Quote:
Originally Posted by Hitch
Hi, guys:
As I mentioned here: https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=253455 , I'm looking for SERIES recs for an 11-year old. His folks are Christian--I don't know how devout, but certainly somewhat--and being a no-kids person myself, I want to be careful to not accidentally offend them by giving him anything with overt sexual references--this is why I'm not giving him Dragonflight, to start him on the DOP series by McCaffrey. I'm already planning on giving him The Dark Rising. He's read HP and is finishing Rick Riordan's series about Poseidon's kid (sorry, can't remember the name). I'm unsure if he's read The Golden Compass books, have asked. I am planning on giving him the Harper Hall trilogy--the YA books that Anne McCaffrey herself wrote.
His preference is fantasy, as opposed to Sci-Fi. He prefers larger books, in a series.
Will appreciate any thoughts on this. I presume he prefers male protags over female, but this is an unknown.
Thanks mucho in advance,
Hitch |
Debra Doyle's Circle of Magic series is a really excellent kids series about a young teen who decides to become a mage and the adventures he has along the way. I remember it as more mystical and magical than Harry Potter, and a very different take on magical coming-of-age.
https://www.goodreads.com/series/53633-circle-of-magic
Patricia C. Wrede's Enchanted Forest series and Lyra series are great. Enchanted Forest is about as family-values-friendly as fantasy fiction gets, and also very funny. There's not a lot of action in the first one, it's more of a detective novel. The Lyra series are a more typical action-adventure fantasy series.
http://pcwrede.com/books/enchanted-forest/
Tamora Pierce's Circle of Magic series (not related to Doyle's) is also good. I'd avoid Tamora Pierce's other series though, they're aimed at older teenagers.
I read Lord of the Rings at that age and loved it. Parts of it were a huge drag, though. I'd suggest starting with The Hobbit.
Andre Norton wrote a good kids series, the Star Ka'at series, but they're science fantasy. It's about alien telepathic cats who make contact with earth kids. If he was just a little older I'd suggest Andre Norton's Witch World books, which are a brilliant fantasy series. Her work is almost all family-values-friendly but sometimes she deals with more mature themes.
http://andre-norton-books.com/index....r-ka-at-series
And I have to say - I think you're doing him a disservice by focusing on male protagonists. Most children at that age don't have a problem separating 'main character in a book' and 'my self', and sometimes a difference makes things even more interesting. What else do we read fantasy for then to explore other worlds and perspectives?
I definitely don't think the Discworld or Shannara series are appropriate for 11 year olds. The one Shannara book I tried had rape in it. Discworld will mostly go over his head. Also, even the YA Discworld books push Wiccan religion pretty hard. His parents might not want to have that discussion yet. My family also didn't think the Pern books were OK for tweens - some are, but many aren't because of sexual content - so YMMV on how much his parents like that one. Might be good to wait a few years?