# Looking for young teen / tween books where young MALE hero learns courage / fighting **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 7, 2011, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-young-teen-tween-books-where-young-male-hero-learns-courage-fighting/584678 "2011-06-07T22:27:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![appleciders](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85f322/32.png) [@appleciders](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/appleciders)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2011, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-young-teen-tween-books-where-young-male-hero-learns-courage-fighting/584678/41 "2011-06-08T05:04:33Z")
> [@Morgyn](#): > > OOO! And the classics, of course. \*Kim \*and _The Jungle Book_, by Rudyard Kipling. Can’t go wrong with those. Also _Puck of Pooks Hill_ and _Rewards and Fairies_. I’m reading _Kim_ now and it’s lovely, but I don’t know how accessible it would be to a kid. Some of the rest of Kipling’s stuff might be better, and it may or may not open him up to some historical fiction, which might also suit him. _Watership Down_ might be a good choice. There are most certainly scary parts, but you can rest assured that the good rabbits never lose in the end. The only dark part is the “Black Rabbit of Inle” story, and you can edit that out if you like. Lloyd Alexander’s _Prydain Chronicles_ are a good bet too; I hope you started him on _The Book of Three_, as it’s the first and it’s helpful (though not necessary) to read them in order. Heinlein’s juveniles are a good bet; _Space Cadet_ and _The Rolling Stones_ are probably among the best to start with. Actually, _Space Cadet_ is male-centric to a fault, so you’re definitely OK there. Asimov’s _Robot_ stuff might work; those stories might be just the right length to read one each night to him. Bruce Coville wrote a number of nice childrens’ SF books in the nineties; _My Teacher Is An Alien_ is the first and it’s about right for an eight-year-old. Matt Christopher wrote\* dozens of childrens’ books about sports that are just about right for an eight-year-old. Many of them are about baseball. They’re _really_ formulaic, but that may be OK. Of course, the greatest fantasy story of all time, with "Fencing, fighting, torture, revenge, giants, monsters, chases, escapes, true love, miracles… ". The only hard part is the fact that Westley spends half the book dead for one reason or another, which might be difficult for an eight-year-old. If you didn’t realize that I’m referring to _The Princess Bride_, you should read it yourself. \*There are so many of his books that I suspect many are ghostwritten, but it doesn’t matter much. ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2011, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-young-teen-tween-books-where-young-male-hero-learns-courage-fighting/584678/42 "2011-06-08T05:40:26Z")
> [@trupa](#): > > We’ve had some success with baseball-based novels as well, but there aren’t a whole lot of those. A few possibilities are listed [here](http://www.uta.edu/english/tim/baseball/juv/index.html). ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2011, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-young-teen-tween-books-where-young-male-hero-learns-courage-fighting/584678/43 "2011-06-08T06:40:25Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > If you want something **realistic,** it should be about a child-soldier serving in a civil war in a Third-World country. Actually, that’s pretty much the _Harry Potter_ series. It’s all about the kids being put in situations where they have to fight in their elders’ wars, not as Scouts rolling bandages but fight for real, with real risk of death – and real risk of killing. Just as kids sometimes have to do in real life. (The conservative Christians who denounce the series for an immoral world-view never objected to **that,** that I recall.) ---
**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2011, 7:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-young-teen-tween-books-where-young-male-hero-learns-courage-fighting/584678/44 "2011-06-08T07:11:21Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > No _Ender’s Game_? 🙂 I loved that book, but I don’t know if I’d recommend it for any young person - it’s pretty intense. I can hardly argue with Orson Scott Card’s conclusions, but man - what a harsh story. I came into post **Ender’s Game**. I was shocked as I skimmed the thread to see that it took 33 posts for it to come up. I suppose it’s themes could be a little over the head of a 8 year old but it’s not too dense. I think you’re giving the OP a false impression of the story. I don’t want to spoil it, but it’s not harsh in the sense that the action is especially crude, violent or adult. It’s harsh in that it doesn’t have an entirely warm and fuzzy ending. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2011, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-young-teen-tween-books-where-young-male-hero-learns-courage-fighting/584678/45 "2011-06-08T14:00:53Z")
The Last Apprentice books are AWESOME (what is it with “apprentices” these days?) but a little old for him. In a few years he’ll love them, though. I haven’t read all of the Edge Chronicles yet, but the ones I’ve read so far have had male protagonists and are very good. With amazing illustrations, too. ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2011, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-young-teen-tween-books-where-young-male-hero-learns-courage-fighting/584678/46 "2011-06-08T14:02:19Z")
