Reddit mentions: The best teen adventure books

I second the Tamora Pierce suggestion. Also definitely Gregor the Overlander! Suzanne Collin's lesser known series (she wrote Hunger Games). I recently finished reading (it's a 5-book series) and it was FANTASTIC. Just amazing. It's a YA series. The House of the Scorpion is also great, might be for your stronger readers. Eragon series is fun, and Dealing with Dragons is still one of my all-time favorite dragon books/series. Bruce Coville is a great author, and his work might be a little young but it's good to have a mix. I absolutely loved everything of his I have read, but especially Aliens Ate My Homework and the rest of that series. Most of these will appeal to the young men, hopefully.



When I was a young lady, I read pretty much anything, but I know a lot of boys like books with a boy main character. I really was a bit horse crazy, so here's some you might look into for your young ladies. The Saddle Club is a very long series about 3 girls and their horse-y adventures. It was really fun and it's great to find longer series because, if they like the first one, there's a lot to enjoy. (Oh a thought - you could always get the first one in a series, then just tell them to get the rest from the library or something, if there's budget concerns) I also liked the Thoroughbred Series and the wonderful Marguerite Henry horse books, especially the famous Misty of Chincoteague but really any of her books is a good read. My all time favorite horse series was and still is The Black Stallion by Walter Farley. Oh, how I loved that book.


There's a Boy in the Girl's Bathroom was fantastic the first time I read it, and I also like the "Wayside School" books which are both by Louis Sachar. Judy Blume is fun as is Beverly Cleary. Redwall gets a lot of kids into reading, you also might consider some high-level comics/graphic novels to reach a different audience. The Hobbit Graphic Novel has great illustration and I loved reading it so much when I found it one day in a store.


I found history pretty boring so avoided those books but I did enjoy The King's Swift Rider about Robert the Bruce and Scotland, might be the only vaguely historical book I remember reading around those ages. I tried to avoid mystery books more or less, but I loved Encyclopedia Brown (even though according to Amazon it's for younger ages). I enjoyed Harriet the Spy she was a pretty cool girl role-model at the time. My Side of the Mountain was absolutely fantastic and such a great adventure, though I enjoy everything Jean Craigshead George writes. I feel like Julie of the Wolves is pretty standard reading material, maybe not anymore, but what a great story. Oh my gosh, I just about forgot The Indian in the Cupboard, that was such a good story. Anything Roald Dahl is wonderful as is Jane Yolen, I especially recommend the Pit Dragon trilogy. The Golden Compass, So You Want to be A Wizard, Animorphs, Goosebumps, Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, Kiki Strike, Dinotopia, Song of the Gargoyle and The City of Ember.


I am sure that is way more than you need, but my mind started racing. It was hard to stop once I started -- thank you for that enjoyable tour through my past. Lots of great memories of time spent reading. Hope you find some of this helpful, at least.

I take it from Harry Potter and Divergent he likes strong, morally-white protagonists on journeys to save the world. I don't know his exact reading level or interests, so I will make the following suggestions by category. I ranked books in each category by difficulty.

 

Teen Fantasy:

 

Dealing with Dragons: Funny, easy to read, dragons, magic, and sarcasm.

The Lioness Series, Immortal Series, or The Magic Circle Series: Strong female leads and interesting to read with great stories (Think Mulan). My brother loved them.

Artemis Fowl: Strong, morally ambiguous but ultimately altruistic, sarcastic, and smart protagonist against the world.

User Unfriendly: Dudes get sucked into a video/rpg and try to get out without dying. Like Tron, but less sci-fi and more fantasy.

Halo: One of my brothers who HATES reading -- or at least is incredibly picky actually stayed up all night to finish four of Halo books. He also really likes the games. I don't know which one is the first or the best but this one had the best reviews. I dunno if it is dark either -- I haven't read it :'(.

The Dark Elf Trilogy: Darker than anything else I have on here (or can be) hero vs world type fantasy. Drizzit = my brothers' hero growing up. Kinda WOW-esque? Having played both, I understand how much of WOW is inspired by DnD. I personally didn't like this.

Redwall: Harder to read, talking animals save the world from other talking animals. I personally hated this series, but my brothers read every single book in the series at the time.

 


Adult Fantasy:

 

Magician: Magic, totally badass protagonist, BORING first couple chapters, but ultimately the most OP hero I have ever read. Amazing, truly amazing. I think it is two-three books in the first series.

Harper Hall: Dragons, music, strong, but lost protagonist. Deals with sexism and gender biased. The other books in the cycle range from sci-fi to political fantasy.

Dragonbone Chair: Strong, badass hero vs a dragon. What happens? He becomes more badass. It is a lighter verison of LOTR/Sword of Shanara (which is probably too much politics/genetics/enviromental commentary -- generally boring-- for him right now) --

An even lighter alternative, more teen book is Eragon. That being said, I absolutely DETESTED these books. I don't care if he was 16, he didn't coming up with any of his own material. But -- a lot of people really like it, so your brother might!

 

Sci-fi:

 

Ender's game: Amazing ending, especially if he likes videogames. I haven't seen the movie, but my Dad said it was "loosely inspired" from the book. All I know is the book was world-changing. It has some legitimately dark points (like gouging out a giants eye or drowning puppies).

Johnny Maxwell Trilogy: This dude is cool. I didn't know until I linked it that it is hard to get a copy >.<.

Dune: This, like LOTR, is VERY political and can be very easily boring. It might also be too adult or hard for him. There is mental illness and just crazy people in the later books.

 

Mature Humor:

 

He should be ready for some British humor, which is a little more mature than American humor (sorry) and much more sarcastic. You also have to be in the mood for it, especially if you aren't expecting it.

Sourcery: Really, really funny.

Hitchhiker's Guide: Also funny.

Magic Kingdom for Sale -- Sold: American. Funny take on fantasy books.

 

I kept away from darker books where the protagonist is morally grey (Artemis fowl and Drizzit being exceptions -- though they are both still definitely heros), sex, questionable themes, or general mental derangement.

