# Suggestions for a Very Precocious 10 Year Old Boy.



## MichelleR (Feb 21, 2009)

I'd wanted to get my nephew a Kindle. When we called to check with my brother-in-law, we discovered that they'd already made the decision, on the advice of my nephew's teacher, to buy him a reader. I couldn't even be disappointed, because I was too excited for my nephew! Apparently he's reading at a high school level and enjoys Tom Clancy. I did my best commercial for Kindle and so hopefully it'll be the one!

I promised my brother-in-law I would come up with book suggestions though. I know Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card will be one, but I told him I knew just where to go to compile a great list.  I'd be one better ground buying for a girl and so I could use some help! They sound like, while they don't want anything too extreme, they're not overly strict on what he can read. 

Thanks in advance for the suggestions!


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## hsuthard (Jan 6, 2010)

There's a great website: http://www.guysread.com/ that may have some ideas for you.

The Hunger Games trilogy would be good. If he's a big reader, he'll have read many of the suggestions already, though. I was looking yesterday at starting my 12-year old on the Xanth series by Piers Anthony, I think he'd like all the fun puns and wordplay.


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## MichelleR (Feb 21, 2009)

Thanks! I'll check it out.

Since I'm compiling a list of suggestions, his parents can ignore the ones he has.


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## Anne Victory (Jul 29, 2010)

Could maybe try some of the D&D books.  I'm fairly certain the older ones at least are clean and full of action.  I'd also recommend the Mercedes Lackey Valdemar books.


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## Alain Gomez (Nov 12, 2010)

The Star Wars Young Jedi Knights series is absolutely fantastic.


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## splashes99 (Aug 11, 2010)

hsuthard said:


> There's a great website: http://www.guysread.com/ that may have some ideas for you.
> 
> The Hunger Games trilogy would be good. If he's a big reader, he'll have read many of the suggestions already, though. I was looking yesterday at starting my 12-year old on the Xanth series by Piers Anthony, I think he'd like all the fun puns and wordplay.


LOL, i just mentioned the Xanth series in another thread. There are a ton of Xanth books, and while the puns can be a little overwhelming sometimes, they are great books for light reading and a snicker or 2!

I also like the "Magic Kingdon for sale - Sold" series for fantasy. They're about a lawyer whose wife has died and he's looking for something to give his life meaning again. He finds a real magic kingdom for sale and decides to buy it, except he finds out that things aren't perfect there.


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## N. Gemini Sasson (Jul 5, 2010)

If he likes books that feature animals (fantasy/adventure) at all, Erin Hunter's the Warrior series, about a group of feral cats belonging to the ThunderClan, has kept my son enthralled for years.  He knows when the next book is coming out and always takes his B&N Christmas gift card to get the next in the series.


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## Geoffrey (Jun 20, 2009)

How about _The Tales of Alvin Maker_ by Orson Scott Card? Its a series set in an alternate America where magic works and follows Alvin Smith through his boyhood and into his young adulthood. I read them as an adult, but would have loved them as a kid.


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## Sienna_98 (Jan 26, 2009)

Unfortunately not on Kindle, but Lloyd Alexander's Chronicles of Pyrdian are great reads for his age group.  The first one is title, "The Book of Three."


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## Anne Victory (Jul 29, 2010)

N. Gemini Sasson said:


> If he likes books that feature animals (fantasy/adventure) at all, Erin Hunter's the Warrior series, about a group of feral cats belonging to the ThunderClan, has kept my son enthralled for years. He knows when the next book is coming out and always takes his B&N Christmas gift card to get the next in the series.


Awww, that's so cute - and awesome. And that series sounds like something _I_ would like


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## MichelleR (Feb 21, 2009)

Arkali said:


> Awww, that's so cute - and awesome. And that series sounds like something _I_ would like


That's exactly what I said to my husband. 

These are great suggestions!


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## Sean Sweeney (Apr 17, 2010)

Alain Gomez said:


> The Star Wars Young Jedi Knights series is absolutely fantastic.


I have to agree. Kevin and Rebecca did a fantastic job with that entire series.


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## MLPMom (Nov 27, 2009)

I am guessing maybe he has but, has he read C.S. Lewis' work yet?


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## KMA (Mar 11, 2009)

Some of these have adult content, but they are all things I'd let my precocious reader read:

Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card
Neuromancer by William Gibson
Warrior's Apprentice (and sequels) by Lois McMaster Bujold
Leviathan and Behemoth by Scott Westerfield
Thief (and its sequels) by Megan Whalen Turner
The Eight by Katherine Neville
Going Bovine by Libba Bray
Dragonhaven by Robin McKinley


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## Aravis60 (Feb 18, 2009)

The Alex Rider series by Anthony Horowitz is a good one for an advanced reader of that age. It is about a 14-year-old spy. The first one is called _Stormbreaker_ and it's on kindle.


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## Shayne Parkinson (Mar 19, 2010)

I was going to suggest the Dalemark Quartet by Diana Wynne Jones, a fine (and somewhat underrated) fantasy author, but unfortunately they're not yet on Kindle. The precocious young son of a friend devoured these.

Perhaps Terry Pratchett's Discworld series, especially as you won't run out of books to buy for a while  The Tiffany Aching books (a subset of the Discworld series) are more YA-ish, but I expect they'd all be well within his range.


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## Rhynedahll (Oct 23, 2010)

I would like to suggest the early works of Robert Heinlein. (The latter works are not appropriate, imho, for a youngster.)