> [@Omniscient](#): > > I came into post **Ender’s Game**. I was shocked as I skimmed the thread to see that it took 33 posts for it to come up. Not sure if it’s what the OP wants, though. Ender is specially gifted and succeeds like nobody else; I didn’t get a feeling that he was “learning and maturing” so much as “he was a sort of savant or super-hero.” ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2011, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-young-teen-tween-books-where-young-male-hero-learns-courage-fighting/584678/47 "2011-06-08T15:35:11Z")
> [@appleciders](#): > > _Watership Down_ might be a good choice. There are most certainly scary parts, but you can rest assured that the good rabbits never lose in the end. The only dark part is the “Black Rabbit of Inle” story, and you can edit that out if you like. I don’t know…Efrafa scared the pellets out of me. ---
**Author:** ![Imago](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/85e7bf/32.png) [@Imago](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Imago)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2011, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-young-teen-tween-books-where-young-male-hero-learns-courage-fighting/584678/48 "2011-06-08T17:49:30Z")
With the new information, I think _A Castle in the Attic_ will be great, as the conflict and any resulting danger is very child-friendly and not frightening at all. There is, however, a sequel which gets a tad bit scarier (a prophecy and a plague of rats, though everything still turns out well in the end) which I’d recommend leaving for now, though its ability to stand alone would make it good for down the road. I was originally coming back to add David Clement-Davies’ _Firebringer_, which is a Watership Down-esque preteen novel about deer, but now that I remember the murder, tyranny, implied rape and such which are integral to the plot I don’t think that’s such a good idea. Perhaps when he’s a teenager or young adult it will be more suitable. ---
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2011, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-young-teen-tween-books-where-young-male-hero-learns-courage-fighting/584678/49 "2011-06-08T17:54:41Z")
You might also like to check out [Jane Langton](http://www.amazon.com/Jane-Langton/e/B000APJMF4/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_1), who wrote the Hall Family Chronicles. (The Astonishing Stereoscope is the book I first read.) Male and female protagonists, kids, not really scary. ---
**Author:** ![tr0psn4j](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/958977/32.png) [@tr0psn4j](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tr0psn4j)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2011, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-young-teen-tween-books-where-young-male-hero-learns-courage-fighting/584678/50 "2011-06-08T18:01:28Z")
> [@trupa](#): > > My wife and I are pretty voracious SF / Fantasy readers. We’re also trying to find stories to read to our 8yr old son about young people developing courage and fighting skills. We keep finding plenty of stories of girls learning to fight / going to knight academies etc. (Like Tamora Pierce’s Protector of the Small series, or any number of Valdemar series books) but haven’t found any where the protagonist is a boy. > > Now, I’m all in favour of strong, capable, even fierce women and all, but \*\*truesquirt \*\*is having a hard time connecting with the girl protagonists. > > Any suggestions please? Doesn’t have to be Sword & Sorcery or Spaceships & Laserbeams, either. Dude, The Hobbit then maybe Lord of The Rings. I think a 8 year old should be old enough to have The Hobbit read to him. Bilbo is, in a lot of ways, boyish during The Hobbit. [Farmer Giles of Ham](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farmer_Giles_of_Ham) might be worth a shot. The first paragraph in the Wiki sums it up pretty good. Farmer Giles isn’t really a boy, but a man, so this probably doesn’t really fit your parameters. Everything else about it seems perfect though. ---
**Author:** ![Lasciel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e79b87/32.png) [@Lasciel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lasciel)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2011, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-young-teen-tween-books-where-young-male-hero-learns-courage-fighting/584678/51 "2011-06-08T18:28:46Z")
Noting the update about his reading level and the info on him being on the spectrum, I wanted to mention the Dinotopia books. [http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb\_sb\_noss?