely writes his books for more advanced but young readers.
The Nerds series, NERDS: National Espionage, Rescue, and Defense Society by Michael Buckley,
is cool. It may not challenge him but he'll probably enjoy it.
And the Carl Hiaasen books are actually required reading for the middle school kids in our county. Namely Flush, Scat, and Chomp. I'm not sure how challenging they are, however.
He could be kinda young, but a possibility for the future is Virals by Kathy Reichs. She's the author who wrote the Temperence Brennen series that got turned into the show Bones.Virals is the YA series she wrote, sort of as a spinoff of the TB series with her son.
I know A Wrinkle in Time was mentioned earlier, but I always loved A Swiftly Tilting Planet more. It's the first book I remember staying up waaay late in the night to read, and when I finished it, the next day I started it right over. I was about 9 or 10 when I read that and have always been a voracious reader. Maybe he'd like it!
I'll also say A Wrinkle in Time and the following books. They enchanted me when I was young.The Young Wizard series by Diane Duane starting with So You Want to Be a Wizard. I still adore these books.
I can't remember anything in these series that would be inappropriate for an 8 year old.
LeGuin's Earthsea series starting with A Wizard of Earthsea. I was enchanted with the first three books when I was younger.
Perhaps something from Terry Pratchett such as his Tiffany Aching subseries starting with The Wee Free Men.
David Webber did a prequel series to his Honor Harrington books. The first is A Beautiful Friendship. Main character is a 12 year old girl.
Random wrote: "I'll also say A Wrinkle in Time and the following books. They enchanted me when I was young.The Young Wizard series by Diane Duane starting with [book:So You Want to Be a Wizard|1165..."
ha ha, I was about to reply with "The Wizard of Earthsea" myself
. Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar ChildrenHow about cozy mysteries? Some of those can be suitable for a younger audience. The one series I'd recommend off hand (no sex, don't recall any cursing, there *are* murders in each book though) is
The Cat Who Could Read Backwards.Another series which would be less appropriate (but not completely inappropriate) is Sue Grafton's Alphabet series
A is for Alibi. I would read those *with* him, and edit out the occasional bit of language or sex scene. (There's maybe 5-8 sex scenes in the series that I can think of and she's 24 books in.)
Myst wrote: ".How about cozy mysteries? Some of those can be suitable for a younger audience. The one series I'd recommend off hand (no sex, don'..."
Just a heads up,
When you use the book covers instead of the title link, those viewing the thread via their phone only sees a blank space.
So you your comment looks like "murders in each book though) is ."
and "Gafton's Alphabet sereis . I"
Seconding (Thirding?) anything by Rick Riordan. Brandon Mull is another author to look at. As far as titles rather than authors, in order from easiest to most advanced: The Dragonet Prophecy, The Alchemyst, and The Golden Compass are all first books in series that might interest him.
Laura - You must be totally overwhelmed by now, but I just can't resist throwing a couple more out there...Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld (steampunk fantasy)
Mrs. Frisby & the Rats of NIMH by Robert O'Brien (fantasy)
Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library (mystery)
Peter and the Starcatchers by Dave Barry (fantasy)
and the Margaret Peterson Haddix series Found and Among the Hidden (mysteries)
Fablehaven by Brandon Mull
Have fun keeping up with that voracious reader! So fun!
Are you looking for books that would be considered "age appropriate" (meaning they don't contain sexual references, profanity, drug use, etc) and at the same time intellectually challenging?
Dancing Through The Snow by Jean Little is a great book, and I would assume it's age appropriate since it's a children's book, but you should check to make sure.
The books in the Dear America (or Dear Canada, if you're from here) collection are age appropriate and teach bits of history as well.
Sorry for so many comments, but does he like classics as well? I read Little Women and Anne of Green Gables (both unabridged) when I was around his age.
I just want to mention that when I was that age, I just went to the library and borrowed books that looked interesting to me. I had already started reading "adult" novels anyway, mainly detective stories, Sherlock Holmes and the like. I don't even remember ever asking my parents (a teacher and a bookstore worker).
If you are concerned about content, I suggest you try the following books first to see if you are comfortable with them.I would suggest some of the early Magic of Xanth series from Piers Anthony. No sex, lots of puns. I read them when I was 10? maybe. I only read the first 14.
The Pern series by Ann McCaffery is very good, no sex but they lead you to it. I would start with Dragon Singer, Dragon Song and Dragon Drums.
The Pegasus series from Ann McCaffery (To Ride Pegasus, Pegasus in Flight, and Pegasus in Space). The series is about humans proving that telepathy and telekinesis exist, and the ramifications on society and equal rights.
Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card.
Nero Wolf books might be a good start.
The Begariad sersies by David Eddings was previously suggested and I highly recommend it. David Eddings also has several other series.
I also would add to Piers Anthony, Anne McCaffery, Rick Riordan, Alan Dean Foster, David Weber, Terry Pratchett, some of my children's favorite authors, just a few more since he seems to like Sci-Fi and those listed are mainly Fantasy. I think he would probably like the Jurassic park series by Michael Chrichton or any of his other books which are more similar to the one you are reading to him now. Terry Brooks, either Magic Kingdom For Sale or The Chronicles of Shannara both series are great for kids. Gordon R. Dickson's Dragon Knight is also great, along with Christopher Stasheff's Warlock Tales which contains both fantasy and science fiction. Do have him try Rick Cooks Wizardry Books as they are also a mix of sci-fi and Fantasy. Since you mentioned Mercedes Lackey, I'm assuming you know some of her work, but do try her other series some like the Elven Tales are very age appropriate like the 5 kingdom books. If you've never read Robert Asprin's Myth books this is the time, it is the perfect age for your son, he along with many other authors also worked with Jody Lynne Nye whose mythology books though listed as YA are truly age appropriate for him also. There are some great classics as others have mentioned but don't forget Orson Scott Cards Alvin Maker books, along with Ursula Le Guin's Sea Witch. I know that Fred Saberhagen is a little too old for him right now, but keep his Sword Series in Mind for later.
I'm not entirely sure what counts as inappropriate, since it's been a long time since I was 8. When I was a kid, I really loved Secret of the Sirens
Swordbird
The Hound of Rowan
The Squire's Tale
Hawksmaid: The Untold Story of Robin Hood and Maid Marian
The Last Dragon
The Ring of Five
The Shifter
The Planet Thieves
Starbounders
Zac and the Dream Stealers
Above World
The Scorpio Races
Dragonborn
Mistress of the Storm
The Billionaire's Curse
Falcon Quinn and the Black Mirror
Puddlejumpers
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