Talk about the kidlit you're reading!

elindsen · Apr 9, 2014

I'm sorry to budge in here, but I'm in need of some MG help.

My nephew is 10. He's a huge fan of the Goosebumps series, and generally loves horror. He also is a fan of Call of Duty and Halo. He also loves the Walking Dead. Not a romance fan

() It can have violence and even some language. Stuff like Harry Potter doesn't interest him. He is a big sports fan, especially football.

And suggestions?

Thanks, guys.

Helsinki07 · Apr 10, 2014

What about Clive Barker's Abarat series for a ten year old with a taste for horror? A fun fantasy/adventure with Clive's own very dark take on the universe. Oh, and full of his gorgeous paintings too.

SheilaJG · Apr 10, 2014

elindsen said:
I'm sorry to budge in here, but I'm in need of some MG help.

My nephew is 10. He's a huge fan of the Goosebumps series, and generally loves horror. He also is a fan of Call of Duty and Halo. He also loves the Walking Dead. Not a romance fan () It can have violence and even some language. Stuff like Harry Potter doesn't interest him. He is a big sports fan, especially football.

And suggestions?

Thanks, guys.

Matt Christopher is like the RL Stine of kids' sports books - he has written tons of them. Football themed ones include The Great Quarterback Switch and Football Double Threat. Mike Lupica is another kids' sports writer (Million Dollar Throw and QB1 are about football).

Neil Gaiman has some creepy MG books - The Graveyard Book and Coraline. Jonathan Stroud has a new series called Lockwood and Co (The first book is called the Shrieking Staircase), about kids who hunt ghosts (only kids can see them in this book).

Hope that helps!

EMaree · Apr 10, 2014

Ladies and gents, I've seen a few calls for 7 to 12 fiction and I'd like to start reading kidlit much more. Can you give me some popular recommendations to start me off so I can get a feel for the genre?

What I like: Fantasy, especially stuff with action, adventures, and monsters galore. Dark themes, demons and such, played straight or played as comedy. British and Scottish writers. Lady writers.
Books I like: How to Train Your Dragon, Neil Gaiman's stuff, the Darren Shan series, Wonder.
Reading/On the to-read list: The Amulet of Samarkand, Matt Haig's "To Be a Cat", Percy Jackson.

JoyMC · Apr 10, 2014

Well, like YA, MG is an age level, not a genre. So there's a wide range of popular within middle grade. Bouncing off the genres you mentioned.

Fantasy - If you haven't read through Harry Potter, you obviously have to. I'll let others give more fantasy suggestions as it's not really my area.

For dark/lady writer, Laura Amy Schlitz is AMAZING. Also, Holly Black .

If you enjoy Percy Jackson, try Anne Ursu's CRONUS CHRONICLES, and Kate O'Hearn's PEGASUS series.

Since you mentioned liking WONDER, some more contemporary to consider: THE PENDERWICKS (lady), THE BOY IN THE DRESS (British), ONE FOR THE MURPHY'S (lady), WHEN AUDREY MET ALICE (lady).

Also, Kate Dicamillo & Sharon Creech, in general.

elindsen · Apr 10, 2014

Thanks, Helsink and Sheila. Clive Barker and Matt Christopher both sound really good. Trip to the bookstore!

rwm4768 · Apr 10, 2014

EMaree said:
Ladies and gents, I've seen a few calls for 7 to 12 fiction and I'd like to start reading kidlit much more. Can you give me some popular recommendations to start me off so I can get a feel for the genre?

What I like: Fantasy, especially stuff with action, adventures, and monsters galore. Dark themes, demons and such, played straight or played as comedy. British and Scottish writers. Lady writers.
Books I like: How to Train Your Dragon, Neil Gaiman's stuff, the Darren Shan series, Wonder.
Reading/On the to-read list: The Amulet of Samarkand, Matt Haig's "To Be a Cat", Percy Jackson.

Have you read some of Gaiman's stuff for younger readers? I've heard great things about it.

If you like action, adventures, and monsters galore, you might enjoy Brandon Mull's Fablehaven series.

I'd tell you to read mine, but it's not ready yet.

playground · Apr 13, 2014

Reading The Very Nearly Honorable League of Pirates #1: Magic Marks the Spot, and it is really good. Anyone else read this one?

Supergirlofnc · Apr 13, 2014

playground said:
Reading The Very Nearly Honorable League of Pirates #1: Magic Marks the Spot, and it is really good. Anyone else read this one?

