The Next Best Book Club discussion

Hey!
It's Reagan here. This is my first time posting and I am new to this website too.

I am looking for a book that is a real page turner! I want it to be kind of long and difficult. I am at about a 8th-9th grade reading level and normally am drawn to young adult books despite my age of 12. So, please keep in mind I am a little young for too much of curse words, sexual content, drug material, ect. But I am mature enough to handle some.

I do ask that the book is fantasy or Sci-Fi. Fiction is ok but I just finished the Twilight Saga and adored it. Fantasy is right along my alley. I appriciate series books so it is more of a long term thing. Already read Harry Potter, Unfortunate Events, Twilight Saga, and about every Jerry Spinelli book known to man plus others!

This is alot to ask for and sorry about that.
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR RECOMMENDATIONS EVERYONE!
-Reagan :o)

I think that you might like some of these:

- The Princess Bride by William Goldman {I just read this and LOVED it!}
- Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett {Its British and about Armageddon (sort of) and hilarious.)
- The Gemma Doyle trilogy (A Great and Terrible Beauty, Rebel Angels and The Sweet Far Thing) {These are about magic and mystery and are excellent!}
- The Book Thief {This one is about Germany in WWII, but it is really good and unique.}

OK, I just realized that none of mine are long or difficult, but they are still good! :)

Tamora Pierce and Robin McKinley write some great young adult fantasy novels. Also the Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan is fantastic. I'm not sure how many books are in the series, but I do know that most of the books in the series have at least 800 pages.

Hi Reagan!!! I wanted to recommend Gone by Michael Grant.....it is a very long book, but it was great so you will breeze through it. It is the first book of a 6 book series....the 2nd one is due out in June of this year. I hope you will check it out and let me know what you think of it. I also enjoy YA fiction even though I am 31 so maybe you can check out my read books and see if you think anything appeals to you. Let me know if you decide to give Gone a try!

Reagan,

When I was 12, the book I read that I really enjoyed was Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea by Jules Verne. It is, of course, science fiction. No sex; no dirty words; no drugs.

I still feel today that of all the books that I have ever read, that this book is the one that I enjoyed the most at the time I read it (when I was 12).

If you enjoy that, Jules Verne wrote a sequel to it called Mysterious Island.

In any event, good luck on your search.

Hi Reagan,

Idon't know specifically about long books, but I have read a tremendous amount of sci-fi, so here are some ideas:

Have you read "Ender's Game" by Orson Scott Card? One of the best sci-fi books ever written, in my opinion. It is marketed to YA even though originally published for adults. It is not such a long book, book there are many follow on books that are also excellent, so the story continues.

Also, Robert Heinlein wrote many YA books, like "Have Spacesuit Will Travel", "Podkayne of Mars", "Citizen of the Galaxy" and "Tomorrow, The Stars"

Others:
"Shadow Children" Series by Margaret Peterson Haddix

"Zoe's Tale" by John Scalzi (one of my favorite authors)

"Uglies" by Scott Westerfeld

"The Forever King" by Molly Cochran and Warren Murphy

"The Dragonriders of Pern" by Anne McCaffrey -- this is fantasy, but very long and very good. I read it when I was not much older than you are.

"So You Want to Be a Wizard: The First Book in the Young Wizards Series" by Diane Duane

My son ,who is 14, is enjoying the Percy Jackson series by Rikc Riordan

Lastly, at your age I was reading Kurt Vonnegut and Ray Bradbury, who are amazing writers of very interesting stuff.

I thought of another one. Have you read James Patterson's Maximum Ride books? They are written for YA. My son read them last year when he was 13. They are about a group of kids who live in a laboratory. Human genes were combined with avian genes, and now the kids have wings and can fly. Very interesting. A group of them escape from the lab, so this is about there adventures. The first one is "Maximum Ride: The Angel Experiment". I liked it too.

I just finished Graceling. It's not a series although it sounds like the author is writing a pre-quel to the book. The book is very good.

Some series that I've enjoyed that involve fantasy/sci fi are:

The Time Quartet - Madeline L'Engle
The Dark is Rising - Susan Cooper
Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis
Eragon - Chris Paolini

I think all of these would be reading level and age appropriate too.

You will love:
A Great and Terrible Beauty
Graceling
The Hunger Games

The first book is the first in a trilogy. The second and third are both the first books in series that are still coming out. Enjoy!

At that age I remember loving The Lord of the Rings. Have you read Isaac Asimov's Foundation series? What about Ray Bradbury?

Would definitely second most of Laura's suggestions (never read Eragon).

The Amulet of Samarkand is very good. It is the first book in a trilogy. I have recommended this book to many and all have gone on to read the trilogy. I saw that someone mentioned Tamora Pierce and I just readWild Magic which I enjoyed. Mercedes Lackey's The Fairy Godmother is also a good book. Enjoy!

I definitely agree about The Amulet of Samarkand, A Great and Terrible Beauty, LOTR, and Narnia. Some of my other favorite YA fantasy books:
The Golden Compass
Sabriel
A Wizard of Earthsea
Over Sea, Under Stone
Artemis Fowl
The Wee Free Men
And anything by Diana Wynne Jones, especially Dogsbody and the Chrestomanci books

All of them are the first books of various series. You might also like Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, particularly if you're interested in historical fantasy. It's not in a series, but at around 1,000 pages it's quite long enough on its own. :D

Marelis wrote: ""Uglies" by Scott Westerfield. I loved this book and the rest in the series. it is definitely sci fi and a page turner and keeps you guessing the whole time.

I've been wanting to read this one Marelis, when I work in the middle schools, these books are in demand. "Uglies" sounds very good.

The House of the Scorpion

It is a really good book.

I totally second the westerfiled books and I love Tamora Pierce. I don't remember the auther but the first in a trilogy (the third is to be released this year, I htink) is called city of bones and I loved it.

Cassandra Clare, you mean. Yeah, it's a trilogy.

Have you read Garth Nix's series The Keys to the Kingdom (Mister Monday, Grim Tuesday, Drowned Wednesday, etc)? Six of the seven books have been published and should be good for at least a month of reading. The Fablehaven series by Brandon Mull was also enjoyable, although it may be below your reading level.

The Belgariad and the Mallorean series by David Eddings are pretty good fantasy. They're more "adult" than "young adult" and there's some implied sexual situations but I read them when I was 12 or 13 and didn't have a problem with them.

The Redwall series by Brian Jacques is really good too.

If you love Twilight and Harry Porter, I think you will love these:

1. Mortal Instruments Trilogy (City of Bones, City of Ashes, City of Glass) by Cassandra Clare
2. Wicked Lovely & Ink Exchange by Melissa Marr
3. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
4. House of Nights series by P.C. Cast

Enjoy!