My nephew is 11 years old and has read all the Harry Potter books and all of Rick Riordan’s stuff. Not surprisingly, he likes Greek mythology. Any suggestions in a similar vein for a Xmas present? Thanks for any help as I have no idea about books for kids.
The Hobbit or any of Heinlein’s juveniles (Sci-Fi rather than fantasy, but still good stories)
Different genre, but I think that’s about the right age for The Hardy Boys series…
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Tom Sawyer* is a classic.
My son (10.5) has fallen into Peter and the Starcatchers and loves it. He’s also run through the Harry Potter/Percy Jackson/Kane Chronicles and enjopyed those as well.
The Seems: The Glitch in Sleep is fun and has 2 others that follow from it. Very neat world concept.
He might also like the Amulet of Samarkand, which we finished but never found the remaining books.
The Chronicles of Prydain by Lloyd Alexander. The first book is called “The Book of Three,” there are five in the series. It is grounded in Welsh mythology.
The Dark is Rising series, by Susan Cooper. The first is “Over Sea, Under Stone.” British legend and druidic lore is the foundation of the fantasy.
Both these series are fairly traditional fantasy with some elements of magic, ancient lore, adventures, mysteries, etc. Chronicles of Prydain is set in a medieval-ish past, while The Dark is Rising is set in the more-or-less present day.
A standalone novel, Irish in its mythology, is Hounds of the Morrigan by Pat O’Shea
Daniel Pinkwater’s stuff, it isn’t exactly fantasy, it’s more like magical realism for kids. I especially recommend Lizard Music and The Neddiad: How Neddie Took the Train, Went to Hollywood, and Saved Civilization. There’s a sequel called The Yggyssey: How Iggy Wondered What Happened to All the Ghosts, Found Out Where They Went, and Went There, but I haven’t read it yet.
*The Night Tourist *by Katherine Marsh was decent enough, about a mythological world hidden under New York City.
Fantasy (time travel), but not myths: When You Reach Me, by Rebecca Stead. The main character is a girl, but I think it appeals to both boys and girls.
I heartily second both of these. The Amulet of Samarkand is the first of Jonathan Stroud’s Bartimaeus books (I started to say trilogy but he’s recently come out with one more).
My son also dug the Fablehaven books by Brandon Mull.
I’m currently reading The Nine-Pound Hammer, a retelling of American folktales in a style roughly a cross between The Lightning Thief and Carnivale (although explicitly without the hootchy-kootchy dance). It’s pretty fun.
Otherwise, at his age, he might be ready to move into adult fantasy. Here I don’t recommend, merely observe with a cringe: it was at that age that I first started reading and loving Piers Anthony’s Xanth series.
Thanks for the suggestions. I’m going with “Amulet of Samarkand”. I’m sure he will enjoy it.
Merry Christmas!
He seems like just about the right age for David Eddings’ Belgeriad series.
Edgar Rice Burroughs’ Barsoom series.
I haven’t read them, but my wife really liked the Fablehaven series. Brandon Sanderson also has a juvenile series out, called “Alcatraz”.
Alfred Kropp is very Potteresque, but different (not set in a school, Camelot not Magic, more immediate and serious danger, protagonist is in his mid-teens). Good audiobook!
I too iked the Alfred Kropp books.
Your boy Might be a little too young for “The Maze Runner” - a powerful start in a new series which has a Hunger Games feel to it.
Might be a little too old for Angie Sage’s Magyk series or Deb Gliori’s Pure Dead Magic series - but they are both great fun and highly recommended. (by me anyway)…
I also like the Gideon trilogy by Linda Buckley-Archer. More time-travel than fantasy, but so well done.
My boys (the ones I teach, heaven forbid I should have children!) seem to be enjoying the Skulduggery Pleasant books at the moment. I’ve read a couple of them - they’re pretty nicely written and have a good, fast-paced plot but not all action all the time. It’s magic based, set in Ireland.
Norse Mythology?
Fairy Folklore?
This, this, this!
The second book is titled “The Black Cauldron” and Disney made a movie with that name, taking events from “The Book of Three” and the “The Black Cauldron”, and mashing them together. Not a bad film, with superb animation, but it’s marred by a Disneyfied ending.
The kid sounds like the perfect candidate for the Ender’s Game series by Orson Scott Card. It’s Sci-Fi as opposed to myth/fantasy but it’s a lot smarter than the Potter books while still involving young people almost exclusively. I found when I was getting started on this type of fiction I needed a break from fantasy after the Tolkien/Potter/Narnia series and Ender’s Game was just the remedy. It’s Sci-Fi that manages not to get too bogged down in minutiae. Also, for a somewhat fluffier series you might want to get him started on the Star Wars: Extended Universe books. There’s a ton of crap out there, but there’s endless variety and a handful of authors are very good. The best starting point is the Thrawn Trilogy by Timothy Zahn. It’s really good and involves most of the characters that everyone already knows and loves.
Not very fantasy-heavy, but The Mysterious Benedict Society is a very good series of books featuring some superhuman-ability kids and crime fighting against an mad scientist who is trying to take over the world. Quite creative and well written for a first time author. I think you can get the kindle version for all 3 books for $9.99 total.
Diana Wynne Jones wrote a lot of fantasy aimed at kids/young adults. Some of it was based on Earth mythology, some not. I believe that some of the Chronicles of Chrestomanci books are in print right now, in double volumes. These can mostly be read in any order, so don’t worry about it. In some of her books, the protagonist is female, so I don’t know if he’d enjoy them, but most of her books are suitable for kids of that age range, and are enjoyable by adults, too. He might also enjoy some of Andre Norton’s books, though they can be rather dry to modern readers. She (yes, SHE) wrote a lot of what was considered “boys’ adventure stories” back in the day. Girls were not supposed to enjoy that sort of thing. Also, as mentioned, the Heinlein juveniles are still very good reads, even for adults. He might really enjoy a book on Greek mythology, a non fiction one that’s still fun.
Or get him some of that Harry Potter themed merchandise. I suspect that if the HP series had been out when I was 11, I would have KILLED for a real HP wand or stuffed owl. Just make sure that he doesn’t already have one.
Oh! And John Christopher’s Tripod books, beginning with The White Mountains.