ISO of clean books for an 11 yr old voracious reader

rosenbal

Fri, Dec 20 2013, 12:59 am

boysrus wrote:

what about C S Lewis the chronicles of Narnia series? It has Christian undertones I discovered whe n I saw them int he window display of a misionary kind of storefront, but my brothers and I loved these books as kids. We re-read them over and over again.

My son is very well read in terms of history, culture, science and had NO clue it's Christian themed when he read it. I mean to him the lion is a lion. In fiction, characters resurrect all the time, right? I think some people just have an issue with anything Christian and I think there is definite halachic basis for that. I wont mock them. Ditto about Greek mythology and the like. I heard rav willing at YU being quoted as saying you can't admire Christian art.

Personally there is so much harmful Lit out there even for grade school level kids...that I couldn't fathom banning Chronicles. What will be left to read?

DrMom

Fri, Dec 20 2013, 1:10 am

boysrus wrote:

I *loved* these books. Yes, there are veiled xtian theological themes woven throughout, but the stories are wonderful. I found the final book, "The Last Battle," to be the most overtly xtian in its plot.

amother

Fri, Dec 20 2013, 1:30 am

I recently reread the Narnia books to see if they were appropriate for my child. I decided that I was comfortable giving her all of them except for the last two, The Silver Chair and The Last Battle, in which the xtian ideology was much more blatant. Particularly The Last Battle, as you might guess by the title.

Amother because I have discussed this with others and don't want to out myself! Cool

bigsis144

Fri, Dec 20 2013, 1:34 am

It's been a long time since I read A Wrinkle in Time... I don't think there's boy/girl stuff, maybe minor language? I think a minor reference to Yoshke (in a list of philosophers)...

alte mamme

Fri, Dec 20 2013, 2:01 am

bigsis144 wrote:

It's been a long time since I read A Wrinkle in Time... I don't think there's boy/girl stuff, maybe minor language? I think a minor reference to Yoshke (in a list of philosophers)...

there's a *little* bit of boy /girl stuff in it. It's pretty subtle but some parents might object.

FranticFrummie

Fri, Dec 20 2013, 4:18 am

I must have been an incredibly dense kid! In my tween years I must have read the whole Narnia series at least 4 times through. I never once thought that it was Xian stuff! If I had, I'd have lost interest instantly.

the world's best mom

Fri, Dec 20 2013, 9:57 am

Most books by Louis Sachar are great.

Avi has many good books- one of his best is The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle, which is extremely clean.

Anything by Frances Hodgeson Burnett- I love A Little Princess, Little Lord Fauntleroy, and The Secret Garden.

E.L. Konigsburg has some great books and some not appropriate- From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler and The View From Saturday are excellent. I would not let my kids read Silent to the Bone or T-backs, T-shirt, Coat and Suit.

gp2.0

Fri, Dec 20 2013, 10:05 am

I loved the narnia series so much that it's one of the few books I kept from when I was a kid.

I would advise NOT telling your child that it has xtian undertones. It never occurred to me while reading it (or anyone else I spoke to) and it will just ruin the story for them by forcing them to view it in a certain light.

PinkFridge

Fri, Dec 20 2013, 10:21 am

For those who may give Narnia but stop after book 5: I don't remember them well. Is this the kind of series that will make a kid plotz not to be able to read the next? I remember how upset my son was when I put an end to Harry Potter after a certain point.

pelle

Fri, Dec 20 2013, 12:19 pm

Dont forget THE HARDY BOYS!! NOT THE NEWER ONES, THE OLDER ONES. They're are a ton of them to keep him book happy! These should be are at any library and don't need to be read in order.

gp2.0

Fri, Dec 20 2013, 12:37 pm

PinkFridge wrote:

Not in the same way. They are all stand alone stories that tie into one another by being in the same world and either featuring or mentioning characters from other stories. But they all end on a satisfying note with plot points resolved at the end of each book.

spring13

Fri, Dec 20 2013, 1:10 pm

I saw the first Narnia movie when it came out a few years ago, and at the very end, as Aslan is walking away down the beach, I suddenly jumped up and yelled "oh my Gd! He's Yoshke!"

My friends thought I was nuts until I explained. And that was as an adult. It will go over kids' heads.