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=dinotopia](http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=dinotopia) The basic premise is that this island was “lost in time” and the dinosaurs never died out here, and eventually developed human-level intelligence. The only humans are rescues from shipwrecks, and they all integrate nicely into a totally pacifistic (and vegan, oddly enough) society. (Yes, it’s a little bit twee - the awesome pictures and the fact that there are dinosaurs and people living together do a lot to counteract that.) There are a few of them which are really nice hardback picture-rich ones (although the text is meant for adult-level reading). They are FANTASTIC to pore over. There is an actual alphabet of dino-tracks (which does work) and lots of puzzles and interesting details in the pictures to find out about. Then there are others which are fairly easy chapter-books (but don’t have the awesome pictures) about simple moralistic stories: Do the right thing. Be brave. Don’t try to be someone you aren’t. Follow your dreams. Stick up for yourself. That sort of thing. They are all very nice _pacifistic_ stories with young human children needing to work with other kids and with dinosaurs to solve pretty non-graphic-and-non-intense problems. A big storm has swamped a camp for one, a rock fall cuts off a pass in another, an egg needs to be kept warm to hatch in one, someone is going around \*stealing \*things and has to be found and convinced to play nice in society… I think the scariest thing would be that some of the stories have Tyrannosaurs, and even they aren’t awful, just “wild meat-eating dinosaurs” instead of the nice tame ones in the rest of the story. Very fun set of books. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2011, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-young-teen-tween-books-where-young-male-hero-learns-courage-fighting/584678/52 "2011-06-08T18:37:50Z")
Oh, did somebody already suggest Lloyd Alexander’s Chronicles of Prydain books? ---
**Author:** ![redtail23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/3e96dc/32.png) [@redtail23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/redtail23)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2011, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-young-teen-tween-books-where-young-male-hero-learns-courage-fighting/584678/53 "2011-06-08T19:13:13Z")
The Kjelgaard books are great, as are the Terhunes. There’s also the Black Stallion series. And Marguerite Henry has boys in most of hers – _King of the Wind_, the Chincoteague ponies, _Brighty_, _Black Gold_, and the Medicine Hat Stallion are good ones I can think of offhand. The juvenile Heinleins are almost all oriented to boys. The only exception I can think of ATM is _Podkayne_. If you like Mercedes Lackey, she’s got several with boys as the primary character. The Dragon Jousters series (well, the first two anyway, haven’t read the rest) is one. In the Valdemar world, there’s the Gryphon trilogy, the Last Herald Mage trilogy, Brightly Burning, Vows and Honor trilogy, and Owl Mage trilogy, at least. Several of those may be a bit too old for him at this point, but I’d think the Owl Mage would be a pretty good match. On review, I’d skip the Lackey for now. Most of them have some fairly scary bits. Maybe the first Dragon Jouster or the first Owl Mage. But everything in the first paragraph and the Heinleins I’d still recommend. As have many others, I see. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2011, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-young-teen-tween-books-where-young-male-hero-learns-courage-fighting/584678/54 "2011-06-08T19:13:54Z")
> [@Omniscient](#): > > I came into post **Ender’s Game**. I was shocked as I skimmed the thread to see that it took 33 posts for it to come up. I suppose it’s themes could be a little over the head of a 8 year old but it’s not too dense. I think you’re giving the OP a false impression of the story. I don’t want to spoil it, but it’s not harsh in the sense that the action is especially crude, violent or adult. It’s harsh in that it doesn’t have an entirely warm and fuzzy ending. I dunno; I would definitely have **trupa** read that one before having his young son read it. There were very intense moments throughout the novel that might be too much for a young, impressionable guy (like the scenes with Ender and the other kids bullying him and Ender’s responses). ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2011, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-young-teen-tween-books-where-young-male-hero-learns-courage-fighting/584678/55 "2011-06-08T19:34:31Z")
> [@Lynn\_Bodoni](#): > > Go to older books, like those written before the 1970s or 80s. Back then, it was thought that girls were either not interested in those types of books, or would be able to connect with the male protagonists. > > Look for Robert Heinlein, Andre Norton, and similar writers. Norton wrote mostly boys’ adventure stories, set in a fantasy or SF background. You can also read a few of Lawrence Watt-Evans’ works. I’m currently rereading _With a Single Spell_, and though it’s obvious to an adult that some of the characters have sex, it would probably pass right over the head of a kid. Give it a read yourself. There’s also _The Misenchanted Sword_ by the same author. This series is pretty good for kids, generally. The main characters have to grow as the books progress, and the books can be read in any order. Another vote for Heinlein. His books are traditionally divided between his “Juveniles” and his adult works, but really there is not much difference except that the “Juveniles” can be a bit more didactic and may be more “PG” rated if you know what I mean, but most Heinlein books should be OK, just screen them first. What about the Ender books by Orson Scott Card, or at least the first one, Ender’s Game? It has a lot about growing up and trying to make something of oneself, but it isn’t a straight hero story and the hero ends up annihilating a civilization and needs to learn to deal with it. He also kills two children before reaching adulthood. ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2011, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-young-teen-tween-books-where-young-male-hero-learns-courage-fighting/584678/56 "2011-06-08T19:37:06Z")
