The books you're suggesting as substitutes held my daughter's interest . . . at age 6. If the high stakes and complex social conflict of graphic novels are within his comprehension, he needs middle grade books.

You could tell him that pictures of violence are no good to keep in your house because the younger kids aren't ready to see them--play up that he's older and more mature--but that text-only books with violence are okay. That way, you're giving him two choices: Tame graphic novels, or advanced books without the graphics. You still have the control you need over the material that comes into your home and how it affects the other kids, but he gets some freedom and choice, too.

Here are some books for a middle grade reader who wants danger and occasionally death and just a touch of horror:

Coraline, Neil Gaiman

A Wizard of Earthsea, Ursula LeGuin

Redwall, Brian Jacques

The Dark is Rising, Susan Cooper

The Book of Three, Lloyd Alexander

Holes, Louis Sachar

Island of the Aunts or Dial-a-Ghost or Which Witch? or The Secret of Platform 13 . . . any of Eva Ibbotson's books, which are precursors to Harry Potter and just barely bloodthirsty enough to satisfy a child while still being wholesome and ultimately cuddly

The Ear, the Eye, and the Arm, Nancy Farmer

The Blue Sword, Robin McKinley

If he likes fantasy generally, Spindle's End is McKinley's best book, Sleeping Beauty told from the perspective of the fairy who, in a panic, kidnaps the newly-cursed princess from her own christening and takes off into the woods to save her

And in that vein of retold fairy tales, Fairest by Gail Carson Levine, a retelling of Snow White as an unattractive foundling trying to navigate the court of the cruel queen

Spinning Silver, Naomi Novik

The Bad Beginning, Lemony Snicket

The Wee Free Men, Terry Pratchett

If you think an intriguing story that involves quite a bit of blood and deadly danger could entice him into a thick novel, my all-time favorite is Richard Adams' Watership Down, which I first read at age 8--my first grown-up book. It's--bear with me here--an epic quest involving bunnies fleeing the gruesome destruction of their warren, on their way to a prophesied home, which they reach after many disasters only to realize that they forgot to bring any girl bunnies so now they're going to have to go to war with the evil fascist bunnies in the warren down the hill and carry their women off as (voluntary) spoil.

Find his sweet spot of interest and he'll put in the work for it. He might not be a big thick fantasy novel kid, but there's a lot of overlap between manga and traditional Western fantasy fans, so it's worth a shot, especially since you can give him a book with some blood and gore and it feels more like the Brothers Grimm than HBO, you know what I mean?

Reply