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How about Diana Wynne Jones? In particular, Charmed Life. The Lives of Christopher Chant, A Tale of Time City, and Dogsbody.
Leguin's Earthsea Trilogy (she later added more books to the original trilogy, and renamed it a "cycle," but the newer books are more adult-oriented, and anyway they suck.
Andre Norton's Moon of Three Rings and its sequels might be appealing.
How to Disappear Completely and Never Be Found by Sara Nickerson (a mystery story)
Coraline by Neil Gaiman
Winter of Magic's Return and Tomorrow's Magic by Pamela Service ("Convinced that a new age of magic is about to begin in the wake of the nuclear holocaust, a young resurrected Merlin and two friends set out to bring King Arthur back to the land.")
Born Into Light by Paul Samuel Jacobs (a haunting science fiction story about a family in 19th century New England)
Asimov's Robot stories are good (esp. I, Robot and "The Bicentennial Man") and mostly "safe," except the novel Robots of Dawn which IIRC has an extramarital sex scene in it.
[ September 10, 2004, 01:03 PM: Message edited by: Yozhik ]
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Also, Nobody's Son, by Sean Stewart. I don't think that there are any objectionable scenes in that particular one, but you may want to pre-read to make sure.
7 years old, huh? Junebug is almost six; she's reading Little House on the Prairie books right now.
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Dan, I let him start reading Xanth but when he asked me what a "heaving bosom" was I withdrew my decision (My neighbor thinks I'm being too protective). He just finished "The Wee Free Men" and has looked over some Discworld covers, I think I will go for it. "Phantom Tollbooth", I ahve heard a lot about that one!
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DiscWorld - Ahh, Terry Pratchett. "Feet of Clay" is a personal favorite.
Ya can't protect him forever Romany.
Be that as it may, Terry Pratchett isn't bad, but I don't know if he'll get all the references. And if you're concerned with heaving bosoms, you might not approve of some of the content.
-Trevor
Edit: Come to think of it, the David Eddings books aren't terribly graphic with either violence or sexual content, so you might try that.
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I loved that book! I first read it in Jr high. Before I read it I hated American history.
I am so disappointed in myself. I have read tons of books and I can't seem to think of any... Besides Wringer Sideways Stories from Wayside school Maniac McGee Holes hmmm. I know there has to be others...
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This was one of my favorite books EVER. I loved this, and I still read it periodically, so I don't forget it!
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I think Bradbury stories would be good if he's getting geekish (I hope my children get geekish ). I know an anthology I read in 6th grade had "The Veldt" in it and it freaked me out/fascinated me for years.
When I was 8 - 10, I read everything every written by Lois Lowry, but I think the Anastasia books and A Summer to Die might be more geared toward girls.
I also really loved Elizabeth George Speare. My teacher gave me Calico Captive in 3rd grade, and it was the fattest book I had ever seen, but I loved it. Her other good books are The Sign of the Beaver and Witch of Blackbird Pond, which may be a little girly too, but good if he's into history or indians (which I indeed was).
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Oh! And I almost forgot one of the coolest books ever, From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler. The premise of living in a museum at night when everyone is gone was enchanting to me.
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Eddings is not appropriate for a 7 year old. I read them when I was 12 and I was a bit too young. I was sheltered, too, but that won't make up for a 5 year age difference.
Anything by Pamela Service is amazing. Ditto for Patricia Wrede.
If you can get hold of them H. M. Hoover writes some really good ya sci fi. As far as I know only one of her books is in print right now, Orvis.
Grace Chetwin is also amazing, I'm pretty sure her books are all out of print, but your library might have them, that's where I read them. They're slightly more serious than some YA books. However, I first listened to them on tape when I was 7, so they shouldn't be too bad.
Tamora Pierce's Circle of Magic books are appropriate, although the rest of her books probably aren't. Most of her protagonists have sex as teenagers. It isn't described, but it's definatly going on.
