Please ignore my spelling, I struggle and autocorrect is not working…
He loves to read and will power through books in a few days (he read Harry Potter books 1-4 in less than a month). I would say Harry Potter book #1 is the limit of his reading comprehension, the Hobbit was a bit difficult for him (I ask him questions lol) but do-able. The thing is, he likes action and OP heros, and reads the talking parts because he knows the action parts will follow.
Some books he's read:
-Harry Potter: liked GoF the most (dragons)
-Hobbit: it was okay, liked the barrel part and Smaug part best, too much talking and too many characters
-Percy Jackson: great fight scenes and "tricks" but a lot of build up just to get to the "exciting parts" at the end
-Daniel X: Loved it, probably his favorite series. He seems to love OP heros and the big fight scenes with cool catch phrases. He loved all the "gotcha" moments.
-Hilo (Boy Who Fell to Earth): thought it was great, hilarious. I'd prefer he had an actual novel not graphic novel.
Key points from mom: nothing too mature (little to no romance please, he's 8y) but MG/YA is fine, lots of action, OP hero, preferably not a graphic novel.
Thanks!
by Negative_Fennel_4456
14 Comments
John Flanagan,
It’s been a while since I’ve read them, but I think the Artemis Fowl books by Eoin Colfer might be good. There are 8 books in the original series plus a sequel series
Try him on one of Heinlein’s Juveniles.
My first(coincidentally at 8) was *Have Spacesuit Will Travel.*
*Goblins in the Castle* by Bruce Coville. 100%
Maybe he’d enjoy the [Alcatraz Verses the Evil Librarians](https://app.thestorygraph.com/series/1399) books by Brandon Sanderson
The Amulet graphic novel series by Kazu Kibuishi might make him happy.
Pendragon was a lot of fun when I was that age
The pendragon series by DJ Machale!
Rangers apprentice
Artemis fowl
One of my younger brothers had similar tastes. He also enjoyed the Redwall series by Brian Jacques, the inkheart trilogy by Cornelia Funke, both the seventh tower and keys to the kingdom series by Garth Nix.
The Last Book in the Universe is a good one.
All the Dust that Falls is a good series for a young fantasy/ sci-fi lover. It’s marketed towards adults but it is child friendly. I read the series with my son when he was 9 after reading it myself and knowing he would love it.
It’s about a Roomba that gets accidentally transported to a medieval age magic using world. They were trying to summon a demon and when a vacuum shows up and beeps at them they are Terrified. They’ve never seen a machine before, and when it shows up and starts vacuuming up the salt lines from the ceremony it’s every man for himself as they scramble to get away. My son belly laughed so hard because one of them ended up peeing himself and kids think bathroom humor is hilarious.
If you read the series knowing that all this Roomba wants to do is clean things it makes the antics the humans get into 10X as hilarious.
As a book loving parent I promise the series is age appropriate. The only ‘romance’ is only an implied possible crush that never results in so much as a kiss. There’s no gore. There are scenes where the Roomba vacuums up demons and other ‘mess makers’ including animated skeletons and a rat at one point. Nothing inappropriate for a school age child.
The Chronicles of Prydain by Lloyd Alexander
The Arlo Finch series by John August. It’s like the Scouts plus magic. There are Some suspenseful situations but definitely in his age range. I have listened to the audio books too and they are fantastic.