I thought about Zombie by Joyce Carol Oates but somehow I think the phrase “I’ll fuck you til you bleed blue guts” isn’t quite suitable for a boy his age.
He’s read the Lloyd Alexander books on his own, I’m happy to report. Its funny you mention David Eddings because I was just wondering if he might like the Belgariad. Its been close to 20 years since I’ve read them, but I don’t think I remember anything unsuitable in them. I’ve also been thinking of recommending Feist’s Riftware saga to him.
Elementary school teacher chiming in here - I think it’s fantastic that the OP is still reading aloud to a 9 year old. Too many people give up on that special time as soon as their child learns to read. What better way to: A) express the importance and value of reading; B) model advanced reading behaviours and critical thinking about literature; and C) expose the child to wonderful books that they cannot yet read independently?
Some book suggestions:
Any of Gordon Korman’s books. For example, You Can’t do that at Macdonald Hall and the rest of that series are hilarious fun. http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0590326457/qid=1091324551/sr=8-6/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i6_xgl14/002-8076846-8380035?v=glance&s=books&n=507846
His adventure books, such as the Dive or Everest trilogy, are excellent adventure stories with lots of topics to discuss such as the ideas of bravery, fairness, etc.
I’ll try to think of some more tomorrow. . .
Elementary school teacher chiming in here - I think it’s fantastic that the OP is still reading aloud to a 9 year old. Too many people give up on that special time as soon as their child learns to read. What better way to: A) express the importance and value of reading; B) model advanced reading behaviours and critical thinking about literature; and C) expose the child to wonderful books that they cannot yet read independently?
Some book suggestions:
Any of Gordon Korman’s books. For example, You Can’t do that at Macdonald Hall and the rest of that series are hilarious fun. http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0590326457/qid=1091324551/sr=8-6/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i6_xgl14/002-8076846-8380035?v=glance&s=books&n=507846
His adventure books, such as the Dive (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0439466148/qid=1091324551/sr=8-4/ref=pd_ka_4/002-8076846-8380035?v=glance&s=books&n=507846) or Everest (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0439405068/qid=1091324551/sr=8-3/ref=pd_ka_3/002-8076846-8380035?v=glance&s=books&n=507846) trilogy, are excellent adventure stories with lots of topics to discuss such as the ideas of bravery, fairness, etc.
I’ll try to think of some more tomorrow. . .
Sorry for the double post :smack:
I’ve read throgh this entire post. Did I not see any Judy Blume? Judy Blume’s books are a must for every kid. Start with the Fudge books, but allow your kid to read the teen ones as he gets older.
I’ll exempt the 3 or 4 she has written for adults.
How about the Bible? Regardless of anyone’s religious beliefs, an understanding of the Bible will help any student.
When I was about 8 years old, my father read The Chronicles of Narnia and A Wrinkle in Time to me. Neither could be described as educational, although the latter promotes respect for science and math. They both have Christian references in them, but they are pretty subtle–I didn’t catch on to the Christianity aspects until I re-read the books as an adult. I also recommend The Midnight Fox. I think that would make a wonderful story to read aloud.
If you want something a bit more literary, how about The Little Prince?
Oh, and I second the nomination for The Once and Future King. I read it in 7th grade and loved it. I think it would be suitable for a nine-year-old.
If your son is handling such books at age nine (not ninth grade?), then I’d think you’d both enjoy “Watership Down” by Richard Adams. It is an enjoyable tale of rabbits faced with real-life morale decisions and political issues. It is not a frightening story. I think you won’t be able to put this book down! Give it a try!
If he is age 9, he’ll also enjoy “Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH” but Scott O’Brian, IIRC. Very interesting tale of ingenious problem solving. It’s a Newberry Award winner. I enjoyed both books…at different ages.
Oh, “The Push-Cart War” is another light-hearted novel about real civic issues when the age trucks push out the old-time pushcarts of NYC. I forget the author!
- Jinx
Oh yeah–“Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH”–that’s one of my favorites.
By the way, I would hold off on reading Animal Farm until the boy learns Russian/Soviet history. I had to read that book in 9th grade, and I missed most of the references because I really didn’t have a good idea of Stalin’s place in history, and didn’t have the vaguest clue back then who Trotsky was. Of course, one can read the book without understanding the historical context, but that seems kind of pointless. If you want to introduce him to Orwell, I would suggest 1984 as a more accessible choice. On a related note, Bradbury’s **Fahrenheit 451 ** is very accessible as well.
Unless, of course, your son already knows about the history of the Soviet Union, or you are willing to give him the necessary background.
I worked in a bookstore and often had to recommend fantasy for kids and I never had a complaint about Eddings, plus one of my nephews liked fantasy and his parents were a bit picky (more about violence than sex–but then, I can’t offhand think of a really sexy fantasy). I think Feist is a great choice as well, the only problem may be keeping all the characters straight. The companion books written by Janney Wurts (Servant of the Empire) are also very good.
A classic that I always loved is the Count of Monte Cristo, and it has several themes that could lead to good discussions–envy, revenge, slavery, justice, prison, and the list goes on. The Three Musketeers is another good one. They could be difficult for him to get through on his own, but as read-aloud books, they should be okay.
If he does enjoy the King Arthur legend, I’ll add to The Once on Future King, the Merlin series written by Mary Stewart (The Crystal Caves; The Hollow Hills; the Last Enchantment; This Wicked Day). The first two are the best, the last one is about Mordred and I never thought it matched the others as well. She does treat the legend in a rather adult manner (Arthur has all the male babies killed after he learns he fathered Mordred, and Merlin is the illegitamate son of a noble woman, for example). Rosemary Sutcliffe on the other hand, goes to the historical roots of the legend and The Sword At Sunset portrays Arthur as Romanized Briton who unites the various kings through his position as Warlord in the on-going wars against the Saxons. Sutcliff has several historical fiction books written for juveniles–several about Roman Britain, and a few a bit later in British history, and I always enjoyed them.
And if he does like this type of historical fiction, Cecelia Holland (in my opinion the best historical fiction author) has writen several juveniles as well as her adult stuff. Her adult stuff is often very psychological and so may go right over a nine-year old’s head, but her books for younger readers were excellent–there’s one about Fredrick Barbarossa that I particularly remember.
I suppose that I should confess that I’ve never really gotten the distinction between children/adult books once the reading level ceases to be an issue, so some of my suggestions may sound a bit strange. My Mom’s theory on what we all read was that if we didn’t understand it, we’d get bored and not read it, and if we understood it, there was no reason for us not to be reading it. As a result (especially since two of my sisters were much older) I started reading adult books and classic literature pretty young. My recollection is that sexual themes went right over my head for years–I got a shock when I re-read certain books in high school or college! So, with that caveat, I hope at least of few of my suggestions get a chance. 