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I just finished book two of the Wind of Fire trilogy by William Nicholson. Enjoyable reads. I'm going to check and see of the library has book three.
Nothing in there he can't handle, in fact, the author mentions that it's great for both 8 year olds and interesting enough for teens.
It centers on a pair of boy/girl twins, and their family in a very rigid society. Their family is non-conformist (everyone is supposed to wear the color clothing that indicates their caste, but the mother of this family goes shopping in a coat made of different colored stripes, for ex.) The twins, and a classroom reject that follows them like a lost puppy find themselves on a quest to save the city from an invading army.
Book two is even more fun, with really great characters, my favorite being a cat who wants to learn to fly.
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"So you want to be a wizard," "Deep Wizardry" and "High Wizardry" by Diane Duane.
Eva Ibbotson wrote a number of very enjoyable books: The Haunting of Granite Falls Dial a Ghost The Secret of Platform 13 The Great Ghost Rescue Which Witch Not Just a Witch Journey to the River Sea
I HIGHLY recommend those, they're really clever. I'm eagerly awaiting her next book!
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wow, thats a nice reply for you. i love almost all the books mentioned. lord of the rings, harry potter, redwall, star wars, ender's game.. I'm not sure, but I don't think i saw any books by Dan Brown, could be wrong, but I love those as well. the DaVinci Code etc. but there are just so many to try and remember to tell, lol.
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quote:I also really loved Elizabeth George Speare. My teacher gave me Calico Captive in 3rd grade, and it was the fattest book I had ever seen, but I loved it. Her other good books are The Sign of the Beaver and Witch of Blackbird Pond, which may be a little girly too, but good if he's into history or indians (which I indeed was).
What about Speare's The Bronze Bow? That's about a teenage Jewish boy in biblical Palestine who wants to become a revolutionary fighter against the Romans. IIRC, he is befriended by Simon the Zealot, taking over the latter's blacksmith shop after Simon leaves to become a disciple of Christ.
Nothing girly in there. Posts: 1512 | Registered: A Long Time Ago!
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Also, I'm not sure why Little House in the Big Woods is marketed as EXCLUSIVELY for girls these days. After all, the whole first chapters of the book are about how the dad hunts for food and all the different wild animals he shoots and how the family preserves them for winter.
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quote:Eddings is not appropriate for a 7 year old. I read them when I was 12 and I was a bit too young.
What would be objectionable, blackwolve (keeping in mind that he was permitted to read the LOTR trilogy)?
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Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH by Robert C. O'Brien is an awesome book.
But stay away from the cartoon movie adaptation...far, far away. (A magic amulet? WTH? Where was THAT in the book? And why does the cartoon depict Nicodemus as a doddering wizard rather than a vigorous scientist?)
[ September 10, 2004, 06:44 PM: Message edited by: Yozhik ]
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Let me state that Burroughs was not MY idea. Off to the library website. I LOVED the Bunnicula books.
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Didn't see these in a quick scan, but... if he's reading epics, get him started on Homer, maybe the Odyssey. If he likes it, the Iliad. Also, the ARthur Mythologies, probably White's "The Once and Future King" is a good place to start.
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"Eddings is not appropriate for a 7 year old. I read them when I was 12 and I was a bit too young. I was sheltered, too, but that won't make up for a 5 year age difference."
Eddings is much more tame then material he's already read. And, with 12 books in the Belgarion/Belgarath set, can keep him going for a month.
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There isn't any sex in LOTR, there definately is in Eddings. It's not so bad in The Belgariad, but in the Mallorean there are scenes where characters are seducing each other. I'm assuming if "heaving bosom" is out, that will be too. Granted, it's fairly tame compared to a lot of stuff that's out there for adults, but for an eight year old? And I'm really curious as to what on that list is more objectionable. Granted, I haven't read any Burroughs, but I've read all the rest and none of them contain sex at all.
