# Quick! I need a book for an 11-12 year-old boy who loves Harry Potter & LOTR. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 18, 2007, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-i-need-a-book-for-an-11-12-year-old-boy-who-loves-harry-potter-lotr/430478 "2007-12-18T18:39:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Hello\_Again](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hello\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Again)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2007, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-i-need-a-book-for-an-11-12-year-old-boy-who-loves-harry-potter-lotr/430478/21 "2007-12-18T19:30:22Z")
That’s just about the perfect age for _Ender’s Game_ by Orson Scot Card. For something off the beaten track I adore _The City of Ember_ by Jeanne Duprau. Apparently its being made into a movie of the same name for sometime in in 2008. Note: the sequels do not even approach the first novel, I could take or leave them, but mostly leave them. ---
**Author:** ![anu-la1979](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/47e85d/32.png) [@anu-la1979](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anu-la1979)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2007, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-i-need-a-book-for-an-11-12-year-old-boy-who-loves-harry-potter-lotr/430478/22 "2007-12-18T19:37:23Z")
I strongly recommend the **The Giver** as suggested by **WhyNot** upthread. Another one is Gerald Durell’s “Battle for Cockatrice Castle”. I read it originally as “The Talking Parcel” ( :rolleyes: to the name change). Awesome awesome book that doesn’t get enough play. Growing up I was always taking these books out from the library-culture specific myth/folklore/fairytale books. I don’t know who wrote them/published them…I was a kid in the 8os and these looked old back then. But it was a series (they were chapter books incidentally) and they were great. I went through Native America, Russia, China, Greek & Roman etc… Fantasy is awesome but you might give him an age appropriate folktales/myths book. I’m sure someone at a bookstore could recommend a good one. Oh, and here’s the link to the Gerald Durell book [Battle for Cockatrice Castle](http://www.amazon.com/Battle-Castle-Cockatrice-Gerald-Durrell/dp/0064407802/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1198006610&sr=8-1). ---
**Author:** ![Ghanima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Ghanima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ghanima)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2007, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-i-need-a-book-for-an-11-12-year-old-boy-who-loves-harry-potter-lotr/430478/23 "2007-12-18T19:40:42Z")
_Eragon_ is pretty popular with that set. Haven’t read it myself. ---
**Author:** ![Elenfair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/cc9497/32.png) [@Elenfair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elenfair)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2007, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-i-need-a-book-for-an-11-12-year-old-boy-who-loves-harry-potter-lotr/430478/24 "2007-12-18T19:41:32Z")
Get him going on the David Eddings books. He’s always a fun read at that age. I notice some people have suggested some to you. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Hello\_Again](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hello\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Again)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2007, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-i-need-a-book-for-an-11-12-year-old-boy-who-loves-harry-potter-lotr/430478/25 "2007-12-18T19:41:37Z")
[QUOTE=Ghanima] _Eragon_ is pretty popular with that set. Haven’t read it myself. [/QUOTE] Its horrible. Do me a personal favor and don’t. ---
**Author:** ![anu-la1979](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/47e85d/32.png) [@anu-la1979](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anu-la1979)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2007, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-i-need-a-book-for-an-11-12-year-old-boy-who-loves-harry-potter-lotr/430478/26 "2007-12-18T19:43:08Z")
_Boreragon_. I still don’t know how that book got published. Was there an orgy and a dead hooker involved? Where have the bodies been hidden and who knows what? it’s THAT terrible. ---
**Author:** ![dangermom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2007, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-i-need-a-book-for-an-11-12-year-old-boy-who-loves-harry-potter-lotr/430478/27 "2007-12-18T19:48:12Z")
If you want something brand-new that he’s not likely to have read yet, Brandon Sanderson just came out with _Alcatraz vs. the Evil Librarians_, a fun YA fantasy adventure. It’s not Great Literature, but it’s better and more original than a lot of the fantasy dreck currently being published. Another lesser-known good YA read is the Hungry City Chronicles by Philip Reeve. Not quite as good but still pretty good is the Ember trilogy by Jeanne DuPrau. They should all be out in paperback by now, so that might make a good gift set. Many of the above authors are better, though; Diane Duane and Diana Wynne Jones, Lloyd Alexander and Susan Cooper are all more classic. But he’s also more likely to have read them, so these are some lesser-known good ones. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2007, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-i-need-a-book-for-an-11-12-year-old-boy-who-loves-harry-potter-lotr/430478/28 "2007-12-18T19:54:43Z")