> [@tr0psn4j](#): > > Dude, The Hobbit then maybe Lord of The Rings. > > I think a 8 year old should be old enough to have The Hobbit read to him. > > Bilbo is, in a lot of ways, boyish during The Hobbit. > > [Farmer Giles of Ham](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farmer_Giles_of_Ham) might be worth a shot. The first paragraph in the Wiki sums it up pretty good. > > Farmer Giles isn’t really a boy, but a man, so this probably doesn’t really fit your parameters. Everything else about it seems perfect though. And Narnia, of course. I’d recommend His Dark Materials, but it sounds like he’s turned off to heroines. ---
**Author:** ![Katriona](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/katriona/32/113_2.png) [@Katriona](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Katriona)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2011, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-young-teen-tween-books-where-young-male-hero-learns-courage-fighting/584678/57 "2011-06-08T19:52:51Z")
Gerald Morris’ Squire’s Tales books are fun, and have some fun with the Arthur mythos, chivalry taken to extremes, etc. > **[Gerald Morris: books, biography, latest update](https://www.amazon.com/stores/Gerald%20Morris/author/B001IQXICW)** > > Follow Gerald Morris and explore their bibliography from Amazon.com's Gerald Morris Author Page. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2011, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-young-teen-tween-books-where-young-male-hero-learns-courage-fighting/584678/58 "2011-06-08T19:56:17Z")
> [@robert\_columbia](#): > > And Narnia, of course. > > I’d recommend His Dark Materials, but it sounds like he’s turned off to heroines. I certainly would not recommend His Dark Materials to an 8 year old on the autism spectrum who’s not ready for Star Wars. I’m not sure I’d recommend His Dark Materials to a 16 year old who isn’t on the spectrum and likes Hellraiser. And I say that as a fan of His Dark Materials. \*Dark \*is right. Honestly, most of the recommendations, including my own, are too advanced, now that we have some more details. Percy Jackson, Charlie Bone, Narnia and Dinotopia are probably about right. He’ll probably be ready for some but not all of The Chronicles of Prydain in a year or so. The rest pretty much need to be shelved until he’s ready to deal with some more scary content and moral ambiguity. Remember, Dopers are skewed to the precociously literate, and much of when \*we \*were reading at 8 isn’t going to go over well for a sensitive 8. ---
**Author:** ![foxymoron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/d26b3c/32.png) [@foxymoron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foxymoron)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2011, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-young-teen-tween-books-where-young-male-hero-learns-courage-fighting/584678/59 "2011-06-08T20:02:56Z")
Maybe the [‘Atherton’ books by Patrick Carman](http://www.patrickcarman.com/books/atherton/) would be of interest to your son. From your description, I think they would be just right for you to read to him. ---
**Author:** ![dangermom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2011, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-young-teen-tween-books-where-young-male-hero-learns-courage-fighting/584678/60 "2011-06-08T20:19:51Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > Honestly, most of the recommendations, including my own, are too advanced, now that we have some more details. Percy Jackson, Charlie Bone, Narnia and Dinotopia are probably about right. He’ll probably be ready for some but not all of The Chronicles of Prydain in a year or so. The rest pretty much need to be shelved until he’s ready to deal with some more scary content and moral ambiguity. Yes indeed. I was thinking more of what my older kid liked, but she reads precociously and doesn’t mind scary stuff. My younger kid is more average in her reading tastes, and enjoys The Secret of Droon series (easy chapter books), which I think stars two boys and a girl. The “My Father’s Dragon” trilogy by Ruth Stiles Gannett is also great to read at that age–it stars Elmer Elevator, who saves a baby dragon, and it’s more fun than scary. The Warriors and Guardians of Gahoole series are probably good for the next step up from there. Maybe Redwall as a read-aloud. BTW, whoever mentioned the Weirdstone of Brisingamen, thanks for reminding me of its existence! My older kid will love it and I checked it out today. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-young-teen-tween-books-where-young-male-hero-learns-courage-fighting/584678.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-young-teen-tween-books-where-young-male-hero-learns-courage-fighting/584678.md?page=4)