I also stayed away from more modern books, which I have read a lot of if you would like recommendations for those instead. I read a lot in general, so if you have a questions about a book in particular, I can try to help.

Edit: Links

Okay so, YA books are my jam, and I'll get to those in a second. But if you want a fun summer read you'll have trouble putting down, Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore is great. It's a really fun read, especially for people who like books. It's got mystery, humor, and you'll stay up way too late reading to figure out what's going to happen next. It's not the deepest or most challenging book in the world, but it's real fun and well paced.

For YA, anything by Laurie Halse-Anderson is amazing. I've read Speak more times than any other book. Her book Catalyst is also really awesome. And I just finished her book Twisted a few days ago, and it was a great, quick read. (I actually finished it in one lazy day!)

Jay Asher's Thirteen Reasons Why is heartbreaking. If you liked Fault in Our Stars, I'm sure you'll love this. It's a great concept (girl who kills herself gives a series of tapes to a boy to explain why she did it), and it's just superbly well written. Along the same lines, Markus Zusak's I am the Messenger is also a great high-concept, all-the-feels read.

If you like the more fantasy-esque YA books, the best series I've found is Clive Barker's Abarat series. If you end up getting these, make sure to get the hardcover versions. The writing is great itself, but what really makes the series is that each book has over 300 paintings and illustrations done by the author himself. It's a great epic, and the third book of five just came out last year. The series gets darker as it goes, which is great.

And, finally, not a YA novel, but Adam Rapp's The Metal Children is an awesome play about a guy who wrote a YA book that's the focus of a censorship argument in a small town. It's got some great points in it, and is a fast, fun read.

Hope this helps! Sorry if I used the word 'great' too much. :P

Oh! I love reading books!

I highly recommend:

1. The Orphans of Chaos trilogy by John C. Wright. He really pushes the boundaries of the imagination by writing about a universe in which there are 4 different paradigms of magic/power, each of which cancels one of the others out and is canceled out by one of the others. It's an epic Titans vs Olympic Gods fantasy, and I've read it several times--which is rare for me to do.
   
   
2. Obviously read the Song of Ice and Fire series by George RR Martin if you haven't already done so! I delayed reading it a long time but then read all of them in a week and a half when I finally succumbed.
   
   
3. ALWAYS recommend The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss
   
   
4. ALSO always recommend Lies of Locke Lamora and its sequels by Scott Lynch.
   
   
5. The Abhorsen trilogy by Garth Nix. It's YA, but pretty mature YA, and IMO could easily transition to the regular fantasy section.
   
   
6. Books by Diana Wynne Jones. She writes YA, but fantasy that I wouldn't call immature. The best word I could use to describe it would be "whimsical." If I could compare her style of fantasy to anyone's it would EASILY be the filmmaker Miyazaki. (His films include Spirited Away, Kiki's Delivery Service, Porco Rosso, etc.--he even adapted one of her books!) I think her best work is her Chrestomanci series which has 3 volumes (each volume is made up of several novellas), but she is best known for Howl's Moving Castle, which I also highly recommend (along with its sequels Castle in the Air and The House of Many Ways).
   
   
7. Jim Butcher's Dresden Files series. It's fun, original, often dark, often humorous, fast-paced, and FILLED with action. As noted by someone else, there are vampires in the universe, but they're not the central motif. There are also other scary things, like fairies, goblins, witches/wizards, demons...the list goes on and on.
   
   
8. Terry Pratchett's Discworld canon. There are many, MANY books, and they're not written in series so you can jump in almost anywhere. I recommend Small Gods to start.
   
   
9. The Sevenwaters Trilogy by Juliet Marillier, starting with Daughter of the Forest. There are also spin-off novels, though I haven't read them all. Her writing is beautiful and mystical. She almost makes me believe magic/fae could exist.
   
   
10. The Passion and The Promise (a duet) and, separately, The Alchemist by Donna Boyd. These are really, really excellently written. "Lush" would be the word I'd use. They're not hugely well known, and I find that utterly boggling considering how good they are.

This is going to seem like a really strange choice, but it's coming from another 16 year old. I recommend Surely You're Joking Mr. Feynman, as it is one of my absolute favorite books. It may only appeal to him if he likes science or engineering, but it's worth a shot regardless.

In a similar vein to the Chronicles of Narnia, may I recommend The Hobbit/ The Lord of the Rings? Both are great stories that he may like. Although they are not the best written books in terms of writing quality (in my opinion), the Inheritence Cycle by Christopher Paolini might appeal for entertainment value. Perhaps a lesser known author that I greatly enjoy is Megan Whalen Turner, author of The Thief, The Queen of Attolia, and The King of Attolia. I just became aware of this book and have thus never read it, but A Conspiracy of Kings by the same author is bound to be good.

Steering away from fantasy, he may also like science fiction. I recommend any Ray Bradbury. Most of his stories are short, so for someone who doesn't read often they are great. My favorite are the Martian Chronicles, but R is for Rocket is also a good compilation. All of the Artemis Fowl series are recommended as well.

If I think of any more, I will certainly edit this post.

xD ok this will be a long message bear with me.

1. Is there a synopsis of each story available?
   
   Yes! Every serial I write has a home page, and every home page has:
   
   

• Links to every part that is released
  
  
• A brief 'blurb' for the series, normally what I'd put on the back of the hardcopy :)
  
  
• Links to any artwork I've been sent or purchased of the series
  
  
• Links to any other media, like audio files or videos
  
  For my serials, the home pages are as follows:
  
  Flameweaver Saga
  
  Halfway to Home
  
  
  

2. I want to read other stuff
   
   From a quick browse-through of your comments I didn't see you crossing paths with any other serial authors - If you haven't read any of his stuff, I highly, highly recommend /u/Hydrael's work, over at /r/Hydrael_Writes! His Dragon's Scion and Small Worlds projects are exceptional! Small worlds is also published on Amazon!
   
