My son (entering 6th grade / 11 years old) wants to “get really into a series” this summer. He has read and liked all the Stuart Gibbs, Maze runner, Percy Jackson, Alex Rider, Hunger Games, Scythe, Series of Unfortunate Events, Gregor the Overlander, City of Ember, and Harry Potter. He is not interested in any other Rick Riordan series, Narnia, or any “higher” fantasy like Eragon or the Hobbit/LOTR. I suggested the Golden Compass but he wasn’t totally sold. Any other suggestions? I’m fine with him reading YA as long as it’s not grossly inappropriate.
by tgbarbie
15 Comments
Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Cars is perfect. Most people don’t even realize it is a huge series!
The Skyward series by Brandon Sanderson
i think he’d love The Name of This Book is Secret by Pseudonymous Bosch (series) !
Carl Hiaasen wrote a bunch of mysteries for grades 6-8: Hoot, Scat, Flush, Chomp
The Ascendance series and the Mark of the Thief series (both by Jennifer A Nielsen) would be great for him!
*A Wrinkle In Time* and the rest of the Time Quintet
Honestly, keep pushing Golden Compass lol no way he doesn’t like it
The Track series by Jason Reynolds is always a go to recommendation for me as a middle school teacher. I have students who love Wings of Fire, and the same author wrote a series called The Menagerie, which is fantasy but not intense. Neal Shusterman, who wrote Schthe, has several other series that tend to be popular. He doesn’t write series (to my knowledge), but Alan Gratz is a super popular author.
The Marvellers by Dhonielle Clayton
Nevermoor by Jessica Townshend
The Strangeworlds Travel Agency by L.D. Lapinski
Amari and the Night Brothers by BB Alston
Could check out John Bellairs. One of my favorites growing up. YA gothic horror, two main series. Start with The House With The Clock In Its Walls for one or…I want to say The Mummy, The Will, And The Crypt for the other, but I could have the order wrong.
99 clues maybe
The “I am number four” series by pittacus lore! I started reading it when I was in 6th or 7th grade. I think there are 7 books and 3 backstory books
The Dark is Rising sequence by Susan Cooper! Fantasy, yes, but strongly influenced by Arthurian legend and has a link to the real world that makes it feel less like high fantasy.
Try the “His Majesty’s Dragon” series by Naomi Novik, too – again, fantasy adjacent, but more like historical fiction with the addition of dragons.
**Redwall!** Very good, and there are lots of books.
Very different: the Great Brain series, starting with **The Great Brain** – John D. Fitzgerald (1967). Quoting Wikipedia, “Set in the small town of Adenville, Utah, between 1896 and 1898, the stories are loosely based on Fitzgerald’s childhood experiences. Chronicled by the first-person voice of John Dennis Fitzgerald, the stories mainly center on the escapades of John’s mischievous older brother, Tom Dennis Fitzgerald, a.k.a. “The Great Brain.” I re-read the first book with my son a few years ago; it’s fantastic. I remember enjoying all of them when I was a kid.
I think around this age, my younger son got into Sherlock Holmes.