A bit of a backstory to provide some context for this request. My husband and I have 3 kids (ages 7, 9, and 11). Up until the tune that my oldest was 8 years old, we would have weekly book nights as a family (except for the youngest as he was a baby). Our two oldest were much younger then so our book club nights involved getting to stay up past bedtime, after the baby was asleep, and we'd each curl up in a spot in the den and read our separate books together–sometimes discussing what we like about our books, sharing a passage that made us laugh, and so on. Book club nights, and also famiky game nights, were also always accompanied by either hot chocolate, popcorn, or even ice cream. Book club and game nights are, hands down, some of the happiest memories in the lifetime of our little family.
Sometime during the year my oldest turned 8, however, I relapsed (after 9 years of sobriety) on benzos and stimulants and also acquired a nasty alcohol addiction on top of it. Book and game nights became less and less regular, until I just stopped doing them altogether.
I've been sober now for almost a year, all 3 of my children are in therapy, healing from the ramifications of having a mother who had been emotionally absent in her addiction for years. I am also in therapy myself and am amazed and so fucking grateful for the ways that my children and I, and our family as a whole, have been able to heal and grow.
One thing that comes up frequently, either by the kids or my husband and I, is that reinstating book night is something we're all longing for. Since my 9 and 11 year old read on a 10th and 12th grade level, respectively, I was thinking that in this season of our lives (my husband and I plus the two oldest) could all restart book clubs nights by reading the same book together and discussing it. (My seven year old is an extremely strong reader but would benefit most from one on one book nights with me and dad reading books together that are more catered to his age and ability and i got him quite a few new books i know hed love reading with me for christmas).
That being said, I'm hoping you guys can give us some book suggestions that we can read with the older kids. I'm looking for something that challenges their already high reading and comprehension abilities but opens them up to more varieties of books. Preferably nothing too scary or sexually explicit but do have complicated characters and themes and an immersive sort of universe.
When they were younger we read a bunch of the kid classics together like Charlotte's Webb; Chronicles of Narnia, Indian in the Cubbord, Harry Potter, Story Thieves, that sort of thing. What we're looking for now is something a little more modern that will grav the attention of the whole.
Any suggestions are deeply appreciated!
Edit: typos
by hocus-pocus-ocracy