   
3. I want to read traditional novels
   
   I can help with that! Some quick recommendations that I personally love - these are loosely ranked in order of how I'd recommend them, but the fact that they're here at all means they've got my support :)
   
   Fantasy novels:
   
   The October Daye series:
   
   

• Urban fantasy
  
  
• Awesome worldbuilding
  
  
• Is where I learned how to write twists, and where I picked up my penchant for chekov's guns
  
  Trickster's Choice/Trickster's Queen
  
  
• Traditional fantasy
  
  
• Wonderful politics and intrigue
  
  
• Influenced how gods are handled in Flameweaver
  
  
• Both written easily enough for young readers to understand, and complex enough for adults to enjoy
  
  Graceling
  
  
• Traditional fantasy
  
  
• A bit more well-known, but a surprisingly solid upper-YA read. Kind of a guilty pleasure book of mine haha
  
  Scifi Novels:
  
  Agent to the Stars and Old Man's War
  
  
• John Scalzi is the author I modeled my own writing style after. So if you like my style, you might like his too.
  
  
• Darkly humerous. Realistic and gritty, without being overpoweringly grim.
  
  
• Wickedly sarcastic
  
  The Ender Quartet
  
  
• A bit wordier/harder to read, after Ender's Game. The last book (Children of the Mind) is probably one of the most challenging books I've ever read. But rewarding.
  
  
• Long-running, intricate plotline
  
  The Ship Series
  
  
• Indie series I happened across a few years ago
  
  
• Upper YA. Younger characters, but dark content
  
  
• Well-written, relatable characters

1. Girls to the Rescue series -- In most heroic tales, a helpless young lady waits around for a prince to rescue her. But the spunky girls in this entertaining series are much too busy saving the day to await Prince Charming. These adaptations and original stories from around the world inspire readers to become a new kind of heroine.
   
   
2. The Enchanted Forest Chronicles series -- Princess Cimorene. Rangy, curious, energetic, matter-of-fact, she rolls up her sleeves and gets the job done with a happy disregard for the traditions of her role. Although her parents want her to stifle her improper interests in fencing, Latin, and cooking, the princess is not about to be forced into marriage with the vapid prince they have chosen. She throws herself wholeheartedly into a career as a dragon's princess, a respectable role, although not one for which one usually volunteers. As she fends off nosy wizards, helps out hysterical princesses, and turns away determined rescuers...
   
   
3. Harry Potter. Sure, it's about a boy, but a person who is downtrodden and unhappy until he's whisked away to another world where he finds his inner strength. Over the course of the 7 books, Harry undergoes a dramatic transformation from a child filled with self-doubt and uncertainty to realizing he can do anything and he must summon the strength to do the impossible. As a parent, I saw numerous positive messages hidden in these stories.
   
   
4. Dear America series -- Fictional diaries of girls living in various points in American history.
   
   
5. Akiko series -- When fourth grader Akiko finds a spacecraft hovering outside her window one night, she begins the adventure of a lifetime. She is whisked off to the planet Smoo to lead a team searching for the King of Smoo’s kidnapped son. Akiko the head of a rescue mission? She’s afraid to be on the school’s safety patrol! So begins the adventures of Akiko, wherein she meets her team — Spuckler Boach, Gax, Poog, and Mr. Beeba — and sets off on a journey across Smoo to find a prince and become a leader. Wikipedia lists which books should be read in order and which ones can stand alone. Note: These are chapter books, not comic books. Akiko is based on a comic book series that came first.
   
   Also: The Amazing Days of Abby Hayes series, Judy Moody series and Animal Ark series. Animal Ark is not religious; the daughter of a veterinarian rescues animals. There are so many books in the series that after the first book, just pick books about animals your daughter likes.
   
   Some of these books may be above your daughter's reading level. Check the suggested age on Amazon or be prepared to read some aloud to her.

I love the Chronicles of Egg series, fun pirate adventures!

Has he read anything by Brandon Mull? He has several fun series, Fablehaven was his first and still most popular, I believe.

I loved the Chronicles of Chrestomanci by Diana Wynne Jones growing up, about a nine-lived enchanter in a world similar to ours. The best part was Ms. Jones was a prolific writer so if he likes these there are a lot more where that came from.

For an interesting new sci-fi series try The Search for WondLa. Kind of Alice in Wonderland with aliens.

And one of my favorite MG books for boys is Peter Nimble. It's just fantastic. I sold tons of copies when it first came out.

China Miéville's Un Lun Dun. It's a kids' book, but it's fantastic. Miéville turns a lot of the standard fantasy tropes on their heads, with thoroughly enjoyable results.

Dathan Auerbach's Penpal. Horror/suspense, written by a redditor, and debuted on reddit. The Kindle version is less than $4. Seriously creepy but totally worth it.

Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett's Good Omens. I have never laughed so much while reading. It's phenomenal.

Neal Stephenson's The Diamond Age. What happens to poor people once nanotechnology can be used to make anything? It's my favorite of the Stephensons I've read, but it still ends like a Neal Stephenson novel. :|

Cory Doctorow's Someone Comes to Town, Someone Leaves Town. It's about the first-born son of a mountain and a washing machine. It's also about setting up wireless networks. Also: it's FREE.

Hope you enjoy some of these! :)

I've read and loved almost all of the recommendations already here (TAMORA PIERCE). But to add some that haven't been mentioned (and trying really hard to not overload you with 20 books at once), I read and reread Robin McKinley's The Hero and the Crown and its prequel so. many. TIMES. Maybe even more than I reread Tamora Pierce. Patricia McKillip, Maria Snyder, Patricia C. Wrede (Dealing with Dragons quartet), Althea Kontis, Francesca Lia Block, Libba Bray and Susan Fletcher (Dragon Chronicles) are similar authors to check out for awesome female-driven fantasy, with varying degrees of lightheartedness. Wrede, Fletcher, Snyder and Kontis all wrote books that lean a little less epic/serious, Block writes a lot in prose that's also a very quick (but more intense) read, McKillip tends to be more wordy but beautifully so, and Bray can kind of go either way depending on the series.

For more contemporary fiction, RACHEL COHN (of "Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist"). Her Gingerbread series has content a good deal more mature than Angus, Thongs, etc., but her style is similarly irreverent and witty and really fun. Seriously, check her out. Sharon Creech's Walk Two Moons is like a much younger version of Cohn, still zingy and sweet. For a quieter modern-day read, Garret Freymann-Weyr writes realistic (more mature) young adult relationships, and introduced me to the idea of bisexuality in a sort of roundabout way.