[QUOTE=Beadalin] Oooh, yes, Lloyd Alexander – the _[Prydain Chronicles](http://www.amazon.com/Prydain-Chronicles-Cauldron-Wanderer-Foundling/dp/B0006DBJOC/ref=pd_bbs_sr_5?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1198004608&sr=8-5)_ are just wonderful. [/QUOTE] This would be my number one recommendation. While it’s not exactly the same sort of fantasy as many of the others mentioned, there’s a good chance he’d enjoy _Watership Down_. The Enchanted Forest chronicles by Patricia Wrede are a fun light read, though I’d feel slightly more comfortable recommending them to a girl than to a boy. And, yeah, Piers Anthony’s Xanth books aren’t a bad suggestion provided you stick with the earliest ones forgoodnesssake. ---
**Author:** ![Oredigger77](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/oredigger77/32/3181_2.png) [@Oredigger77](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oredigger77)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2007, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-i-need-a-book-for-an-11-12-year-old-boy-who-loves-harry-potter-lotr/430478/29 "2007-12-18T19:56:34Z")
I’ll throw another vote behind David Eddings. Just for something diffrent I’ll thow out R.A. Salvadore’s Drizzt books starting with the Icewinddale trillogy. Although I started reading Robert Jordan at that age and Eye of the World is a great book. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2007, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-i-need-a-book-for-an-11-12-year-old-boy-who-loves-harry-potter-lotr/430478/30 "2007-12-18T20:09:57Z")
\*Eragon \* is terrible. I keep trying to read _Eldest,_ which I’ve heard is better. Has anyone mentioned the John Christopher tripod books yet? Or his other trilogy? ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2007, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-i-need-a-book-for-an-11-12-year-old-boy-who-loves-harry-potter-lotr/430478/31 "2007-12-18T20:27:13Z")
I’m not sure if this will fly, since the OP turned down _Spiderwick_, but I can’t recommend [The Edge Chronicles](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Edge_Chronicles) by Paul Stewart and iChris Riddell highly enough. Madly inventive, just enough darkness, great setting, _wonderful_ illustrations. They Rock! Can’t believe it seems no-one else has read them. ---
**Author:** ![DeadlyAccurate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ac91a4/32.png) [@DeadlyAccurate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeadlyAccurate)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2007, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-i-need-a-book-for-an-11-12-year-old-boy-who-loves-harry-potter-lotr/430478/32 "2007-12-18T20:35:55Z")
[QUOTE=cher3] I always recommend _The Bartimaeus Trilogy_ in these cases. [/QUOTE] Ditto. Plus, Bartimaeus would totally be a Doper if he were real. ---
**Author:** ![nevermore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a587f6/32.png) [@nevermore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nevermore)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2007, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-i-need-a-book-for-an-11-12-year-old-boy-who-loves-harry-potter-lotr/430478/33 "2007-12-18T20:45:10Z")
Wow. Thanks so much for all the ideas so far. Totally didn’t expect so much help! I haven’t made a decision yet (though, some of these are actually sounding good to _me_), but I did want to add that if his parents weren’t uber-Christian, His Dark Materials would be the first thing I grabbed. I absolutely love the first book (haven’t gotten to the next two yet), but his parents would have a FIT if I even suggested it for him. They’re very aware of anything even rumored to be anti-Christian (it took them YEARS to cave in and let him read HP, because they thought it promoted witchcraft), and since the rumors are actually true this time, there’s no way they’d let him read it. Also wanted to mention that I’d love to get him Ender’s Game (another book I loved), but it’s way too violent for his parents to be OK with. I think there’s a bit of cursing, too, but I could be remembering incorrectly. Would anyone be willing to expound further on A Wrinkle in Time? What is the storyline of the first book, and what made it such a classic? ---
