Ok, I've been hunting down titles for books that my son can read...and not having any luck. My son is in the 6th grade and isn't much of a reader. He doesn't "hate" reading per se, but a book has to be very engaging in order for him to want to read it. Let's just say that "the classics" aren't going to cut it. LOL! He liked the first book in the "39 Clues" series, "The Cay" and especially the Brixton Brothers book "The case of the mistaken identity." He read that one in less than 48 hours...a record! All his friends in ps are reading "The Hunger Games." I looked online to see what the book was about and I was shocked. It contains graphic violence and mature situations. I don't want him reading stuff like that. I went to some web sites that had 6th grade reading "suggestions" and basically, many of the books were way too mature for my son. He isn't as "old" emotionally as many of his ps friends...and he is a sensitive soul. He was be an emotional basket case if he read "The Hunger Games." I know that "The Lightning Thief" series is popular, but I'm concerned about excessive amounts of wizardry. I don't mean to be too over protective, but I am a Christian and I believe we need to be careful about what we let in our hearts. Some of the most popular books for boys have lots of wizards, demons, gods/goddesses and the like in them...things that I want to avoid if possible. Is there ANYTHING out there for my son to read? :?::?::?: He enjoys suspense, mystery, action/adventure, and humor.
We are Christians, too, and we have allowed the Percy Jackson series. Our Ds is an expert in Greek (and many others) mythology. He appreciated Percy Jackson more than most other boys because of it. If your Ds is already aware of the fictitious nature of mythology, then he should process that series like complete fiction. Where we draw the line are books where it is based on real witchcraft or books where the line between good and evil is painted as a grey area. Ds also really liked the Chronicles of Narnia. I know that has "magic" and such, but it is intentionally written to mirror the walk of a Christian.
We are huge fans of Chuck Black's Kingdom Dawn series. They are all knight/medieval type adventure books,but each is a re-telling of a biblical story. Very good spiritual application, and the main characters are shown growing in their faith. If he is very sensitive, though, you might read a little to check to see if some of the sword fighting would upset him. These were very popular at my house!
If you want some good Christian fantasy, try reading something by Bryan Davis. Also, I think John White's books reminded me of Narnia. Rachael says Chuck Black is full of swords, etc. Frank Perretti's Cooper Kids are shorter. All those have a Christian base. Some non-Christian books that are really fun for that age include The Mad Scientist Club. This is an older book (written in the 50's or 60's). It's a collection of short stories that first appeared in Boy's Life magazine, which is where I was introduced to them (my brother's copy). The first story is about the youngest member being late for dinner, and as an excuse tells his mom he saw a sea monster in the local lake. So the boys make a sea monster and take it out, and the whole town goes wild. The Great Turkey Walk is another fun one it is (loosely) based on a historical event of someone herding turkey west in the 1800's. REALLY fun story! The main character has NO intelligence whatsoever, but somehow has sense that brings him through. Another might be By the Great Horned Spoon. I think that's the title. Walt Disney made a movie of this one called The Adventures of Bullwhip Griffin. About a Boston butler and his young charge that goes West to mine for gold. Another really fun book.
The 100 Cupboard triology is also fantasy, but written by a Christian author and the magic/witch is very similar to Narnia --definate lines between good and evil are drawn. We (my grade 5 son and I) are only in book two, Dandilion Fire, but really enjoying them. They are not an easy read necessarily, more in line with Narnia in terms of difficulty. They are not the same quick language as the Percy Jackson serise (yes -- we've read them and my son is also very aware that it is a complete work of fiction. We talk about the hunmanistic qualities of the fictional god/godesses to emphasize the characteristics of the one true God. There is a developing romance throughout the books, but it is very chaste. The Follow up series may be a little more mature than you'd like for your son at this point howerver.) My son has enjoyed the Adventures in Odyssey Kids borough books, and we are planing to look for some of the other Adventures in Odyssey titles. He's also read three books from The Elijah Project that he found in the church library. Some of the kids of that age have been reading the Left Behind kids series. We haven't started those, but maybe next year.
