In search of reading material for 11 yr boy

[hsmom]

Looking for something that is good, wholesome, has great moral out look, and is also exciting for a boy.

Recently I had him watch the "Wilderness Family" movie and he loved it. He was not too sure at first, but by the end he wanted more.

So, this got me thinking that if I could find books of this nature or like it in ways he might really enjoy them. Also hopefully get him reading more.

I am also planning on using http://www.teachwithmovies.org/index.html.

Any suggestions?

[Nikita]

How about some of the books by Farley Mowat? I'd start with "The Dog Who Wouldn't Be" and "Owls in the Family". My son also enjoyed the Homer Price books by Robert McCloskey at that age, and the magic-adventure books by Edgar Eager ("Half Magic" is one, there are several).

Another favourite here were the books by Gerald Durrell, both his children's books (I think there are two) as well as his autobiographical family stories.

We also read all the books by Eleanor Estes around that age - Pinky Pye, The Moffats. Oh, and The Borrowers too.

All of these titles have strong family/sibling relationships, with a touch of adventure. Hope this helps,

Nikita

[5wolfcubs]

Sign of the Beaver
My Side of the Mountain
The Black Stallion
The Bronze Bow

I can 2nd all of Nikita's ideas, too! :)

[Lori D.]

ANIMALS (real)
- Rascal (North)
- Shiloh (Naylor)
- The Black Stallion, The Black Stallion Returns, Island Stallion (Farley)
- My Side of the Mountain (George)
- Where the Red Fern Grows (Rawls)


REAL LIFE
- Island of the Blue Dolphins (O'Dell)
- From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler (Konigsburg)
- In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson (Lord)


ADVENTURE
- Rikki Tikki Tavi
- The Jungle Book (Kipling)
- The Wolves of Willoughby Chase (Aiken) -- Victorian-like setting
- The Great Turkey Walk (Karr)
- By the Great Horn Spoon (Fleischman)
- Holes (Sachar)
- The Rescuers, Miss Bianca, Miss Bianca in the Orient (Sharpe)
- Basil of Baker Street (Titus)
- Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH (O'Brien)


FANTASY
- Half Magic; Magic by the Lake, Knight's Castle; Time Garden; Seven Day Magic (Eager)
- The Secret of Platform 13 (Ibbotson)
- City of Ember; People of Sparks (Du Prau)
- The Phantom Tollbooth (Juster) -- boy journeys through a mathematical land
- The Never Ending Story (Ende)
- The Hobbit (Tolkien)


HISTORICAL FICTION
- Hittite Warrior (Williamson) -- ancient Israel/Hittite
- God King (Williamson) -- ancient Egypt/Israel
- Story of Rolf and the Viking Bow (French) -- Viking
- Adam of the Road (Gray) -- Medieval England
- The Door in the Wall (de Angeli) -- Medieval England
- The Master Puppeteer (Paterson) - 1700s Japan
- The Sign of the Beaver (Speare) -- Colonial US/Native American
- Johnny Tremain (Forbes) -- Colonial US
- Twenty and Ten (Bishop) -- WWII French children hide Jewish children
- Number the Stars (Lenski)-- WWII Dutch girl helps her Jewish friend
- Snow Treasure (McSwigan))-- WWII Norweigan children hide the country's gold


BIOGRAPHY
- Robert Fulton, Boy Craftsman (Henry) -- inventor of steam engine as a boy
- Land I Lost; Water Buffalo Days (Nhuong) -- memories of pre-war of rural Vietnam
- Carry On, Mr. Bowditch (Latham) early US man who improved naval navigation
- Naya Nuki: The Shoshone Girl Who Ran -- friend of Sacajewea
- Behind Rebel Lines (Reit) -- teen girl disguised as a boy / Union spy in Civil War
- Lincoln: A Photobiography -- beautiful photos / text telling Lincoln's life
- Commodore Perry in the Land of the Shogun (Blumberg)
- Born in the Year of Courage (Crofford) -- 1850s shipwrecked Japanese teenager

[hsmom]

Thank you all so much, these look great.

[M in Canada]

Louie L'Amour 's books are very wholesome and exciting. They are mostly cowboy stories set in the wild west.