Book recommendations for a precocious reader

[kmcm]

My 9 year old son has tested really high in reading comprehension and ability. His scores indicate that he reads at a 11-12th grade level.

Unfortunately, i'm not sure what kind of books to find for him that would be challenging yet still age-appropriate. He has already read the Eragon series, he's not interested in Harry Potter, and he want's to wait until he's a bit older to read the Hitchhiker's Guide series (he wants to understand all of the jokes, says he.)

So, many of us snopesters had the same problem growing up and i wondered if there were any suggestions we could elicit from Snopesland-at-large.

He enjoys books that are fantasy, but not just straight magic. Dragons are cool, witches are meh. He is 9, so bathroom humor is a big hit, but i'm tired of seeing the Captain Underpants series. He's read the Diary of a wimpy kid, as well as the Percy Jackson series.

So far, we've had a deal where he could check out 2 books from the school library, one "fluff" book and one chapter book. He's been bringing home garfield, as fluff, and chapter books that he can find, but they usually aren't challenging, usually at or below his actual grade level (4th).

Suggestions, comments, advice are all welcome. He loves to read, but finding books has been a challenge. Help?

kmcm

[Pinecone]

The Chronicles of Narnia, or there's some Terry Pratchett books which are aimed at younger readers.

[zerocool]

Originally Posted by kmcm

My 9 year old son has tested really high in reading comprehension and ability. His scores indicate that he reads at a 11-12th grade level.

Unfortunately, i'm not sure what kind of books to find for him that would be challenging yet still age-appropriate. He has already read the Eragon series, he's not interested in Harry Potter, and he want's to wait until he's a bit older to read the Hitchhiker's Guide series (he wants to understand all of the jokes, says he.)

So, many of us snopesters had the same problem growing up and i wondered if there were any suggestions we could elicit from Snopesland-at-large.

He enjoys books that are fantasy, but not just straight magic. Dragons are cool, witches are meh. He is 9, so bathroom humor is a big hit, but i'm tired of seeing the Captain Underpants series. He's read the Diary of a wimpy kid, as well as the Percy Jackson series.

So far, we've had a deal where he could check out 2 books from the school library, one "fluff" book and one chapter book. He's been bringing home garfield, as fluff, and chapter books that he can find, but they usually aren't challenging, usually at or below his actual grade level (4th).

Suggestions, comments, advice are all welcome. He loves to read, but finding books has been a challenge. Help?

kmcm

I read Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea at that age, and enjoyed it. Lord of the Rings (or maybe the Hobbit to start with) were also be good.

[daisyslegs]

Ursula K. Le Guin

http://dannyreviews.com/a/Ursula_K._Le_Guin.html

I loved her books as a child and even today. Look for A Wrinkle in Time.

Heck I read the Hobbit when I was 10.

Another series he might enjoy with "magic" but in a strange way, is PiersAnthony's Xanth series. I started them at age 9 and loved them!
http://www.piers-anthony.com/xanth.html

Be happy you have a reader like that. I have one too. My son and I share books. I love the "hey Mom, you HAVE to read this!" and me saying Oh K will love this one....

[ULTRAGOTHA]

Anthony Horowitz may have some books he'd like.

Heinlein's juvenile books are good (a bit sexist but good).

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman just won a Newberry.

[I'mNotDedalus]

Books I always see 9ish-year-old boys checking out at Rock'EmSock'Em Liberry (I have no idea if they're bright spots or dullards, but since they're checking books out at the library, as opposed to videogames and DVDs, I tend to think the force is strong in them):

• Warriors series by Erin Hunter
  
• Dragon Rider by Cornelia Funke
  
• Redwall series by Brian Jacques
  
• The Bartimaeus Trilogy by Johnathan Stroud

[Beejtronic]

A book series that's technically for kids, but something I loved as a teen/ adult was A Series of Unfortunate Events. Very funny, very bizarre, with a few mysteries thrown in the mix.

[lavender blue]

Originally Posted by daisyslegs

Ursula K. Le Guin

http://dannyreviews.com/a/Ursula_K._Le_Guin.html

I loved her books as a child and even today. Look for A Wrinkle in Time.

Didn't Madeleine L'Engle write A Wrinkle In Time? At any rate, that book and the rest of her works are good recommendations.