**Author:** ![well\_he\_s\_back](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/3ab097/32.png) [@well\_he\_s\_back](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/well_he_s_back)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2007, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-i-need-a-book-for-an-11-12-year-old-boy-who-loves-harry-potter-lotr/430478/34 "2007-12-18T20:56:35Z")
re - A Wrinkle in Time - I bet another Doper will come along with a better summary but here’s the thing - I had a teacher who read it to us in elementary school & I never forgot it. Very powerful. Here goes my summary - Insecure teen Meg (?) Murry’s scientist father goes missing. She and her genius little brother travel the galaxy to save with the help of some eccentric witches. They travel by using what they call tesseracts, or wrinkles in time. Only by learning the power of love can the father & brother be saved from a horrible fate - which sounds corny but when its well written, it isn’t. ---
**Author:** ![Saratoga\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Saratoga\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saratoga_Sam)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2007, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-i-need-a-book-for-an-11-12-year-old-boy-who-loves-harry-potter-lotr/430478/35 "2007-12-18T21:00:08Z")
[QUOTE=nevermore] I want something irresistibly exciting and enchanting, that stays away from curse words, sex, violence, drugs, and homosexuality (so his parents will actually let him read it). [/QUOTE] Er, well, guess that rules out Bukowski as my first suggestion… These are a bit old but still have life in them, and shouldn’t be too hard to find: L. Sprague de Camp/Fletcher Pratt: _Land of Unreason_ and _The Incomplete Enchanter_ Clifford Simak’s _The Goblin Reservation_ is SF but with fantasy elements, and quite enjoyable Lord Dunsany’s _The King of Elfland’s Daughter_ is harder to find but has good lyrical moments, though there is some mild anti-clerical sentiment. In fact anything by Lord Dunsany might, on the surface, gain his parents approval. Or, you might get him some of the fantasies of James Branch Cabell…they were written in the 1920’s, so you can be sure there’s nothing in them to upset his parents… 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2007, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-i-need-a-book-for-an-11-12-year-old-boy-who-loves-harry-potter-lotr/430478/36 "2007-12-18T21:03:18Z")
Another vote for _Dark is Rising_. If they accepted Harry Potter, getting them to accept _Dark is Rising_ should be a relative cinch. Still, although there’s a sheen of Christian values throughout the books – the first book takes place around Christmas, which features prominently in the plot – it deals significantly more with British mythology and what uber-Christians might term paganism. There is some violence, but no more than the Harry Potter series. It’s written for youths, so there’s very little adult material in the series. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2007, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-i-need-a-book-for-an-11-12-year-old-boy-who-loves-harry-potter-lotr/430478/37 "2007-12-18T21:08:19Z")
[QUOTE=nevermore] Would anyone be willing to expound further on A Wrinkle in Time? What is the storyline of the first book, and what made it such a classic? [/QUOTE] Take a look at [this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=391516) discussing the book! ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2007, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-i-need-a-book-for-an-11-12-year-old-boy-who-loves-harry-potter-lotr/430478/38 "2007-12-18T21:09:38Z")
The Diane Duane Young Wizard books really treat magic as an unexplained technology–no covens, master witches, dark sabaths, mainstream religion-bashing, funny hats, etc. They are about doing good acts on behalf of others. They are very moral in a non-preachy way. ---
**Author:** ![simster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simster/32/1047_2.png) [@simster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simster)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2007, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-i-need-a-book-for-an-11-12-year-old-boy-who-loves-harry-potter-lotr/430478/39 "2007-12-18T21:11:33Z")
Stasheef is pretty safe, as is Zelazny’s works… ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2007, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-i-need-a-book-for-an-11-12-year-old-boy-who-loves-harry-potter-lotr/430478/40 "2007-12-18T21:20:47Z")
[QUOTE=Saratoga Sam] Lord Dunsany’s _The King of Elfland’s Daughter_ is harder to find but has good lyrical moments, though there is some mild anti-clerical sentiment. [/QUOTE] Good lyrical moments, indeed, but hardly “irresistibly exciting.” If you must give him a Dunsany, I’d imagine a boy his age would be more likely to appreciate _The Charwoman’s Shadow_, or some of the shorter works. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-i-need-a-book-for-an-11-12-year-old-boy-who-loves-harry-potter-lotr/430478.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-i-need-a-book-for-an-11-12-year-old-boy-who-loves-harry-potter-lotr/430478.md?page=3)