Tamora Pierce's Alana books are far more suitable to an 8 year old, and I'm guessing romanylass wouldn't find those appropriate either.
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I love Once and Future King, but everything past "Sword in the Stone" may be too grown-up for a 7-year old. The plot is kind of impossibly tied to a sexual affair.
Fortunately, SitS is available as a separate volume, with an extra chapter (Madam Mim). It's far, far better than the Disney movie.
In fact, I can't decide if what Disney did to White was worse than what it did to Kipling or not.
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If I remember the Burroughs novels, he was a little risque or could be at times. In some respects, I parallel the genre to Robert Howard's "Conan" books. Certainly not something I would have included for an 8-year old, but apparently Romany didn't sign off on it either.
If Romany signs off on Eddings, there is another series starting with "The Diamond Throne" which has another run of books that will keep him busy.
But Blacwolve's concern is well-founded - if Romany is concerned about "heaving bosoms", she will probably object to some of the content in Eddings' writings.
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"If Romany signs off on Eddings, there is another series starting with "The Diamond Throne" which has another run of books that will keep him busy."
I wouldn't recommend the elenium and the tamuli for an 8 year old. I think its a lot darker and creepier. If he likes horror movies, then sure.
I guess I tend to think the seduction that occurs in Eddings is stuff an 8 year old is already familiar with.
[ September 10, 2004, 11:03 PM: Message edited by: Paul Goldner ]
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I found the elenium almost exactly identical to the Belgariad/Mallorean, only with worse jokes. I only read the first two books, though.
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There's definetely things that go bump in the night in those two series. I don' tknow. I was a jumpy little kid, and those books would have given me nightmares then. A couple years later, I would have been fine with them.
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The Squire's Tale The Squire, His Knight and His Lady Parsifal's Page The Princess, the Dung Cart Knight and the Crone
All by Gerald Morris, very good king arthur stories, and very amusing. I left out The Savage Damsel and the Dwarf, although it's also very good, because it has a scene where the girl walks in on her sister naked, and a knight fighting another knight...not much is told, but if you want to be careful, I'd skip it. These books made me remember why I used to love King Arthur stories so much.
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Anything that has been written by Gordon Korman prior to about 1998. His newer stuff isn't very good, but the older stuff (Bugs Potter; No Coins, Please; I want to Go Home; Bruno & Boots; etc) is very very funny. It isn't fantasy, but it doesn't matter. Everyone should read some Gordon Korman at some point in their lives.
has he read any Bruce Coville? They're short, but I remember really enjoying them when I was younger.
Animorphs? Okay, a bit hokey, but not too bad, I really enjoyed them, and I was older when I picked them up. There's about 55 books, so if he enjoys one, he might be good to go for a while.
The last one I can think of now that hasn't been mentioned would be Lois Lowry's "The Giver." If he can handle LOTR, he can handle The Giver, and it will indeed give him lots to think about.
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Oh, I love Eddings, he writes the best fluff ever. by the time I'd read the Elenium, though, I'd read both the Belgariad and the Mallorean at least 10 times each. I'm just a tad bit biased. Posts: 4655 | Registered: Jan 2002
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I actually think the Elenium is his best series, with by far the best writing of anything else he's written, and the most dynamic characterization.
I've been thinking about it, and even if Romanylass has problems with "heaving bosoms," the Belgariad is probably fine. THere's insinuations about sexuality, but sexuality never really comes to the forefront. Rather, in that series, we see Ce'Nedra and Garion contemplating how they FEEL about each other.
That series may actually be a good "first" exposure to romance and sexuality in literature, because its NOT descriptions of physical seduction or acts.
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I will have to look up some of the Arthurian stuff. I KNOW he will enjoy it. I ahve not let them saee any of the Disney atrocities. What they do to classic stories should be criminal.
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Thanks, blackwolve. I appreciate the insight and further clarification.