At 9-ish I was reading Tamora Pierce, the Pern books, and the Dark Is Rising series. The only thing I'd say is that I don't know how you feel about some discussion of sexuality, as there is a bit in most of these books (not graphic, but mentions of people having sex) and some violence (but not any more than Harry Potter, I think). I also started the classics (Bronte, Alcott, Hawthorne, Dickens, etc.) a bit under protest since my mom was insistent, but ended up liking the majority of it. Has he read the original Wizard of Oz?\

(eta)I have to say, I'm glad you're allowing him to choose some of his own books, even if they are 'too young' for his level. There is no better way to discourage reading than to insist that can only read 'worthy' books; sometimes everyone needs to read a book just for pleasure.

[pickle]

Ender's Game and Ender's Shadow. (There are more Ender's books, but I didn't like them nearly as much.)

[blucanary]

Alcatraz Vs. The Evil Librarians is good. It's aimed at slightly older kids. It's magic in a tongue in cheek way.

http://www.amazon.com/Alcatraz-Versu.../dp/0439925509

[Insensible Crier]

I'll throw out The Death Gate Cycle by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman.

I'll second the Xanth series by Piers Anthony. I'd also recommend his Incarnations of Immortality series though those book were kind of hit and miss for me.

A triple dose of second for Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card and The Lord of the Rings (The Hobbit included) by J .R. R. Tolkien.

A big recommendation for the Dune series. I recommend sticking to the stuff authored by Frank Herbert.

[Steve Eisenberg]

That young, or shortly after, I liked to go to the biggest library I could get my parents to take me to, borrow about a dozen books, and find the one or two I would actually like to read. And I'm afraid that the books my parents recommended were the last ones I would ever have read.

At age 40 or so, I finally found out that my father had been on to something when he pushed Dickens.

My favorite category at age 9 was, I think, biography.

There's nothing wrong with asking the OP question, but every child is so different that it is extremely hard to give a helpful answer.

[Nick Theodorakis]

Recs from my DD's:

Among the Hidden

Hidden Talents

Supernaturalist

Heir Apparent

Maximum Ride (thumbs up from one DD, thumbs down from the other)

Godless

in addition to some already mentioned

Nick

[Cure the Blues]

I'll third Ender's Game, the l'Engle books, the Narnia series and the Pratchett kids books. Also Susan Cooper's The Dark Is Rising series and Lloyd Alexander's Prydain Chronicles. The Hobbit is a good intro to the rest of the LotR series if he wants to read them later. David Eddings would definitely be indicated since he has fast-moving plots with nothing terribly heavy.

Personally, my gateway book was Watership Down, but talking bunnies aside, this does not fall within the fantasy genre. Maybe T. H. White's The Once and Future King?

There's also the Zelazny Amber series, re-released as The Great Book of Amber. It's been awhile since I've read them, but IIRC there's nothing in there very inappropriate for a kid, except that they start with an amnesiac protagonist with little exposition upfront. That could make it hard to follow and get into initially.

[GalateaDancer]

DD has been making her way through the Septimus Heap books.

[Cure the Blues]

I'm an idiot sometimes! *facepalm,facepalm,facepalm,fish* I totally forgot Naomi Novik's Temeraire series. Alt history/fantasy with dragon air corps in Napoleonic times. I finished the first, His Majesty's Dragon, some months back and enjoyed it muchly. Frothy fun with lots of action, and dragons! No magic, though. Novik tries somewhat to make the dragons fit in as naturally as possible (and she went to town on the different dragon breeds, to the point where she could probably market an illustrated "bestiary" showing them all).

[Cervus]

The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle

[musicgeek]

Another vote for L'Engle, Pratchett (Maurice and His Educated Rodents, and even though Wee Free Men/Hat Full of Sky/Wintersmith have a female protagonist, they're great reads) and Lloyd Alexander.

My brother and I devoured the entire series of Oz books by L. Frank Baum - fluff to be sure, but some neat characters and story arcs.

John Bellairs stuff is great (ask Brad from Georgia!) - I particularly liked The House With a Clock In Its Walls.

Soup and Soup and Me by Robert Newton Peck were favorites, too.

Mark Twain (Tom Sawyer as well as some of the short stories).

[candy from strangers]

I don't know what reading level his books are considered, but when I was around that age I loved me some Ray Bradbury (especially Farenheit 451 and Something Wicked This Way Comes, naturally)

[Ryda Wong, EBfCo.]

Originally Posted by daisyslegs

Another series he might enjoy with "magic" but in a strange way, is PiersAnthony's Xanth series. I started them at age 9 and loved them!
http://www.piers-anthony.com/xanth.html

Just a warning, but Anthony is one of the worst misogynists writing in sci-fi/fantasy.

I do NOT recommend his work.

I'd recommend:
Nina Kiriki Hoffman
Charles De Ling
Caitlín R. Kiernan (with a grain of salt....she can be quite scary and there are some adult themes in some of her work)