I agree with looking at the Newbery list (not just the award winners, but the honor books as well). It contains a diverse range of books that should appeal to this age group. I'd also like to recommend Michael Ende's The Neverending Story if your son hasn't read it yet. It's classic fantasy, IMO, and can be read on different levels -- overall, a very transcendent piece of literature. I've recently discovered Nancy Farmer's books, too, and am a big fan of hers. Sea of Trolls has a boy protagonist and would make a nice tie-in for learning about Norse mythology. John Bellairs' Lewis Barnavelt or Johnny Dixon books are good for the age 9-12 range (sort of creepy, gothic mysteries for kids). I enjoyed them as a kid (and they are fun, nostalgic reads for adults, as well).

The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins...Dr. Seuss You have to be "older than dirt" (like me) to remember this and why the MILLIONS works :-)))))

"Did you design the raised beds near the fence? The shape makes me think of flowing water, weird, huh?" Since it's designed specifically to shed water at the ends and middle I think that's a great impression. But - I'll tell you a secret. After I got it all done, I looked at the planter wall and -- laughed. Just laughed, because I had built a DRAGON. I looked at it and saw a dragon, that I had invited on my property-; maybe a feathered serpent given the location. When I point it out to people, they see it too. Or -- they look at me like I'm crazy pants, whatever. I might even make a dragon head and tail art to install. It's hard to get a pic of the whole thing, but the dragon head is (invisibly) at the terminous of the planter wall on the right below. What can I say? I have an imagination.

Quick, I need easy to get into mostly “feel good“ fictional novel suggestions to get me through ...possibly long no power and maybe hurricane days. I have both my kindle‘s recharged and ready. I really enjoyed Arthur Truluv and the follow up. I’ve looked at a bunch of lists and nothing is jumping out. Don’t really want murder, suspense, war or anything overly depressing . I just want a book that will suck me in from the start.