Books to read aloud to 11-yo boys

[Hutch]

The title says it all.  The Director and I will be hosting our twin grandsons for a coupla weeks next month.  We have a copy of The Hatchet, but I could use a couple more recommendations.

Thanks.

[dogmush]

Unintended Consequences

kidding.

When I was that age back in the late 20th century, My mom and I would read things like the Wrinkle in Time series, the Narnia books, In addition to Hatchet I liked Dogsong.  I lived in Alaska so Julie of the Wolves was enjoyed.

Depending on their vocabulary, Something like London might be doable.  My mom read me Call of the Wild around that time.

[Pb]

The Redwall Series

[HankB]

Thinking back, I was 11 years old when I completed 6th grade. Other than snippets in the classroom by a teacher, nobody was reading books aloud to me by then, I was reading on my own, and had been for a while. As were nearly all youngsters my age.

My own reading at that time included a lot of science fiction but I was starting to develop an interest in books on hunting - things like African Game Trails (T.Roosevelt) and In Brightest Africa (Carl Akeley).

[K Frame]

The Necronomicon and, well, anything by Lovecraft.

Kids love the stuff.


How about Hardy Boys? I loved those when I was that age.

[charby]

Gone Away Lake was probably my favorite book when I was that age.

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=gone+away+lake&adgrpid=61548072608&gclid=CjwKCAjwqauVBhBGEiwAXOepkaaKk9l9soqalF39nB2WeArLEJZRTO1NuANR0DpP3dlzNv0XbOg3thoCqeYQAvD_BwE&hvadid=274758436462&hvdev=m&hvlocphy=9017973&hvnetw=g&hvqmt=e&hvrand=3765941228406506204&hvtargid=kwd-302943850743&hydadcr=16280_10308709&tag=hydsma-20&ref=pd_sl_55bw08je25_e

[Tuco]

Assuming there is room for short stories:

Col. Jim Corbett's "Man-Eaters of Kumaon".
Chapters 1 and 2, Champawat Man-Eater and The Chowgarh Tigers may be enough. Fascinating, intense and suprisingly well balanced between the cats and their prey. But reading too much Col Jim is like reading too much bad Dickens. Be sure to provide context by including the introduction/forward/author's note.

Ruark's "Old Man and the Boy" collection has some great stories with genuine laugh out loud passages. It is much easier to read aloud in the 21st century and Ruark extols the honor and the value of tradition in hunting and fishing. A few well placed cusses, fyi

While 11 might be too young to catch all the symbolism, Hemmingway's Nick Adams stories need to be read.

And now for something completely different, in the spirit of equal time for dissenting views, Edward P Abbey, "Desert Solitaire". Eleven might have been too young when I was a kid but kids grow up so fast these days and what a great book.

[Ben]

For some lighthearted and clean humor, perhaps some Patrick McManus. He has lots of "When I was a kid" short stories.

[Hutch]

“Modified stationary panic”.  I should have remembered McManus.

[dogmush]

I have, in fact, been in a canoe that was shot.

[Pb]

You can't get much better than King Solomon's Mines by Haggard either.

[grampster]

McManus was hilarious.  He had one piece in Field and Stream or one of the old mags, about sitting on the beach where one guy started to running on the beach and by the end of the piece everyone was running in terror.  It was laugh out loud hilarious.  My dad and I would read that to each other back in the 20th century and we'd be in tears on the floor laughing.

[Perd Hapley]

You can probably find a used collection of Jack London's short stories. Great stuff. Might want to screen them occasionally for different racial attitudes.

Maybe the Yondering stories by L'Amour, but it's been a while, and I don't recall what age they'd be appropriate for.

For longer works, I would think Treasure Island, Swiss Family Robinson, etc.

[HankB]

At that age, the various books by Edgar Rice Burroughs would probably be appropriate - Tarzan, John Carter of Mars, some of his Venus books. The "science"  is dated, but they were entertaining for a youngster. Likewise Tom Swift. (Unlike the current TV show, Tom back then was not a black homosexual.) I also read stuff like Wells' War of the Worlds as well as paperback reprints of the old "pulp" magazines like The Shadow and Doc Savage.

If you really want to read aloud, take a gander at the various African hunting books by the late Peter Hathaway Capstick - Death in the Long Grass, Death on the Dark Continent, Death in a Lonely Land, etc. These books are divided into chapters, well suited for a single reading aloud session. Any 11 year old would probably pay close attention to someone reading a chapter with a title like The Killer Baboons of Vlackfontein.

[Bogie]

Anything by Peter Capstick.

[zahc]

Treasure island is the classic boy's story.

[JTHunter]

Thank you HankB, Perd, and Pb for excellent suggestions.  If your 11 y.o. is into math or science, I strongly recommend the Tom Swift Jr. or the Hardy Boys books.  I still have the ones I owned and read as a kid.  I also have ERB's entire Venusian, Martian, and Pellucidarian stories for the less "techie" readers.
King Solomon's Mines by H. Rider Haggard is good as is his book "She".  The movie with Ursula Andress ain't bad either !!

[Hutch]

Thanks to all who contributed here.  I think I’ve got some good leads.

[Pb]

Treasure island is the classic boy's story.

Yes!  A great idea!

The Lost World by Doyle is also superb.

The Mad Scientists' Club by Bertrand R. Brinley is another good one- it is a book of stories, so it breaks down well for reading sessions.

[Bogie]

And... How are you going to keep them on one place to read to them?

[HankB]

. . .
The Mad Scientists' Club by Bertrand R. Brinley is another good one- it is a book of stories, so it breaks down well for reading sessions.

Now that you mention it, I remember reading that as a youngster!  The Strange Sea Monster of Strawberry Lake and The Voice in the Chimney were my two favorite stories from that collection. (Amazed that I can still remember those titles 50+ years on.) Thumbs up!

[AZRedhawk44]

Two Against the North by Farley Mowat.  Sometimes also called Lost In The Barrens.

I destroyed this book as a child, I read and treasured it so much.