Julia Alvarez relates stories about the Latina-American experience incredibly well, although I think the first book I read by her takes place solely in the Dominican Republic. According to my reading list, I guess young me got sick of reading about other white people, so I'll add Marjane Satrapi's hilarious graphic novel Persepolis and the more sedate Shabanu series by Suzanne Fisher Staples.

I'd also strongly second comments for Gail Carson Levine, E.L. Konigsberg, and did I mention Tamora Pierce?

(I tried to link a lot of authors to my faves from their work, but I won't be mad if you never look at any of them. Is your reading list long enough now? Also, I know you didn't ask for a ton of fantasy/historical fiction recs, but I think a lot of us defined our teenagerhood by and identified more strongly with one of those series or another.)

tl;dr my top three recs that haven't been mentioned yet are Rachel Cohn, Julia Alvarez, and that one duo by Robin McKinley.

Funny. I've been avoiding the classics because they were written when conventions expected a heavier hand.

O.k. Try some stuff written within the last 20 years. I wish I could give you a more diverse list, but I've been playing catch up myself. That said, I've already read 20 books this year. The ones that weren't a waste were:

Equal Rites--Terry Pratchett He's a master at making a 4 level point with one sentence.

Good Omens- Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman This one is cool because a lot of people try to figure out who wrote what.

Besieged- Rowena Cory Daniels Kick-ass story. Great characterization. Descriptions snuck into the creases.

Wool-Hugh Howey O.k. I didn't read it this year, but it sucks you straight in. There's so much to learn about how Hugh made a fandom who demanded more material from him.

Another highly recommended book: The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of her own Making This one has a strong, strong voice, but does a breath-taking job of describing imaginary things. Amazing stuff.

YA lit is my favourite genre, and i remember being that age and being bored with what the school had us read.
Ideas for you: The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster

Dealing with Dragons series by Patricia C. Wrede (anything by her, actually, but that's where I'd start)

I'll second the Redwall books, there are a BUNCH!

On a slightly different topic, 9 was the age I started reading Dorothy Gilman (specifically, Caravan and Incident at Badamya)and Elizabeth Peters's Amelia Peabody books. If she is a sophistocated reader, they are pretty awesome mystery/exotic books with light romance but nothing narsty.

I myself have just spent my summer re-reading Tamora Pierce's Tortall books for the heck of it, and those are super awesome, if she hasn't read them already. Why don't you have her look over our suggestions, haha?

Sure! I know exactly what you mean. So, I will say that a lot of the most interesting stuff in Fantasy is (and has for a while) being done in YA fantasy, and I don't mean stuff like Twilight.

Garth Nix's Abhorsen series (starting with Sabriel) is excellent. Melina Marchetta's Finnikin of the Rock is kind of along the lines of what you're talking about, but is really well done.

Just about anything by Dianna Wynne Jones is great, I will call out specifically Howl's Moving Castle (the inspiration for the Miyazaki film of the same name) and also her 6 part [Chronicles of Chrestomanci] (http://www.amazon.com/Chronicles-Chrestomanci-Charmed-Lives-Christopher/dp/006447268X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1417629757&sr=1-1&keywords=chronicles+of+chrestomanci).

If you're in the mood for something more adult, I really enjoyed Jacqueline Carey's Kushiel series, starting with Kushiel's Dart, but that gets into some S&M stuff, which, YMMV.

And then Terry Pratchett's Discworld. Which is just fantastic.

Sounds like he views reading as a chore and not a form of entertainment. It may be that he hasn't found a book that clicks with him yet. Try focusing on his interests. Does he have a favorite movie? If its been adapted from a book, it might keep his interest.

Take clues from how he spends his free time. What kind of games does he play? Both Halo and Warcraft have their own line of books. I think it boils down to he need to find reading entertaining, and only he will be able to make that distinction.

He are some choices to try out:

• Scary Stories to tell in the Dark
  
• Redwall
  
• James and the Giant Peach ... heck, ANY Roald Dahl
  
• The Mouse and The Motorcycle
  
• Halo
  
• Diary of a Wimpy Kid - This one has been very popular with kids that didn't like reading.
  
  Calvin and Hobbes, Far Side, or even try manga, Naruto is very popular.
  
  
  Good luck with finding the something that he likes.

Get those kids some books!

[This was my FAVORITE series as a kid!](Redwall (Redwall, Book 1) by Brian Jacques et al. http://www.amazon.com/dp/0142302376/ref=cm_sw_r_udp_awd_Imontb0WZZHMF)
They were so fun to read, and written for young audiences as well. I love animals and adventure. :) They are novels through so probably above 5 year old level, but would make great bedtime stories still.

I have lots of books in my wishlist if I win. I also love books!

Hmmm... paranormal/supernatural tween reads with strong girl characters (not that Twilight had a strong female lead in it, but you may as well steer her in a better direction).

You really can't go wrong with the Hunger Games. Or you could get her the Japanese novel Battle Royale. It's also a dystopian novel about teenagers forced to battle each other to the death.

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children is worth checking out. It starts to lose some oomph towards the end, but is still a solid read with actual substance to the storyline. I'd get the hardback - the photography in it is just genius. Male lead, but there's a pretty cool chick who throws fireballs.

I enjoyed Anna Dressed in Blood. It's a bit like Supernatural, only with one male ghost hunter as the protaganist. He falls in love with a ghost, but she's a homicidal maniac.

The Rise of Renegade X - a boy raised by his evil supervillain mom discovers that he's the product of her one-night-stand with a superhero. That was pretty enjoyable...

Poison Study is a great book about a girl who's been sentenced to death and is offered a reprieve if she becomes the king's food taster. Her handler ends up subjecting her to a litany of poisons so that she can build up immunity. Didn't read the sequels, but the first book was pretty good.

