11 Plus Exams Forum

I'm sure this has been done before, but please help. My son will only read Harry Potter. He has read all the books 58 times since year three, and keeps on reading them. He will not read anything else. I am trying to encourage him by giving him other things to read eg Across the Nightingale Floor etc etc, but to no avail. Short of taking a gun along to Ms Rowling and threatening to do her an injury if she wont write a new book, I really don't know what to do.

Can anyone recommend some really exciting books to get him away from HP ?

Thanks

I do not like Harry Potter myself

Hi
I'll go and raid DS's bookcases and see if I can come up with a list of recommendations. My DS in Y7 with a reading age of 16, is an avid reader and I always find it hard to keep him supplied with new reading material. I'm sure my family allowance should be paid directly to Amazon! I've given up on the library as they never have anything he hasn't read. So I'm also on the hunt for reading suggestions especially as he'll need books to read during the holidays.

Ally

My ds1 absolutely loves Bernard Cornwell and he has lots of books!! Particularly the Sharpe series and struggles to put the books down. With yours also being a boy he may love them too.

Hi
Just found a list of DS's recent reads the computer, which saves me loads of time.
Hope this list helps

• Scat - Carl Hiaasen
  Johnny Mackintosh and the Spirit of London - Keith Mansfield
  The Set-up (The Medusa Project) - Sophie McKenzie
  Young Samurai Series - Chris Bradshaw
  I Boy – Kevin Brooks
  The Remarkable Adventures of Tom Scatterhorn - Henry Chancellor
  Chaos Code – Justin Richards
  Conspiracy 365 series by Gabrielle Lord
  Artemis Fowl Series by Erin Colfer
  The Airman – Erin Colfer
  Rogue (HIVE) - Mark Walden
  Henderson`s Boys Series– Robert Muchamore
  Lord Sunday Series – Gareth Nix
  Hobbit
  Lord of the Rings – Book 1
  I Am Number Four – Pittacus Lore
  Skulduggery Pleasant Series – Derek Landy
  Wardstone Chronicles Series - Joeseph Delaney
  Young Sherlock Holmes Series – Andrew Lane
  TimeRiders Series – Alex Scarrow
  The Mysterious Benedict Society Collection – Trenton Lee Stewart

Ally

Ah brilliant, thanks Midget and Ally, I will have a go at some of these to see if we can wean him off HP

I agree, the Sharpe series is good. Also the Bartimaeus trilogy (now with obligatory 4th volume) by Jonathan Stroud (awesomely zingy writing, really shows up JKR's leaden prose for what it is), the Cherub series (don't know the author), the HIVE series (Mark Walden), Young Bond (Charlie Higson iirc), various things by Eoin Colfer (Airman, Supernaturalist etc. - although Artemis Fowle prob too young for 12yo). The Mortal Engines series (Philip Reeve). Philip Pullman. Ours has just read the Hitchhikers Guide series. Douglas Reeman, Alistair MacLean, I think Andy McNab has written a series for boys. The Red Alert series. Clive Cussler. Tom Clancy. Can't think what else ours has read recently. Perhaps pick two or three from varying genres? What on earth is his school playing at? Ours has to write 6 book reviews every term, not allowed multiple books by same author, it really forces him to think outside the box.

Mike

This isn't really a criticism of the school...I think what's happened is he just really enjoyed the HP stories, and didn't enjoy other books the same. He's obviously reading what he has to for school, I just want him to STOP with the HP books at home, and MOVE ON. Every other book I've given him or bought him, he looks at and then goes back to HP. My other children began to lose interest in books at around this age, although I have to say, they have come back to it as older teenagers. This child is a little different in so far as he obviously enjoys reading, I just need him to choose other books for a change at least.
Not a fan of Ms Rowling, either, then?

LFH, if you want (need?) to wean him off gently, what about other fantasy books in a similar vein?

Jenny Nimmo’s Charlie Bone series
Christopher Paolini’s Eregon trilogy
Diana Wynne Jones
Ursula Le Guin
Gareth Nix

DD (12) read the entire Cherub series by Robert Muchamore – 12 books, I think – over the Christmas holidays.

Also second Ally’s suggestions of Alex Scarrow’s Time Riders series (3 so far) and anything by Sophie McKenzie.

DS1 (Yr7) really enjoyed:
Young Samurai series
Morris Gleitzman - Then, Once and Now - three books about the holocaust but OK and he has written on other subjects too
Boy in Striped Pyjamas
Anthony Horowitz - Alex Ryder series, Diamond Brothers series
Sam Hutton - special agents series

Michelle Paver Chronicles of Ancient Darkness - 6 books.