Some of them are available for kindle (price seems a little high though)

Glory Road
Space Cadet
Podkayne of Mars
Red Planet


There are many others that apparently are not yet available:
Rolling Stones
Tunnel in the Sky,
Between Planets
Double Star
Sixth Column
Citizen of the Galaxy
Starship Troopers (The movie is not like the book at all.)
The Moon is a Harsh Mistress

I would also like to recommend Alas, Babylon by Pat Frank but it is also not available for Kindle.


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## Christopher Bunn (Oct 26, 2010)

Precocious ten-year-old? Hmm...

The Dark Is Rising series, by Susan Cooper.
The Riddlemaster of Hed trilogy, by Patricia McKillip
The Twenty-One Balloons, by William Pene du Bois
The Blue Sword, by Robin McKinley
By The Great Horn Spoon, by Sid Fleischman
Dicey's Song, by Cynthia Voigt
A Wrinkle In Time, by Madeline L'Engle
The Westing Game, by Ellen Raskin
The Hobbit, by JRR Tolkien
Slaves of Spiegel, by Daniel Pinkwater
The Earthsea Trilogy, by Ursula K. LeGuin
The Cricket In Times Square, by George Selden
The Gammage Cup, by Carol Kendall
Black Fox of Lorne, by Marguerite de Angeli
Rabbit Hill, by Robert Lawson (actually, anything by him)
The Case of the Vanishing Boy, by Alexander Key (he wrote a ton of great books - the old Disney classic "Escape To Witch Mountain" was an adaptation of one of his books.

Okay, I gotta stop, or I'll go on for miles. I loved all these books as a kid. I'd be happy to read any of them again as an adult.


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## MichelleR (Feb 21, 2009)

Thank you everyone! I sent off a list containing most of the first batch of suggestions and since then there've been even more -- which if they go with the Kindle, I might use to try the new gift feature! This thread has been terrific, and if anyone has any other suggestions, I'd love to see them as I know I'll be returning here again and again. 

One note, I'm not annoyed at the moment or anything, but I have received PMs from indies trying to sell or give away their wares. I wouldn't feel comfortable with these selections without reading them first and there's no time. Also, people who know me know that I love indies but think author promotions should be kept to sig lines and the appropriate board. If someone wants to suggest an indie written by someone else, that's fine and I'll look at reviews and consider it.


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

MichelleR said:


> One note, I'm not annoyed at the moment or anything, but I have received PMs from indies trying to sell or give away their wares. I wouldn't feel comfortable with these selections without reading them first and there's no time. Also, people who know me know that I love indies but think author promotions should be kept to sig lines and the appropriate board. If someone wants to suggest an indie written by someone else, that's fine and I'll look at reviews and consider it.


In point of clarification: members should not send unsolicited PM's to another member for purposes of self-promotion. It is a violation of forum decorum. Similarly, you should not suggest your own book in a Book Corner thread. Such posts will be deleted without comment.

The bottom line is "no self-promotion outside the Book Bazaar". . . and both of those things are.


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## MichelleR (Feb 21, 2009)

Ann in Arlington said:


> In point of clarification: members should not send unsolicited PM's to another member for purposes of self-promotion. It is a violation of forum decorum. Similarly, you should not suggest your own book in a Book Corner thread. Such posts will be deleted without comment.
> 
> The bottom line is "no self-promotion outside the Book Bazaar". . . and both of those things are.


I appreciate that, Ann. I want to make clear I'm not telling on anyone, just trying to head it off a little. Especially since I've made it clear in the past that too much promotion turns me off and so I'm saving writers from losing me as a someday reader. Anyhow, no worries and not personally upset at the moment. Also understand why you needed to add this.


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## Anne Victory (Jul 29, 2010)

chbunn said:


> The Blue Sword, by Robin McKinley
> A Wrinkle In Time, by Madeline L'Engle
> The Hobbit, by JRR Tolkien
> The Earthsea Trilogy, by Ursula K. LeGuin


Definitely good choices. There's also a prequel to The Blue Sword - The Hero and the Crown, by Robin McKinley. One of my favorites.


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## hsuthard (Jan 6, 2010)

Seconding the Alex Rider series. It's a lot of fun! And the movie is a good sidebar


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## G. Henkel (Jan 12, 2010)

David H. Burton has just release "Scourge: A Grim Doyle Adventure" for the Kindle. It is an absolutely wonderful book for that exact age group. My son, who is 10-years old, loved the book and read like there was no tomorrow. I read it and was equally impressed because it never really reads like a kid's book.

Make sure to add it to your list. It's a great fantasy/steampunk story.


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## Manley (Nov 14, 2010)

I second any books by Orson Scott Card...Ender's Game is good.


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## CNDudley (May 14, 2010)

And if he's looking for a fun book with some comic-book style illustrations, all my kids loved these ones (this is the first in the series), and they're ages 7-11 and have enjoyed lots of the suggestions in this thread:


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## MichelleR (Feb 21, 2009)

Thanks, Manley. That was the one book I always knew.


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## Anne Victory (Jul 29, 2010)

Hiya, Michelle,
I saw this today and thought of you 



It's a free sampler of 10 different authors - might be something useful


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## davidhburton (Mar 11, 2010)

Guido Henkel said:


> David H. Burton has just release "Scourge: A Grim Doyle Adventure" for the Kindle. It is an absolutely wonderful book for that exact age group. My son, who is 10-years old, loved the book and read like there was no tomorrow. I read it and was equally impressed because it never really reads like a kid's book.
> 
> Make sure to add it to your list. It's a great fantasy/steampunk story.


Thanks for the rec, Guido!

If I may throw out my own suggestion, the Magic Thief series by Sarah Prineas is wonderful!


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