Hey everyone, first time posting here.
I'm looking for some advice for my twins, a boy and a girl who just turned 12.
Lately, I've been feeling that they should read a bit more to avoid screens and I would love for them to develop a real love for reading and keep their imagination alive before the teenage years hit full force. I have these fond memories of getting completely lost in books when I was their age, and I want to give them that same gift.
My son absolutely devoured the Harry Potter series and The Chronicles of Narnia last year, and my daughter read them too, though she was a little less obsessed. I'm struggling to find that next series that can capture both of them but would be age appropriate. Something with a bit of magic, adventure, and maybe some solid characters they can look up to.
Honestly, any suggestions that could get them excited about reading would mean the world to me. Thanks in advance for the help.
by toodoodoodoooo
35 Comments
The Fablehaven series by Brandon Mull. A broth and sister discover their grandparents run a hidden preserve for magical creatures.
Maybe try The Kane Chronicles by Rick Riordan! It’s three books, based off of Egyptian mythology, and it follows two siblings (not twins). I think the older brother is 12 and the sister is 10 but I’m not 100% sure. It has magic, adventure, the characters are relatable, and when I read it (when I was 12) we were learning about ancient Egypt in school and I knew so many random facts about it lol my teacher was so impressed! So it’s educational (ish). If they like it they can read the Percy Jackson series which is 5 books and equally as good, but I think they’d like the Kane Chronicles better
Wings of Fire
The Chronicles of Prydain by Lloyd Alexander, they’re older but great and definitely have good characters to look up to without being too preachy. Keeper of the Lost Cities is another option if you want a longer series with longer books
Chrestomanci by Diana Wynne Jones. It has elements of Narnia (portals to mysterious worlds) and Harry Potter (kids learning magic and an entire book about a school)
Fablehaven! And if they like it, there’s another spinoff series, Dragonwatch. My kids all loved it.
Enchantress from the Stars by Sylvia Engdahl
The Tripods Trilogy by John Christopher
His Dark Materials series by Philip Pullman
Nevermoor by Jessica Townsend
Chronicles of Ancient Darkness by Michelle Paver
The Amari series by B.B. Alton
Anything by Terry Pratchett. Satirical fantasy with awesome characters. Very funny but also thought provoking. Huge catalogue of mostly stand alone books. No gore or smut
Inkheart series, Fablehaven series, Percy Jackson and its followup series Heroes of Olympus, Peter and the Starcatchers, The Sea of Trolls
I haven’t read them myself, but a friend of mine loved Gregor the Overlander by Suzanne Collins at that age.
I got Keeper of the Lost Cities books by Shannon messenger for my friend’s kid, and she is still obsessed with it a year later
My kids loved the Percy Jackson series and the Warriors books at that age.
The Tristan Strong books by Kwame M’Balia. My kiddos are obsessed. The books are rooted in folk heroes from the African diaspora – John Henry, Brer Rabbit and Brer Fox, Anansi, The People Could Fly, etc. The series captures the humor, pain, confusion, and love of the tween to teen interior life so well. The world building is incredible, the villains can drive conversation in completely new directions, and some of the best sidekicks EVER will crack you up…looking at you Gum Baby.
You can’t go wrong with Percy Jackson
I loved The Belgariad series by David Eddings at this age!
The Tortall and the Circle books by Tamora Pierce.
Anything by Diana Wynne Jones.
Michelle Paver’s Chronicles of Ancient Darkness. Set in the Stone Age with mages and demons, incredibly well written too
They might like the Skulduggery Pleasant series by Derek Landy
the earthsea books by ursula le guin!
Half Magic and Seven Day Magic
The Ranger’s Apprentice Books by John Flanagan have been loved by all our kids and many, many adults in our family.
Peter and the starcatchers by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson
First book in a five book series that is a prequel to Peter Pan. It follows Peter and his friend Molly through their adventures. My daughter loved these books when she was their age.
Also Amari and the Night Brothers. First book in the series. About a magical school and I thought it was way better than Harry Potter. The protagonist is a 12-year-old girl
The Squire’s Tales series by Gerald Morris! I absolutely loved this series at that age and they often come to mind.
The Children of the Lamp series by P.B. Kerr might be fun for them. I read the first 4 (I think, it’s been a while) as a kid and enjoyed them. The series follows 12-year-old twins (boy and girl) as they learn they have djinn powers and have access to a supernatural world.
The Abhorsen (in the UK, The Old Kingdom) series starting with _Sabriel_ by Garth Nix.
It’s a sword wielding necromancer princess who uses magic to put down the dead. There’s swordplay, romance, magic, zombies, talking cats, prophetic glaciers? I mean come on. They’ll love it.
City of Ember
Dragonsong – Anne MCaffrey
The Hall Family Chronicles by Jane Langton! They’re about a brother and sister, Edward and Eleanor Hall, who have whimsical, wise adventures in Concord, Massachusetts.
The Dark is Rising series by Susan Cooper – the first book is Over Sea, Under Stone.
Maybe the Magic Faraway Tree series by Enid Blyton? It’s a lot of fun and has some very memorable characters!
My kid moved from Harry Potter to Percy Jackson. There’s a few series set in that world and she just devoured them.
*The Thief Lord* by Cornelia Funke
IMO her Inkheart series didn’t live up to the writing in *The Thief Lord*
SUMMERLAND by Michael Chabon has very “American Narnia” vibes