I'm just about to start it, but I haven't read it yet

EMaree · Apr 14, 2014

JoyMC said:
Well, like YA, MG is an age level, not a genre. So there's a wide range of popular within middle grade. Bouncing off the genres you mentioned.

Fantasy - If you haven't read through Harry Potter, you obviously have to. I'll let others give more fantasy suggestions as it's not really my area.

For dark/lady writer, Laura Amy Schlitz is AMAZING. Also, Holly Black .

If you enjoy Percy Jackson, try Anne Ursu's CRONUS CHRONICLES, and Kate O'Hearn's PEGASUS series.

Since you mentioned liking WONDER, some more contemporary to consider: THE PENDERWICKS (lady), THE BOY IN THE DRESS (British), ONE FOR THE MURPHY'S (lady), WHEN AUDREY MET ALICE (lady).

Also, Kate Dicamillo & Sharon Creech, in general.

Thank you for all these recs JoyMC! They all sound amazing, adding them to the wishlist. I'd entirely forgotten Holly Black's middlegrade stuff!

rwm4768 said:
Have you read some of Gaiman's stuff for younger readers? I've heard great things about it.

If you like action, adventures, and monsters galore, you might enjoy Brandon Mull's Fablehaven series.

I'd tell you to read mine, but it's not ready yet.

Re: Gaiman, I enjoyed Coraline, Odd and the Frost Giants and The Graveyard Book very much. I think Graveyard is my favourite.

I've heard good things about Fablehaven, added it to the wishlist!

playground · Apr 14, 2014

Fablehaven is a fun read. I enjoyed it, though I wish the ending was a tad different, however it was still fun.

JustSarah · Apr 14, 2014

Started reading Number The Stars. This isn't bad at all. I might check out the Giver next.

playground · Apr 14, 2014

Supergirlofnc said:
I'm just about to start it, but I haven't read it yet

Really fun voice, you should enjoy it. Very easy read as in it flows from point to point effortlessly.

killdeer · Apr 14, 2014

I could use some recs for lower-to-middle middle grade fiction. Lately I feel like so much of what I pick is borderline YA. Not that that's a bad thing, but I would like some more exposure to the short-and-sweet side of MG.

I recently read THE BOY IN THE DRESS by David Walliams and EMMA-JEAN LAZARUS FELL OUT OF A TREE by Lauren Tarshis. Both of these are short and sweet, and I enjoyed them very much.

I'm part way through PRECIOUS BONES by Mika Ashley-Hollinger. So far the story is lushly and beautifully written. I think it needs a confident reader, though, do to the length. Actually, I would almost call it YA for the length and serious themes, but the MC is very much still a child, not a young adult. So either it breaks the rule that YA books have YA protagonists, or it's an unusually long and complex MG book. The same was true of THE TRUE MEANING OF SMEKDAY--the length and themes said YA, the style of humor said MG. Not that it matters, really, it's just interesting to think about these books relative to what I've read about age categories. I've been told that a book should be firmly one or the other, but some excellent books do seem to straddle the line.

SuperKate · Apr 15, 2014

killdeer said:
I could use some recs for lower-to-middle middle grade fiction. Lately I feel like so much of what I pick is borderline YA. Not that that's a bad thing, but I would like some more exposure to the short-and-sweet side of MG.

I recently read THE BOY IN THE DRESS by David Walliams and EMMA-JEAN LAZARUS FELL OUT OF A TREE by Lauren Tarshis. Both of these are short and sweet, and I enjoyed them very much.

I'm part way through PRECIOUS BONES by Mika Ashley-Hollinger. So far the story is lushly and beautifully written. I think it needs a confident reader, though, do to the length. Actually, I would almost call it YA for the length and serious themes, but the MC is very much still a child, not a young adult. So either it breaks the rule that YA books have YA protagonists, or it's an unusually long and complex MG book. The same was true of THE TRUE MEANING OF SMEKDAY--the length and themes said YA, the style of humor said MG. Not that it matters, really, it's just interesting to think about these books relative to what I've read about age categories. I've been told that a book should be firmly one or the other, but some excellent books do seem to straddle the line.

killdeer, some of my favorite books for the younger set are Tumtum and Nutmeg, Trumpet of the Swan, and the Penderwicks. Richard Peck's books about mice are cute, too.