Graceling is set in a world where certain people are born with random talents - the ability to hold their breath underwater for long periods of time, musical or dancing abilities, cooking the best food imaginable, etc. The main character is born with the talent to kill & becomes her uncle's assassin.

Stardust - Neil Gaiman... really nuff said, eh?

Howl's Moving Castle - A girl is turned into an old woman by an angry witch & takes refuge in the mysteriously moving castle of an "evil" wizard.

Okay. I'll stop now. :)

/u/Morthy you shall now be dubbed Dr. Morthy-o. Let's play a pill version of Tetris.

Graceling by Kristin Cashore. It's my favorite book of all time, and I have not found one person yet who doesn't love it.

Here's Amazon's description: Kristin Cashore’s best-selling, award-winning fantasy Graceling tells the story of the vulnerable yet strong Katsa, a smart, beautiful teenager who lives in a world where selected people are given a Grace, a special talent that can be anything from dancing to swimming. Katsa’s is killing. As the king’s niece, she is forced to use her extreme skills as his thug. Along the way, Katsa must learn to decipher the true nature of her Grace . . . and how to put it to good use. A thrilling, action-packed fantasy adventure (and steamy romance!) that will resonate deeply with adolescents trying to find their way in the world.

Michael J. Sullivan's Riyria books. He has a free short story, *The Viscount and the Witch that you can try to see if you'll like them.

The Shanarra series by Terry Brooks

J.D. Hallowell's War of the Blades books were a lot of fun. From looking at the Amazon page, it looks like the first book might be on sale right now.

If you haven't read the Dragonlance books by Margaret Weiss and Tracy Hickman, you might want to give them a shot.

If you haven't read them yet, Robin McKinley's The Hero and the Crown and The Blue Sword are great takes on the heroic fantasy tradition.

Books were my best friends, growing up, and I developed a deep, abiding appreciation for what being a reader can do for a person. I read to both of my kids, even in utero, and they both became very avid readers. My daughter has developed a talent for writing, and a desire to be a doctor. She knows I am unlikely to be able to pay her tuition, so she's worked really hard. She's a straight-A student, and the only freshman at her school taking the advanced math and science classes.

She'll be taking AP Chemistry and Calculus, as a sophomore, next year, and she really wants to get a head start. She wants Wonderful Life With the Elements, which is on her wishlist, here. She doesn't really care if it's new or used, but it would need to be a hard copy, rather than an e-book.

My son still hasn't figured out what he wants to be, yet, but he's only almost-eleven. Right now, I think he's vacillating between engineering and video game design. :o)

He's seen me laughing at the Terry Pratchett Discworld series, and is dying to read Wee Free Men, also in hard-copy. His list is here.

Fantasy: The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner. The first book is good, but the second and third are fantastic.


Non-fiction: Catching Fire: How Cooking Made us Human by Richard Wrangham. Flat-out the most fascinating book I've ever read. About evolution and shit.

Literary Fiction: Orsinian Tales by Ursula K. Le Guin. The writing is so beautiful, moving, exquisite, all that good stuff. Le Guin's best work, imo.

Science Fiction: The High Crusade by Poul Anderson. Sooooo awesome. Has some elements of fantasy in it (the medieval part anyway.) Basically, knights vs. aliens.

Added to my kiddos' wishlist! :)

My daughter Rylee is 7. She's a huge bookworm! The last book she read was the second book in the Amulet series. My other daughter, Trinity, is 4 and loves to read about dragons. One of her favorite books so far has been The Egg, which is about a baby dragon. :)

Thank you for the contest! ♥

Oh, nice. That is a really good name, but I'm even more attached to Giddon than to him being a Vandagyre, if that makes sense? Giddon's a character from one of my favorite books, so I'm really happy to have him. :)

Thank you so so much for offering! I can't believe the kindness of the people in this community. :)

Gregor the Overlander is a pretty good series!



City of Ember




Inkheart, I don't know if its a bit young for him, but I remember enjoying it over a vast course of ages




Redwall!




The Wind Singer, my personal favorite. Part of a trilogy. I remember loving these when I was younger

It's all semantics anyway, but I saw The Crimes Of Grindlewald Screenplay as a book this weekend, the first time I 'heard' Fast Car by Tracy Chapman was in a poetry book in high school, and Bob Dylan won the Nobel Prize for literature, despite never writing a book. the lines are all blurry.


(for the record bob dylan was specifically like wtf how'd I win a literature prize, "But songs are unlike literature. They’re meant to be sung, not read. The words in Shakespeare’s plays were meant to be acted on the stage. Just as lyrics in songs are meant to be sung, not read on a page." so he's on your side haha)

Dealing with Dragons by Patricia Wrede. It's technically a young adult book, but I've loved it all my life and still do. The characters are AMAZING and you will laugh out loud reading it.

Sherwood Smith. Start with Crown Duel because it's the best to start with from Pierce, but she has a number of really wonderful books. Possibly Maria Snyder's books as well. I didn't discover those until many years since I'd worked through every Pierce book more than once, but they're probably still age appropriate. I'd start with Poison Study. The Enchanted Forest series could also be a nice option. Walter Moers might be a bit intimidating at 12, but I'm a big fan. Robin McKinley's Damar series would also be good.

I've read that The Thinking's Woman's Guide to Real Magic is like an adult oriented Harry Potter book.

The Night Circus is a fantasy romance novel involving magic and a circus. This is set in the late 1800s or early 1900s.

Monstrumologist and its' sequels are really interesting monster hunting novels. This is set in the late 1800s.

Have you read the Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman yet?

Jonathan Strange & Mr.Norrell was a great read. It's another book about magic. I have a copy and I really like it.

That's a tricky one. Seems the majority of fantasy books with a female protagonist fall into either the ya or smut category

I would suggest:
Best Served Cold by Joe Abercrombie

These are technically ya but I wouldn't say the relationships are stereotypical of ya
Graceling by Kristin Cashore

The Blue Sword and The Hero and the Crown by Robin McKinley

If you don't mind smutty then my goto in Kresley Cole and her immortals after dark series. Always a nice light paranormal romance. Not every book is a hit in my opinion but there's some gems. Plus it's fine to read then out of order/skip some.

