# 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:** 3
**Author:** ![pantheon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/6bbea6/32.png) [@pantheon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pantheon)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2007, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-i-need-a-book-for-an-11-12-year-old-boy-who-loves-harry-potter-lotr/430478/41 "2007-12-18T21:26:36Z")
Another vote for LeGuin’s Wizard of Earthsea, and a reccomendation for Stephen R. Donaldson’s Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, The Unbeliever ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2007, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-i-need-a-book-for-an-11-12-year-old-boy-who-loves-harry-potter-lotr/430478/42 "2007-12-18T21:31:30Z")
[QUOTE=well he’s back] 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. [/QUOTE] Nicely summarized. Actually, quite a lot of the L’Engle ouevre might be appropriate, but _Wrinkle_ was first and arguably best. If it’s not a “wrap[ it and surprise him” type of gift, why not **ask** him – “This is considered a really great story by a lot of fans of HP/LOTR type stories. The lead character is a girl about your age (Meg’s 13, IIRC) but it’s not a ‘girl’s book.’ Interested?” ---
**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, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-i-need-a-book-for-an-11-12-year-old-boy-who-loves-harry-potter-lotr/430478/43 "2007-12-18T21:31:43Z")
[QUOTE=pantheon] …reccomendation for Stephen R. Donaldson’s Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, The Unbeliever [/QUOTE] Contains a rape scene within the first 10 pages… doubt the family would approve. ---
**Author:** ![Rysto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ecccb3/32.png) [@Rysto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rysto)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2007, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-i-need-a-book-for-an-11-12-year-old-boy-who-loves-harry-potter-lotr/430478/44 "2007-12-18T21:32:59Z")
[QUOTE=Shoshana] MacHale’s Bobby Pendragon series–more on the action/adventure end, with some inconsistencies that bug me, but young teenagers seem to like them [/QUOTE] My 16-year-old sister and 12-year-old (male) cousin both love this series. > [@pantheon](#): > > a reccomendation for Stephen R. Donaldson’s Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, The Unbeliever That’s be the series in which the protagonist rapes a woman correct? Uh, I haven’t read the series so perhaps I shouldn’t pass judgment, but is it really age-appropriate for a 12-year-old? ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2007, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-i-need-a-book-for-an-11-12-year-old-boy-who-loves-harry-potter-lotr/430478/45 "2007-12-18T21:35:54Z")
I suppose _The Eye of Argon_ wouln’t make it past Standards and Practices? ---
**Author:** ![pantheon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/6bbea6/32.png) [@pantheon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pantheon)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2007, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-i-need-a-book-for-an-11-12-year-old-boy-who-loves-harry-potter-lotr/430478/46 "2007-12-18T21:41:13Z")
[QUOTE=Hello Again] Contains a rape scene within the first 10 pages… doubt the family would approve. [/QUOTE] If you’re referring to Lena, it’s about 90 pages in (from quick search on Amazon), but yes, there is a single paragraph rape scene. It’s not graphic, and it’s the driving force that the main character spends the next five books trying to redeem himself for, once he accepts that it really happened. It’s an excellent series, and the parents could be sold on it as the unbeliever becoming a believer. Take it or leave it, it was just a suggestion. ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2007, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-i-need-a-book-for-an-11-12-year-old-boy-who-loves-harry-potter-lotr/430478/47 "2007-12-18T21:54:48Z")
Try him on the Heinlein juveniles. If he’s reading at LOTR level at age 11-12, they’re right on target. ---
**Author:** ![photopat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e95f7d/32.png) [@photopat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/photopat)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2007, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-i-need-a-book-for-an-11-12-year-old-boy-who-loves-harry-potter-lotr/430478/48 "2007-12-18T22:01:11Z")
Pratchett’s Juvenile books would be excellent too. The Johnny Maxwell Trilogy, Only You Can Save Mankind Johnny and the Dead Johnny and the Bomb The Bromeliad Trilogy (I gave them to the son of a friend who is 11 and he loved them) Truckers Diggers Wings The Tiffany Aching books Wee Free Men A Hat Full of Sky Wintersmith The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents The Carpet People ---
**Author:** ![cher3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/da6949/32.png) [@cher3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cher3)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2007, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-i-need-a-book-for-an-11-12-year-old-boy-who-loves-harry-potter-lotr/430478/49 "2007-12-18T22:01:50Z")
How about Terry Pratchett? He has some books for younger readers that don’t contain anything objectionable and even the adult series are pretty tame in terms of sex and curse words. There’s some violence, but nothing much worse than the Potter books. My daughter loves them–she’s an advanced 10-year old reader. Dangit. Every time I think of something someone else posts it while I’m typing. ---
**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, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-i-need-a-book-for-an-11-12-year-old-boy-who-loves-harry-potter-lotr/430478/50 "2007-12-18T22:17:34Z")
Good idea, **Polycarp.** I vote for _Starman Jones_ and _Farmer in the Sky_ over _The Star Beast, Rocketship Galileo,_ or _Have Spacesuit–Will Travel._ I learned to use a slide rule to calculate logs from one of these long, long ago. ---
**Author:** ![Lars\_Aruns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c68b51/32.png) [@Lars\_Aruns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lars_Aruns)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2007, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-i-need-a-book-for-an-11-12-year-old-boy-who-loves-harry-potter-lotr/430478/51 "2007-12-18T22:31:01Z")
Since Pratchett and other favourites of mine, including Mary Stewart, have been already suggested, I’ll throw in a slightly different suggestion: the Videssos cycle by Harry Turtledove. A detachment of a Roman legion is mysteriously ported in another dimension where magic actually works. Lots of battles, intrigues and good old fashioned Roman stubborness - ahem, sense of duty. ---
