This community was so helpful a few years ago when I posted about my then-11-year-old. My kid is now almost 13, and remains a devoted reader. In the two years since, he's devoured any number of (mostly) fantasy series, and favorites have included Naomi Novik, Brandon Sanderson, all of the Tolkien catalog (including the Silmarillion), the entirety of the Wheel of Time series, lots of Tamora Pierce, LeGuin, and many others. He's an advanced reader very comfortable with teen or adult level fiction.
He's now in seventh grade, and I'd like to start (gently) expanding his horizons while still honoring his love of fantasy. Our public schools are nothing to write home about, and I'd like to have a running list of reading recommendations for him that act as a sort of shadow curriculum. In addition to fantasy, he's interested in history (particularly the Revolutionary War), plays flute and French horn, spends a lot of time in nature running and cross-country skiing, and plays a lot of D&D and Magic with friends. He's currently reading "Project Hail Mary," but hasn't otherwise delved too deeply into sci-fi.
I'm looking for a blend of classics and contemporary literature. I've got "Lord of the Flies" and "Watership Down" on my list already, but would love as many wide-ranging recommendations as you've got. I love reading as pure entertainment, but I'm also looking for books that are enriching — well written, complex in theme or construction, or otherwise designed to help stretch one's mind a bit. Thank you!
by thedalahorse
5 Comments
Tomorrow, When the War Began + sequels by John Marsden
The Hunger Games
The Stand by Stephen King
1984
Joe Abercrombies Shattered Sea trilogy
It’s still fantasy, but I ended up reading a fair amount of nonfiction to understand references from Discworld. Probably start with Guards! Guards! or Wyrd Sisters
Dungeon Crawler Carl for sure
Your son might enjoy Bernard Cornwell.
Mostly historical fiction – *The Fort* is set in your son’s beloved Revolutionary War, the *Sharpe* series is Napoleonic and would overlap nicely with Naomi Novik’s visits to that era – but some of his chosen settings feel like fantasy because they’re so far back that they’re not well understood. The *Warlord Chronicles,* for example, are essentially “what if King Arthur was real, and he’s a – very – early medieval warlord?”