I'd recommend The Blue Sword and The Hero and The Crown by Robin McKinley. I think I read them first in Grade 2 or 3, and I still love them and reread them often. The Blue Sword is about an orphan girl who is kidnapped by a desert king and trained as a warrior to save his nation, and The Hero and The Crown is a prequel about an ancient hero who fought dragons.

She writes a lot of other books that might be acceptable, often retellings of fairy tales. However, absolutely do not let him read Deerskin at this age. It has very disturbing themes, even for adults.

I absolutely loved the “Redwall” series by Brian Jacques and “The Alchemyst: Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel” series by Michael Scott as a young adult (still love them now) plus you’ll be set for the next few birthdays and holidays. They both have plenty of sequels in their respective series! (22 novels in the Redwall series and 6 in The Alchemyst series!)

34172

A used paperback of The Monstrumologist would be awesome if I win. Thanks for holding the contest! :)

Demon Haunted World is great for teaching skeptical critical thinking skills.
When I was around his age I loved Redwall. They're great books that really appeal to a young boys sense of wonder and adventure, all while teaching great life lessons along the way.

I think you should read this book. I read it once a while ago and really loved it... sadly i no longer have my copy so if i win id love another copy of it!! Thanks for the contest, cause I love reading books!

Un Lun Dun by China Mieville turns this idea on its head very nicely. The chosen one gets taken not long after the start of the novel. Her best friend goes and saves the day instead. Near the end she becomes known as the un-chosen one.

Graceling by Kristin Cashore It follows a female protagonist who has a special talent (called grace) in this book. The world-building in this book is fantastic and I am sure it will suit her adventurous nature.

Horatio Hornblower series by C. S. Forester, most definitely! Then you'd have to list all the stuff that's been based off that series, which is down the bottom of the wikipedia page.

And I know this is a bit out there for you, but you could call this supplementary - it's historical fiction with dragons. His Majesty's Dragon (Temeraire, Book 1) by Naomi Novik.

For the girls, you could get them to read the stuff by Georgette Heyer. Heyer was a romance novelist whose research library for British period customs and clothing was fiercely fought over by museums and libraries when she died. She wrote things that are both engaging and truly capture the flavor of the timeframe; she didn't impose modern morals and anachronisms onto her fiction.

Sherlock Holmes? Pick a few of the classic stories and maybe analyze the differences between society then in Victorian England and today. As a companion, you could get them to read the bit in A Bloody Business: An Anecdotal History of Scotland Yard which discusses Arthur Conan Doyle and his contributions to social change in Victorian London.

Then there's the Mabinogi, which has inspired tons of other works, and you could pair that with Susan Cooper's Dark Is Rising Series - there's only one book in there that really draws from/deals with Welsh myth, but it's a good one.

The Enchanted Forest series by Patricia C Wrede is engaging, witty, and sex-free.

The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak is wonderful for everyone of any age. It has lyrical writing, a story that sticks with you, and moving imagery. I can't recommend it enough.

Tamora Pierce's Tortall novels are great (I'd recommend starting with the Protector of the Small series or The Immortals series). There is some sex in them, but it's not graphic and it's far from the focus of the books.

The Bartimaeus Trilogy by Jonathon Stroud is witty, well-paced, and engaging.

The Sabriel series by Garth Nix is pretty dark, but no more so than the ones you listed.

Let us know what you end up getting her!

The Enchanted Forest Chronicles by Patricia C. Wrede were my favorite when I was that age. It's a four book series and it's awesome. It's about a not-so-pretty princess who doesn't want to be rescued.

The Monstrumologist series by Rick Yancey is another good fiction series.

For non fiction it's not quiet crypto but it is ghosts: Ghost Hunter- Hans Holzer. It's a collection of sorts about early paranormal investigation.

Another series I like that's fiction is The Newsflesh series by Mira Grant. It's zombies (I know, over done) but a really cool universe of post apocalypse society.

I've been looking that too, but just now I have too much to read both on my Kindle and outside it to start a completely new series before I've finished the last ones. You did like YA books? I could recommend this if you haven't read it yet :)

You should read [Redwall] (http://www.amazon.com/Redwall-Book-1-Brian-Jacques/dp/0142302376/ref=sr_1_1_title_0_main?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1397698927&sr=1-1&keywords=redwall) by Brian Jacques. It's a fun fantasy novel, full of adventure - and talking animals. I would recommend the entire series.

/u/Morthy you shall be now dubbed Dr. Morthy-o. Let's play a pill version of Tetris.

The Enchanted Forest Chronicles by Patricia C. Wrede are great. :-) it's a humorous take on fairy tale type stories.

Red Rising is a great SF trilogy; it starts out with a definite YA feel, but becomes a more complex story, and I'd argue the second book is better than the first. It has been optioned.

Red Queen is popular, and I'm sure there are studios looking to option the series.


And studios would be stupid to not consider Sarah J Maas' Throne of Glass series.

I also think there is interest in An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir, and Cinder by Marissa Meyer.

I love the Abarat series by Clive Barker: Abarat, Abarat: Days of Magic, Nights of War and Abarat: Absolute Midnight

They're YA (well as much as HDM is YA), teen protagonist exploring a different world. I'm not very good at blurb, but they are in the same vein as His Dark Materials, and are fantastic books as well.

In no particular order:

• The Enchanted Forest Chronicles.
  
• The Icarus Hunt.
  
• The Voynich Manuscript.
  
• The Chronicles of Narnia.
  
• Something else that I probably forgot. If I think of anything else, I'll add it.
  
  Most recently, I read the Quadrail series. It was pretty good. It was kind of like Zahn took The Icarus Hunt and expanded it into a full series, rather than a one-off. I think that The Icarus Hunt was better, though.

I really loved the Wise Child trilogy, The Hero and the Crown/The Blue Sword, and the Sally Lockhart series (and all of Phillip Pullman's books) as a kid.

Based on your criteria, I'd say start with some Young Adult stuff first, it tends to be shorter and less convoluted than the adult high fantasy stuff like WoT and GoT. Maybe Graceling would interest you?

