The Percy Jackson Series
The Percy Jackson series is a fantastic series that readers of all ages will love. My daughter loved the audio books so much that she listened to them over and over and over. It involves the same sense of friendship and magic and adventure that Harry Potter has. The plots are not exceptionally complex and they frequently mirror Greek mythology which gives a nice extension for learning.
The series follows Percy Jackson, a boy who finds out that his father is one of the Greek Gods his fellow demigod Annabeth and his Satyr friend Grover. In each book he goes on an adventure and fights various mythological monsters. Many of the stories mirror the stories in more famous works (such as the Odyssey) that kids will read in school and will spur interest in the original tales and research on the monsters themselves.
This series works as a great read aloud (although you may want to keep google handy so you can show your child pictures of the monsters) and is great for advanced readers. Unlike the Harry Potter books which become more difficult with each book in the series (often causing younger readers to give up on the series) these books are all at the same reading level. Scholastic lists the books at a fifth grade reading level. The books are appropriate as a read aloud for second grade and up. There is fantasy fighting and monsters. There is a hint of romance but nothing that would put off a young child.
The Underland Chronicles is a great series for readers who are looking for something dark
The Underland Chronicles by Suzanne Collins is a series that follows the adventures of Gregor. When Gregor and his sister Boots fall through a grate in his apartment building they find an underland world filled with giant talking bats, cockroaches, spiders, evil rats and an entire human civilization. After his arrival Gregor is told that a profit foretold his arrival and he is destined to be the warrior that will save the human race. The five books chronicle the adventures of Gregor, his sister Boots, a giant cockroach named Temp, the underland princess Luxa, Gregor's bat Aries and Ripred a "rager" rat who is working with the humans as they fight the rats.
This series is fantastic. Each book features an element of warfare, rescuing a prisoner of war, assassination, genocide, chemical warfare and military intelligence. The elements of PTSD and the repercussions of such violence are also included. These heavy topics are woven masterfully into a beautiful fantasy world with a brave hero and great friends in a way that makes them very accessible for kids.
Appropriateness: This is a fantastic series for the 10-14 year old audience and it is a series that will speak strongly to boys (although there are also great female characters that girls will love). The book is fairly violent (lots of sword fights) and there are some sections in the later books that sensitive kids may find upsetting (I cried in a section of the fourth book), this is a civilization at war and there are casualties on both sides. The lexile for the books is around 630 putting the books at a fifth grade level.
The Inkheart Trilogy.
From Goodreads
"Twelve-year-old Meggie learns that her father, who repairs and binds books for a living, can "read" fictional characters to life when one of those characters abducts them and tries to force him into service.
Characters from books literally leap off the page in this engrossing fantasy. Meggie has had her father to herself since her mother went away when she was young. Mo taught her to read when she was five, and the two share a mutual love of books. He can "read" characters out of books. When she was three, he read aloud from a book called Inkheart and released characters into the real world. At the same time, Meggie's mother disappeared into the story. This "story within a story" will delight not just fantasy fans, but all readers who like an exciting plot with larger-than-life characters"
I haven't read this series but it is one that I consistently see middle school boys reading. The lexile is 780 putting them about a fifth grade level.