I second the Bryan Davis recommendation. I'd also recommend Stephen Lawhead's The Dragon King Trilogy(the rest would be far over his head) and Jonathan Rogers' The Wilderking Trilogy. The dragon king is very loosely Arthurian medieval with the One God, Most High. The Wilderking Trilogy is fun, it is the basic storyline of King David and the writer is from Georgia, so he uses those locations in telling the stories. Jennifer
Thank you so much ladies for all your fabulous suggestions...you've all been a huge help! The books about Knights and Dragons look especially interesting and I think my son will certainly take an interest in them.
We enjoy the Ranger's Apprentice series here. We also do the Percy Jackson series as well as Riordan's Kane Chronicles series. We're Christians, and I personally had no convictions against those books. Ultimately, it's fantasy literature; and we've studied ancient Egypt/Greece/Rome, so it's been a fun way to supplement some of that. My son has just started the Kingdom Keepers series--- basically about Disneyworld coming to life after the park closes.
BTW Lisa, Rachael told Phillip he couldn't see the Hunger Games until he had read the book. So I asked Carl about whether it was approprate for Phillip. Carl, who, as a middle school teacher, has read it, says NO WAY. He feels it isn't appropriate for 6th grade. He tends to feel that way about a lot of books for that age; one the school was pushing he says is nothing more than lightly disguised porn! Another reason to homeschool, huh?
Jackie - I'm glad you said that because I was starting to think that maybe I was just being a little over "protective." But now I see that if a TEACHER is saying that some of the middle school books aren't appropriate for kids...then I wasn't a looney tune after all. I thought middle school literature was supposed to be books like "Where the Red Fern Grows." I guess middle school Lit isn't what it used to be. Now, kids are reading "Twilight" and "The Hunger Games." SO GLAD I homeschool!!!
Lol, it wasn't Twilight that he considered porn, btw! It was something else, but I forget what. Yeah, I'd consider Where the Red Fern Grows as middle school. Now THAT'S a great book!!! And Johnny Tremaine.
Geez, that book (that your teacher friend talked about) MUST have been pretty bad if he wasn't referring to "Twilight," cause the sparkly vampire saga is pretty suggestive.
Yeah. He HAS read the whole Twilight series, and doesn't particularly care for them. Though he and Rachael watched the movie on TV; I just happened to come in at the darkest part of the movie, and REALLY had a fit at what I saw!!! Rachael said she tried to read the book, just to see what the fuss was about, and couldn't get past the first chapter.
I'll go old school and suggest classics- Huck Finn Tom Sawyer Treasure Island The Yearling Kidnapped Swiss Family Robinson to name a few. Those are all books that I read in middle school back in the day. My 6th grade dd loved the Yearling.
I would agree with the Percy Jackson books. My kids have JUST read them. While they contain some "magic" it's tied to the Greek or Roman myth that it goes to. So my children were able to separate them from being real vs. fiction, etc. My son likes the Percy Jackson Books (he's 5th Grade), 39 Clues books, He still loves A-to-Z Mysteries, even though they're below his level, I let him read them. He's also getting into the "Time Flyz" Graphic Novels that are available at our local Christian Book Store. I'll ask him some others that he likes.
Update... My son and I went to the library last night in search of some books. We ended up getting...The Lightning Thief, The Biography of Hudson Taylor, Island:Stranded (it's the second in a series), and some book about Big Foot and other mysterious monsters. My son read part of the monster book yesterday and then stayed up til 2am reading The Lightning Thief! I still need to get to Barnes & Noble and the local Christian book store for more options.
If he ends up really liking the whole Percy Jackson series, he'll probably also like Riordan's Kane Chronicles [same idea as Jackson but with the Egyptian gods and a brother/sister heroic team]. Plus, the sequel series to the Percy Jackson one is underway with the first 2 books already out in it. I love those series as well, so my son and I fight over who gets to read the next book as it comes out. LOL
There was a bookfair at Carl's school, and the librarian got the latest of the Percy Jackson sequel series. He grabbed it up before any of the students saw it. Faythe was jealous, because there was a waiting list at the library, lol! But Faythe finally got it, just about the time Carl finished reading it, so he returned it back to the school librarian!