I love children’s fiction! You rock for having Diana Wynne Jones up there, too. Any of the Chrestomanci books would probably work - I think that one, Conrad’s Fate, and Charmed Life were my favorites. Howl’s Moving Castle might work too, though maybe not so much for boys.

Edward Eager was always one of my favorite children’s authors, but it might be a little too easy. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Peter and Wendy are great, too, though perhaps not what you’re looking for. Neil Gaiman’s Coraline is a bit of a dark children’s book, but very good. ANYTHING by Roald Dahl is great, but maybe something like The Witches; Danny, the Champion of the World; and Charlie and The Chocolate Factory in particular. The girls might like A Little Princess, or anything else by Francis Hodgson Burnett [Secret Garden, etc.] Something from the Wrinkle in Time series by Madeleine L’Engle might also work. The Last of the Really Great Whangdoodles, by Julie Edwards [actually Julie Andrews] is super awesome but maybe, again, a bit young.

I was never a fan of The Neverending Story, but someone might like it.

I am older than your target audience and I still love most of these books, so I’m not sure if they’re all age-appropriate! Good luck, though! I hope this helped a little.

The Bartimaeus Trilogy by Jonathan Stroud should work. Hilarious books with nice twists on the typical kid fantasies. Probably more suitable for the 12 year olds as far as reading level goes but I’m not sure how to judge such things. :p
Male hero but pretty important female character ascends in 2nd and 3rd books.

The Wind on Fire trilogy by William Nicholson. Male and female protagonists (siblings). Perfect for kids who hate exams.

East by Edith Pattou. Amazing retelling of “East of Sun and West of the Moon”. (Just amazing.) Female protagonist but it has lots of adventures, a polar bear (boys like those, right?), and the character isn’t stereotypically “girly” I guess. Reading level of this is probably closer to age 12 as well.

uhhh…is that my name in the post or am I seeing things? :p

Good luck—it looks like you have a great start on your list! I’m sorry I don’t have any suggestions for it, but I was always reading things that weren’t particularly age-appropriate, so I have no sense for what is.

What about John Flanagan’s “Ranger’s Apprentice” series or Eoin Colfer’s “Artemis Fowl” books? Both have lead characters that are boys, so may appeal to your male students!

Also second the Diana Wynne Jones’ “Howl’s Moving Castle” rec.

LOL - I think your code somehow picks up the last person to comment on the main post, and uses that as the post’s author!

Thanks for the recommendations, Sarah. I didn’t even think of Alice, though I love it. Ditton for Dahl, Burnett, and L’Engle. Age-appropriateness can be a really tough judgement call. Ultimately it’s up to kids’ parents to decide, but it’s less embarrassing for everyone if I don’t accidentally recommend something years too young or too old.

Thanks, Imani! No, you’re not seeing things; as Li suggests, it’s a weird code problem that’s (hopefully!) fixed. I haven’t read any of your suggestions, which is kind of awesome—perhaps this will become a(nother) tbr list for me as well as being useful for my job.

Perfect for kids who hate exams.
So, all of my students, then?

Thanks anyway, Heather. I know just what you mean—I only know because I talk to my students about what they’re reading, so I get a sense for it.

Thank you, Li! I’ve never heard of your first suggestion, but Artemis Fowl is awesome, and I know at least one of my students loves him, so the others probably will, too!

The Neddiad by Daniel Pinkwater. This is a rollicking, fun adventure that is fairly new so should be available. It has boy lead characters and a really good female lead as well so it should appeal to both sexes. I just listened to the unabridged version on audio and LOVED it.

Coraline by Neil Gaiman.

The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick (you can see a review on my site). Very cool. A male and female lead character. Some graphic novel-ish illustration pages. Should have a broad appeal.

Once Upon a Marigold by Jean Ferris is a really fun twist on your typical stock fantasy novel. Male lead, strong female character as well. Again I think it would have some broad appeal.

Shannon Hale’s books are always great choices though I think guys would shy away from them at that age.

Interworld by Neil Gaiman and Michael Reaves. I didn’t particularly think it was that great of a book but its gotten some good reviews and should for sure appeal to the boys.

That’s all I can think of right now but if something else pops into my head I’ll be back.

Thanks for all those recommendations, Carl! I really appreciate it.

When it comes to kid’s books, I have a weakness for the rollicking but half-forgotten award-winners. They’re easy to lay hands on but often unfamiliar to the latest generation.

How about By the Great Horn Spoon! by Sid Fleishman? It’s a well-written, swashbuckling, age-appropriate story about the California gold rush and should be attractive to boys.

The Twenty-One Balloons by William Pene du Bois is also a great, light-hearted adventure story, involving exploration in balloons, secret diamond mines, a restaurant-based economy, and the eruption of Krakatoa.

I’d also make a pitch for From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler since a lot of kids still share her fantasy of sneaking into some place like the Met after hours and setting up camp.

I second the recommendation of anything by Daniel Pinkwater.

Oh, I’d forgotten that last one! I loved that as a kid.

The others sound great, too. Thanks, Lija!

Philip Reeve’s Mortal Engines (and its subsequent sequels) is the most perenially underrated children’s book out there. It’s exactly the kind of swashbuckling adventure I loved reading as a kid, with startlingly evocative prose to support it.

Around that age I also remember reading and loving John Christopher’s Tripods trilogy, although that’s for a much narrower SF taste, and probably dififcult to find.

Thanks, Mitch! Sorry for the long delay in my reply.

Both those choices sound good; I’ll be sure to add them to the list!

Hi! I don’t know if the list has space for some translated stuff, but RK Narayan’s ‘Swami and Friends’ set is really good. Not too sure about the cultural context though

and thanks for the list….lots of stuff I haven’t read yet

Hey, it definitely wouldn’t hurt them to read something from outside their experience, for a change! Thanks!