If you want something light hearted that won't take up too much of your brain space, I'd say try Discworld series by Terry Pratchett, the Landover series by Terry Brooks, or the Xanth series by Piers Anthony. All fantasy books plenty of comic relief.

Also Dawkins' Children's Lectures are wonderful. But as for books the Golden Compass (Fiction) is a great one fro kids her age.

http://www.amazon.com/Materials-Trilogy-Golden-Compass-Spyglass/dp/0375842381/ref=sr_1_sc_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1330737562&sr=8-2-spell

Oh man, I have so many used books on my wishlists. Pawnee: The Greatest Town in America, Flowers for Algernon, A Clockwork Orange, and The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making are some of my most-wanted from my Under $6 wishlist :D I also have an entire books wishlist! Any of the books except for the children's books are great used! (I don't like used children's books just because they take a beating quickly)

My niece is 13. She is reading an anime series right now. (We do live together) some about high school...I dont know much about anime, but dragons are pretty freaking sweet! I'm really trying to get her to read as much as she can, but she loves it so yay!

(I think thats then link to the right thing)

Here are some ideas for young adult fantasy, with a few science-fiction books thrown in. Look them up and see if they look like something you might like:

Un Lun Dun by China Mieville (Mievile is a rising star of of SF/F, and this is his only novel so far written for young adults. Two British girls are pulled into a bizarre alternate London and must foil an evil plot)

The Ear, the Eye, and the Arm by Nancy Farmer (scifi in futuristic Africa, three mutant detectives trying to rescue kidnapped children of a famous general)

Invitation to the Game by Monica Hughes (near-future SF, robots do all the work, so what is there for new high school graduates to do?)

There are plenty of SF/F Choose Your Own Adventure books, which are a nice change of pace from third- and first-person narratives.

The Dark is Rising sequence by Susan Cooper. The first book is Over Sea, Under Stone, but you might want to start with The Dark is Rising.

Incidentally, I do NOT, under ANY circumstances, recommend Eragon.

• anything by Tamora Pierce
  
• anything by Anne Logston
  
• Graceling by Kristin Cashore
  
• When Demons Walk by Patricia Briggs
  
• The Witches of Eileanon by Kate Forsyth
  
• Arrows of the Queen by Mercedes Lackey
  
  Man, I could go on forever. You basically already listed my favorite books from high school. Mirror Sight woo!

It’s cheaper on amazon.

Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald - The Original Screenplay link

I loved [Redwall] (http://amzn.to/2EL9BYT) , Brian Jacques was my jam growing up! I think you would really love the [Paradise War Trilogy by Stephen Lawhead] (http://amzn.to/2GxG9C8) .

The Enchanted Forest Chronicles.

These are still some of my favorite books. The first and third books are told from the point of view of female protagonists, though they're important in all 4.

The Enchanted Forest Chronicles would be my movie (series?) of choice.

It has the same upside-down take on fairy tales as Shrek, and actually wouldn't be too bad in CGI either - but could also be done with actors/actresses for more realism. Even if only the first one got made, I'd be pleased.

Ratha's Creature by Clare Bell has some covers where the large cat is carrying a torch or being surrounded by fire.

The Chronicles of Chrestomanci books all have cats on the cover - not so much warriors, though.

Here is a list of fantasy novels about cats (all of the covers have cats on them).

I'm not satisfied with any of these and will def keep looking, but might be a place to start. This is assuming that the giant cat on the cover is a major character and not just a random cat, and I haven't completely gone on a wild goose chase. XD

Susan Cooper has a great series called "The Dark is Rising" It starts with "over sea and under stone" and continues from there. They sell the whole series. This was my absolute favorite series as a kid and actually was the book that started my love of reading. (i was not too big into reading before that.)

http://www.amazon.com/Dark-Rising-Boxed-Set-Greenwitch/dp/1416949968

Do not be confused with the horrible movie they made based on the second book. That just sucked.

Try the Forest Chronicles, starting with Dealing with Dragons. The princess runs away and does housework for the dragon instead of being rescued. Other issues relating to fantasy shows up. It's fun and the main character is witty.

The main character is younger than what you requested but the themes and writing are tailored to adults. It's not really childish at all but very fantastical, think Alice in Wonderland: Fairyland series by Catherynne M. Valente.

First book is The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making Amazon link

Stardust by Neil Gaiman. http://www.amazon.com/Stardust-Neil-Gaiman/dp/0060934719

His Dark Materials Trilogy is good, though the movie was bad. http://www.amazon.com/Materials-Trilogy-Golden-Compass-Spyglass/dp/0375842381/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1334109041&sr=1-2

Piers Anthony writes funny fantasy. I enjoyed the first dozen or so of his Xanth novels. http://www.amazon.com/Spell-Chameleon-Xanth-Book/dp/0345347536/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1334109146&sr=1-1

It's a reference to The Enchanted Forest books. =)

Try:

• Fever series by Karen Marie Moning
  
• Parasol Protectorate series by Gail Carriger
  
• Others series by Anne Bishop, only one book out but it was really good
  
• Daughter of Smoke and Bone series by Laini Taylor

I want to suggest The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner and its sequels. These are some of my favorite books and I feel they are not popular enough for how good they are.

http://www.amazon.com/The-Thief-Queens-Book/dp/0060824972/

I am officially back stateside, and in the last 24 hours I have successfully fixed the water softener, shoveled a fine collection of oak logs, leaves, live plants, and raccoon shit off the roof, made bank tutoring o-chem, and taught the Verizon employee how to connect to their own 4G network. I was unaware the name of their APN was such a secret. Also, that 4 tiers of escalation would be so damn useless. I ended up guessing the name like some sort of movie cracking and then went back and made the guy write it down because I can't be the only person ever to have that problem and it was seriously a 10 second fix. See also: was feeling smug.

I also got a lot of reading done in the past month, apparently. Finished The Lies of Locke Lamora, The Name of the Wind, Matched, Graceling, Sapphique, Assassin's Apprentice, the first Circle of Magic book, and started a bunch of others.

If we're running out of discussion ideas, another book recommendation/rant/rambling thoughts thread might be fun.

