My, my, my, what a mess I have started. *evil grin* Well, thank you all for your many responses, I have enjoyed reading them, and my boss has appreciated me having something to do beside work all morning *grin*. See, after realizing the overwhelming response I decided to create a matrix of the suggestions to see what comes out on top, (I am sort of an anal person and get-off on organizing everything that is not important and making a mess out of everything that is). With 46 suggestions in total -- excluding some that I just completely disagreed with -- so far, in the lead is Heinlien, Patricia Wrede and Norton Juster, closely followed by Susan Cooper, Ursula Le Guin and C.S. Lewis (though I must say that I think Lewis is a little old for an 11 year old, and especially a little old for my step-brother). With your suggestions in mind, it looks like what was going to be a small project of buying a few books here and there and saying "read this" because Harry Potter is far to trendy and it makes me ill how "into it" he is, I now have a little shopping adventure for that ever-so-great marketing paradigm that was created so we could pretend to help boost our economy by purchasing things for people that we could care less about; known as Christmas. Seriously though, thank you all, as every year I struggle with what to buy this kid, and now I have many many wonderful ideas. *smile* Oh, I also Responded to some of the posts so if you're interested, read below: >With that in mind, the initial Vlad Taltos books are probably >perfect for that age -- and they will allow him to grow intellectually as >the books become more complex. I still disagree. In my opinion Steven Brust's works are far to mature at least this 11-year old to understand. I also am not so sure if my father and his wife would agree to my step-brother reading Vlad where he speaks about his "work" so nonchalantly. With my step-brothers active imagination he may not find any wit in it but take it quite seriously. He also might read straight through all of what Vlad internalizes and not understand it completely. Also, while reading some of Steven's works (a little here and there) to my boyfriend the other night (I was deciding whether it was appropriate for my step-brother), he asked me to repeat various paragraphs – and he's 29, a little dim-witted, but none the less 29. In the end, he said it sounds like "literature" compared to "pulp fiction" and didn’t know if my step-brother would understand it. By boyfriend would know the difference too as when I was acquiring my masters I was reading him what is considered "great literature" all the time. >I am continually thankful and amazed as SKZB's ability to keep writing new >stuff in this world and setting, without it getting >old or going flat. Aces, Steve! :) Yeah, second me on that. >If you're going to introduce the lad to C.S. Lewis, then by all means let >him read Vlad as well, just to balance out Lewis' subversive content :). Emmm, I think Lewis is also probably a little too "old" for him. >No need to be ashamed J.K. Rowling sold her soul to the devil so that her >books were al least agreeable to anyone who ever read them, which >is kinda smart because all you have to do is find a movie producer >.... well then there is the whole not having your soul thing, but >hey people keep doing it and keep entertaining me so I'm not gonna >stop them. (as if I could) So, emmmmm, does anyone out there, (Steven?) know where I go to sell my soul? Do I actually have to go to the 'cross-roads' or can it be accomplished simpler? ... Oh, damn, then there’s that "not having a soul thing," ... but... well let me know and I may consider it further. >I am assuming your step-brother has already been through Harry >Potter, by the way... Oh yes, it was what started this inquiry. He was reading and going on and on about Harry Potter, and I asked him what he likes to read beside Harry Potter, at the same time I was re-reading "Guns of Avalon," he said fantasy, so I let him read some of what I was reading but he became tired with it quickly. I asked him what other authors he likes, and he said that he didn't really know what else was out there. So, after seeing the post "fantasy”, I thought I would ask everyone here what they would suggest for someone in his age range. (Oh, btw, if this seems like I don't know him too well, it's because I do not, in fact beside this conversation, the only thing we could agree upon was that the movie "Labyrinth" was one of our favorite movies, but then, I think Bowie is very cool.) >Honestly, though, it seems at 11 he'd be ready for just about >anything the fantasy/sci-fi section of the library could >throw at him. Hummm, not sure at this. I tried giving him Lovecraft (one of my absolute favorites) and he thought it was too slow moving and he didn't understand all of the words. I tried Orwell next and Bradbury, he didn't understand these because he has no understanding of politics, and Orwell especially just shouldn't be read at face level. I next tried very selective Vonnegut, which he liked, but in my opinion there simply isn't much that Kurt Vonnegut wrote which is appropriate for an 11 year old. I think my father and his wife would hang me by the feet until I come to my senses if I were to give him ‘Cats Cradle’. >I would think that many of the other novels being suggested are a >bit beyond the typical 11 year old. Yeah, I agree. >The Hobbit is great - you might even consider reading it to him, >as it has a "grandpa in his rocking chair telling a story to a >circle of children" style. Yes, I know and completely agree. Yet, trying to get this one to sit still unless he has a book or Nintendo in his hands is like ... emmm, well it's impossible. >And you know what I really liked, when I was his age, my subscription to >Analog magazine. Great birthday presents! GREAT IDEA!! >as for Narnia, no denying the allegory, but it's a good story >nonetheless. It's not a book that tries to convert you, it's >just told from an explicitly Christian viewpoint. Hahahahahaha, my father and his wife would LOVE for me to give him something like this, truly, they would think I finally turned to their viewpoints, hahahahhahahaha. >Actually, the first fantasy books I remember reading was _The >Vampire Diaries_ by LJ Smith Are these fantasy? Well, I suppose to say they are not would be like to say Celestia Quinn Yarbo is not Sci-Fi or to classify H.P. Lovecraft as only horror. >I was given the first of Raymond E. Feist's books, Magician, later >released in two volumes in massmarket paper on hard cover for Christmas '82 >when I was 12. I ate it up. Feist seems a little old but maybe not. Then, perhaps you were a mature 12 year old? >Giving an 11 year old Donaldson? Is that legal? *shudder* Re: This and everything else Re: Donaldson -- I think I will avoid giving this to him at all costs... *shudder* _________________________________________________________________ Add photos to your e-mail with MSN 8. 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