My "oh heck, it contains reference to sex" radar is pretty skewed, given what I was reading as a child. That's a whole 'nuther thread, though.
(For context: my father had been a Shakepearean actor, and we recited bits for him as Christmas and birthday presents. Still, that's just part of it. Different parenting styles.)
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Heh. The actual "Little Mermaid" had me in tears. The Disney re-telling, not so much.
And I will point out that Beauty and the Beast by Disney was pretty close to the theme of the original story, although certain nuances were changed.
But I enjoy the Disney films for what they are and enjoy the classics for what they are, the inspiration for other works of fiction.
I read a lot of folklore and mythology as a child - Norse, Greek, Egyptian and so on. That included things about vampires and werewolves and things that go bump in the night. Which might do a lot to explain why I'm so odd.
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Try The Wonderful Flight to the Mushroom Planet. It's a fun sci-fi adventure. I also remember reading Time Cat, which is a story about a boy and a cat who visit 9 different historical periods. Heinlein is great for kids as long as you stick to the juvenile novels. Citizen of the Galaxy and Have Spacesuit are fine, and I think Tunnel in the Sky is also quite tame. Starship Troopers has no sex I think, but it's rather violent and preachy. I think Double Star and The Rolling Stones are okay.
Have you tried any of Asimov's nonfiction? The man has written some brilliant essays (and even books) on all sorts of topics. I'm a big fan of his science and math essays. They're entertaining and educational at the same time.
In sort of the same vein, your son might find Flatland amusing.
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Mythology- that is big around here. Right now he is into Greek and Roman mythology.
I got a bunch of books for him today-some Lauwrence Yep and Jane Yolen, mostly about dragons, "Young Witches and Warlocks", ed Asimov et al.. You know, I don't wholey protect them from sexual references. Most of the music I listen to has some (filk) and they certainly see interestingly garbed people at the Ren Faire. But the thing about Xanth, much as I love Piers Anthony, is the whole "dirty old man" vibe with him. The total obsession with nymphly young girls as opposed to sexuality as a part of life. Kinda like the Barbie thing- I don't want my kids to grow up seeing that as the ideal.
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I agree with you about Peirs Anthony, Romany. I used to read his stuff... and then when I realized what was going on, at a deeper level, stopped.
HE started creeping me out... and at the time, I was a horny 18 year old boy.
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Loved the "Little House" books. Practically the only "kids lit" I read after about age 7 (I'd moved on to the adult section of the library by that time). And I feel exactly like...oh, crap, who was it...who said that they hated the series because they loved the books. The thing is, the tv series was so politically correct that it hurt, while the books are so not politically correct that they have been protested by some people. Well, it did always bother me at some level that in the books, Ma had a habit of saying "The only good Indian is a dead Indian". This is not a wonderful sentiment that you'd want your kids picking up. On the other hand, it is realistic in that during the time those books take place, a lot of people felt the way Ma did. And I think it is important that kids realize that those sorts of prejudices were common in the past, as well as why such prejudices are not acceptable.
Oh, and someone else mentioned Ray Bradbury's short story, "The Veldt". Not completely sure, but I think it was one of the stories in "The Illustrated Man". It's a good place to start looking, anyway.
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I love Robin McKinley's Beauty and the Beast retellings, however they are mainly girl books, so I don't know if you're son would like them.
You're right Paul, The Belgariad should be fine. The Mallorean is by far my favorite series so it's the one that comes to mind most easily. I'll have to give the Elenium another try. *exults in public library's that have fiction sections and are a block away from campus*
Is Piers Anthony the one who's a little too obsessed with early and preteen girls? If so I can understand why you're disturbed. I read one book of his and it was enough.
If you don't mind sex then I definately recomend the Alanna series by Tamora Pierce. They remain some of my favorite books today.
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Now, are there any good websites I could send your kids to? Post them on my "Fantasy and the Internet" thread. Thanks.
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