**Author:** ![nevermore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a587f6/32.png) [@nevermore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nevermore)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2007, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-i-need-a-book-for-an-11-12-year-old-boy-who-loves-harry-potter-lotr/430478/52 "2007-12-19T02:13:27Z")
Just so yours isn’t the only post on this page, **Lars** , because that bugs me to death– I ended up getting him the first in the Dark is Rising series. Sounded really interesting, and I couldn’t ignore the fact that like four of you recommended it. In fact, if there’d been another copy at the local B&N, I would’ve grabbed myself one just to see what the fuss is about! 😉 Thanks, guys, as always. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2007, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-i-need-a-book-for-an-11-12-year-old-boy-who-loves-harry-potter-lotr/430478/53 "2007-12-19T02:42:56Z")
I second the Prydain chronicles, and absolutely, positively _A Wrinkle in Time_, which IMHO is the best YA novel ever. When Meg realizes she’s the only one who can rescue her brother, to me it’s one of the most moving moments in _any_ kind of fiction. Oh, and _The Phantom Tollbooth_ by Norton Juster. Gawd, what fun that one is. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2007, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-i-need-a-book-for-an-11-12-year-old-boy-who-loves-harry-potter-lotr/430478/54 "2007-12-19T03:46:58Z")
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll The Green Knowe series by L. M. Boston The Prydain Chronicles by Lloyd Alexander The Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis The Chubby Lewis series (The House with a Clock in Its Walls and its sequels) by John Bellairs A Wrinkle in Time and its sequels by Madeleine L’Engle The Oz books by L. Frank Baum Five Children and It, The Phoenix and the Carpet, and The Story of the Amulet by Edith Nesbit The House of Arden and Harding’s Luck by Edith Nesbit The Earthsea books by Ursula K. Le Guin The Snarkout Boys books by Daniel Pinkwater The Charlie and Willy Wonka books by Roald Dahl The Princess and Curdie and The Princess and the Goblin by George MacDonald ---
**Author:** ![Scoundrel\_Swanswater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dfb087/32.png) [@Scoundrel\_Swanswater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scoundrel_Swanswater)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2007, 10:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-i-need-a-book-for-an-11-12-year-old-boy-who-loves-harry-potter-lotr/430478/55 "2007-12-19T10:48:09Z")
[QUOTE=ivylass] My daughter turned me on to **Artemis Fowl.** I’ve truly enjoyed them. It’s about a genius boy about your age of your cousin’s son, so he will get a big kick out of it. [/QUOTE] I would like to add my 2 cents and heartily recommend the **Artemis Fowl** series by Eoin Colfer. I think that is one of the best series ever written for young boys. It has magic, weapons and lots of humour and suspense. ---
**Author:** ![Surok](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@Surok](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Surok)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2007, 10:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-i-need-a-book-for-an-11-12-year-old-boy-who-loves-harry-potter-lotr/430478/56 "2007-12-19T10:57:48Z")
Another vote for [Diana Wynne Jones](http://www.leemac.freeserve.co.uk/), particularly the books that are listed under ‘Miscellaneous’ on her wikiepedia entry. And I’ll second Have Space Suit - Will Travel as well. ---
**Author:** ![Illuminatiprimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/illuminatiprimus/32/11520_2.png) [@Illuminatiprimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Illuminatiprimus)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2007, 11:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-i-need-a-book-for-an-11-12-year-old-boy-who-loves-harry-potter-lotr/430478/57 "2007-12-19T11:52:13Z")
The Old Kingdom triology and the Keys to the Kingdom series by Garth Nix would be good choices (the first one is a bit dark though - features necromancy and magic and whatnot). The first books of each are Sabriel and Mister Monday respectively (I’d probably plump for Mister Monday, based on the information you’ve given us). ---
**Author:** ![JustThinkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f0a364/32.png) [@JustThinkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JustThinkin)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2007, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-i-need-a-book-for-an-11-12-year-old-boy-who-loves-harry-potter-lotr/430478/58 "2007-12-19T12:59:48Z")
Patricia Wrede’s \*\*Talking to Dragons \*\* foursome. Great fun. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2007, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-i-need-a-book-for-an-11-12-year-old-boy-who-loves-harry-potter-lotr/430478/59 "2007-12-19T13:57:32Z")
I would highly recommend the mentioned \*\*Chronicles of Prydain \*\* by Lloyd Alexander \*\*Wrinkle in Time \*\* should be loved by any kid that is already a fan of Tolkien and Potter. The **Earthsea** books by Ursula K. Le Guin should be particularly appealing to a Potter fan. The \*\*Dark is Rising \*\* by Susan Cooper, David Edding’s \*\*Belgariad \*\* & even the first 3 books of \*\*Xanth \*\* are great choices. I will add: Anne McCaffrey for her \*\*Dragonriders of Pern \*\* series. \*\*Riddlemaster of Hed \*\* by Patricia A. McKillip Another good one is \*\*Master of the Five Magics \*\* by Lyndon Hardy. Jim ---
**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:** [December 19, 2007, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-i-need-a-book-for-an-11-12-year-old-boy-who-loves-harry-potter-lotr/430478/60 "2007-12-19T14:09:13Z")
[QUOTE=Shoshana] Has anyone mentioned the John Christopher tripod books yet? Or his other trilogy? [/QUOTE] Found an interesting review of the Tripod trilogy [here.](http://www.gnelson.demon.co.uk/tripage/trilogy.html) It’ not as richly-detailed as Tolkien and _Potter_, but it is about interesting ideas, and it’s got some realism to it that made me feel more adult when I was young and read the trilogy for the first time. Sailboat [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=2) [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=4)