Last night at the bookstore, I picked up Michael Chabon's Summerland (I love Chabon's books for adults, so thought I'd give it a try) and Better Nate than Ever, based on the kudos it's gotten here. Can't wait to dive in.

playground · Apr 15, 2014

Just finished The Very Nearly Honorable League of Pirates book one. I will read the sequel and future books from the author, love her voice and writing.

Just got Coraline, excited to read it.

Smish · Apr 15, 2014

Reading the first Timmy Failure book. Finding it hilarious, so far.

romancewriter · Apr 15, 2014

I've been thinking that it might be fun to start a book club of sorts here for kid lit readers. My idea was for everyone to decide on which book to read, we could do this by popular vote out of a random list of however many books, and then once a month people can discuss the book. Maybe set aside a period of a week for people to post their thoughts on the books. Participation of course wouldn't be mandatory. And I wouldn't want to discourage anyone from talking about other books as well. If the book selected isn't something you want to read just join in on the discussion of what book to read next and participate in the next discussion. Makes sense?

Anyway just wanted to see if anyone was interested in the idea.

killdeer · Apr 16, 2014

SuperKate said:
killdeer, some of my favorite books for the younger set are Tumtum and Nutmeg, Trumpet of the Swan, and the Penderwicks. Richard Peck's books about mice are cute, too.

Excellent, some of these I already knew, but I haven't read Tumtum and Nutmeg or the Richard Peck books. I'll definitely look for them!

JoyMC · Apr 18, 2014

I went to Goodwill in search of a book to put in each kid's Easter basket. For my daughter, I bought (and am deciding between) ARTEMIS FOWL, THE THIEF LORD, and PETER AND THE STARCATCHERS. She likes very big, epic stories, preferably with some magic. I haven't read any of the three and will save whichever I don't give her for other gifts as they were all beautiful-condition hardbacks. Any recommendations?

I also nabbed a copy of THE PENDERWICKS for me (which I've already read) and held myself back from buying the million other books I wanted to buy - we have a fantastic Goodwill.

SheilaJG · Apr 18, 2014

I have read all three of those, Joy, and for me, I liked the Thief Lord the best. It's very imaginative and extremely well-written. And it takes place in Venice. Venice! I think I was expecting Peter to be funnier, given the authors, and was a bit disappointed. Artemis Fowl is very popular, and while I read the first, I didn't feel compelled to read further in the series. This is subjective, of course, just my opinion. Have you read any Cornelia Funke? Inkheart?

You are very lucky to have found such great books at the Goodwill!

elindsen · Apr 18, 2014

Thanks to you guys, I bought a Matt Christopher book for my nephew. Clive Barker seemed a bit long since I'm not sure how much he will be reading. Best to start short until he's hooked. I had fun, even picked up a School Of Fear book-on clearance.

JoyMC · Apr 18, 2014

Thanks, Sheila. Yes, we've read Dragon Rider and Igraine the Brave and really loved them. That was the one I was leaning toward, because I already like the author, so I'm glad to hear your endorsement!

playground · Apr 20, 2014

Just finished Coraline. What a fun book.

I've read the first two Artemis Fowl books and they were pretty fun but had no desire to read further.

romancewriter · Apr 21, 2014

Not sure if anyone saw this.

romancewriter said:
I've been thinking that it might be fun to start a book club of sorts here for kid lit readers. My idea was for everyone to decide on which book to read, we could do this by popular vote out of a random list of however many books, and then once a month people can discuss the book. Maybe set aside a period of a week for people to post their thoughts on the books. Participation of course wouldn't be mandatory. And I wouldn't want to discourage anyone from talking about other books as well. If the book selected isn't something you want to read just join in on the discussion of what book to read next and participate in the next discussion. Makes sense?

Anyway just wanted to see if anyone was interested in the idea.

Talk about the kidlit you're reading!

elindsen

Zombie lovin'

Helsinki07

SheilaJG

EMaree

a demon for tea

JoyMC

elindsen

Zombie lovin'

rwm4768

practical experience, FTW

playground

Supergirlofnc

New fish; Swimming with the current

EMaree

a demon for tea

playground

JustSarah

playground

killdeer

SuperKate

playground

Smish

Reads more than she writes.

romancewriter

killdeer

JoyMC

SheilaJG

elindsen

Zombie lovin'

JoyMC

playground

romancewriter