Friends still have my MS and are being slow readers and I can't bug them about it because they have real work to do. Argh. I'm planning to cover my office in sticky notes and reorder some scenes that way while I wait on them.

I highly recommend Laini Taylor's Daughter of Smoke and Bone (2011). It had me at "cheek-chew of bitterness." I still say that in my head. What I would do to come up with stuff like that!

Sure would, and it's a good book. I loved the boxcar children but that may be too young.

My friend's 8-10 year old is huge into hunger games, and The Girl who Circumnavigated Fairyland

Graceling has a really original concept and a fearless lady protagonist.

Percy Jackson series seems cool so far, or as I mentioned in another comment The Enchanted Forest Chronicles by Patricia C. Wrede, also Sirena by Donna Jo Napoli

Could it be The Dark is Rising, by Susan Cooper? There are five books in the series, all of them are excellent.

FEED MY BRAIN WITH THIS BOOK Show this gift some love

All of these are fabulous!

I would also add Patricia C. Wrede's Enchanted Forest Chronicles. It begins with Dealing with Dragons, wherein Princess Cimorene decides that she's terribly bored with all this royal business and runs away to live with a dragon (sort of as an apprentice). I remember it being a lot of fun!

Right after I read Hunger Games I read Graceling by Kristin Cashore. The main character is another strong female. I'm not really good at explaining books so here is a link to Amazon to help you out.
http://www.amazon.com/Graceling-Kristin-Cashore/dp/015206396X

The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner. It's classed as Young Adult, but it's awesome for any age. No looking at the summaries for the next ones until you've read each one, though. Spoilers abound.

Reminds me of the spiral stairs in The Hero and the Crown.

I suggest China Mieville's UnLunDun. It's fun, light, and almost Harry Potteresque.

Terry Pratchett's "Tiffany" stories in Discworld. Not just female. Young too.

• The Wee Free Men, http://www.amazon.com/dp/0060012382/
  
• A Hat Full of Sky,http://www.amazon.com/dp/0060586621/
  
• Wintersmith, http://www.amazon.com/dp/0060890339/
  
• I Shall Wear Midnight, http://www.amazon.com/dp/0061433063

I'm surprised no one has mentioned Diana Wynne Jones yet. The Chrestomanci Series is an ideal starting point.

I'm not sure which book in the series, but that sounds like The Chronicles of Chrestomanci series by Diana Wynne Jones?

I was reading His Dark Materials by Phillip Pullman when I was 9.

They're still some of my favorite books.

The Enchanted Forest Chronicles by Patricia Wrede.

Phenomenal series!

You and Obaday Fing (from Un Lun Dun) would make a nice couple.

Is it The Enchanted Forest Chronicles by Patricia Wrede?

Dealing with Dragons: The Enchanted Forest Chronicles, Book One

I thin you will like The monstrumologist series by Rick Yancey

Yes. There are sequels as well, two I think.

the Abarat books by Clive Barker, make sure you get the illustrated editions!

The Thirteen and a Half Lives of Captain Bluebear by Walter Moers

Crusade in Jeans by Thea Beckman One of my all time favourites, the old translated editions weren't as good but a new version will be published in november.

The Dragonriders of Pern by Anne McCaffrey

The problem is that she probably hasn't found the right genre yet that interests her. Schools are absolutely horrible at this sort of thing, so she probably thinks all books are like the ones they make her read at school.

So go back to basics. Introduce her to Nancy Drew (mystery), Babysitter's Club (random social life), Alanna: The First Adventure (Girl power fantasy), Dealing with Dragons (more sort of straight up fantasy that's not to long), etc.

That and there are some amazing comics out there. Take her to a comic shop and have her look around.

Well now you can!

Dealing With Dragons?

http://www.amazon.com/Dealing-Dragons-Enchanted-Forest-Chronicles/dp/015204566X

Graceling

Crossing the Wire

A Long Walk to Water

War Brothers

Is this still going?

Frank and Beans!

It's all about the karma. Mmm baby.

Take a look at Susan Cooper's The Dark is Rising series.

Princess Cimorene from Dealing with Dragons

That makes me think of the book Graceling.

Is it this:
Throne of Glass
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1619630346/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_1PT1xbJ9WF0KQ

Wasn't Un Lun Dun YA (I haven't read it yet)?

Throne of Glass

Thought it was a reference to this

The Redwall series.

Here you go!

Source: am an English teacher.

$6.29!

Is it the The Chronicles of Chrestomanci?

OH GOD, JEREMY THATCHER DRAGON HATCHER

Further exploits in the life of a young nerd: Bruce Coville's Unicorn Chronicles, Patricia C. Wrede's Enchanted Forest series, Jane Yolen's Pit Dragon Chronicles, Susan Fletcher's Dragon Chronicles...

Excuse me, I have to go to the library.

Has anyone read Graceling? That is indeed the case. Those with unique eyes like this are considered outcasts and people fear them.

The Anthropophagi in The Monstrumologist were pretty wicked!!

Maybe [The Monstrumologist] ( http://www.amazon.com/The-Monstrumologist-Rick-Yancey/dp/1416984496) by Rick Yancey? It's about monster hunting - I really enjoyed it. It has more of a science/anthropology bent than pure magic but it is still very much fantasy. It's also set in a similar time period, no modern technology.

Full disclosure, I haven't played Bloodborne but am familiar with the general themes from reviews.

Enchanted Forest by Patricia C. Wrede These books are hilarious and feature a strong female lead, well multiple strong female leads. Actually, come to think of it, I think the only guys are a talking, floating, blue donkey with wings and an inventor that doesn't get much time.

There's a witch that has an attitude very much reminiscent of the Dowager from Downton Abbey. There's a tomboy princess (the biggest stereotype in the series) who decides she wants to be kidnapped by a dragon. And finally, there's a dragon who is just tired of all these little human shits running around disturbing her plans.

The Thief by Meghan Whalen Turner

Sorry, I should have been clearer. Tiffany Aching is the fictional protagonist in some of Pratchett's novels.

Here's the first in the series.