Book Talk: Middle School Fiction--Fantasy

Once again, I am splitting up middle school and high school for this category. The real reason I do this is because I definitely think there are some books that can be read by middle schoolers, but probably shouldn't be. That is, a middle schooler who reads at a high level may have the technical skill and comprehension to read almost anything, but the content is a little too mature for them. 

Fantasy is particularly tricky, because much of it does have some mature content. So these are the books that I think have content that is fine for around 11-13 years old.

The Inheritance Cycle by Christopher Paolini--I have no idea why so many fantasty series are called a cycle, but they are. This is a four-book series about a teenage boy who becomes a Dragon Rider and fights the forces of an evil ex-Dragon Rider who is trying to take over their world. My older boys loved these books, and I found them entertaining enough that I read all of them myself. One of the best things about them is that the first one--Eragon--was started by the author when he was only 15 years old, and it was published just a few years later. I feel like this is excellent encouragement for any kid who thinks they might want to write that they don't have to wait until they're grown up. I could tell these books were written by a teenage boy (so. many. battle. scenes.) and by a first-time writer, but they are certainly an extraordinary accomplishment. The author created an incredibly detailed world for the reader to become immersed in. And there is nothing inappropriate in them at all, other than maybe the aforementioned battle scenes. Lots of fighting and blood, but no sex or bad language.

The huge bookshelf my dad made us has enough room for not only many books, but for tiny toy soldier battles. How handy.

Rebel of the Sands trilogy by Alwyn Hamilton--I loved this trilogy, as did my older sons. The hero is an orphaned teenage girl who lives in a place very much modeled on Arabia, and the story has plenty of influence from the folktales of that region. There is magic involved, but it complements the story rather than drives it. I am not a fan of the fantasy genre, so I prefer books like that. There is definitely a romance in it, and there is one scene of consummation in the third book, but it's very tastefully done. The whole series is well-written and well-plotted, and would appeal to both girls and boys. 

The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien--This first book that begins the story continued in the Lord of the Rings trilogy is a bit more accessible for younger readers. I think middle school is a good time to introduce it. My sons read the whole series before middle school, but it was definitely a challenge, and I feel like they missed a lot in the story because they were focusing so much on just understanding the actual writing. It really is written at a very high reading level. I think my kids will probably get more out of it when they re-read it at a later age.

The Brotherband Chronicles by John Flanagan--My boys loved this series about a group of teenage boys living in an imagined place called Skandia. The culture is modeled after the Vikings, and the boys are sailors. There's no actual magic in it, but it's still considered fantasy. I read a few chapters of the first book (there are nine in the series), and was not overly impressed with the writing, but my sons devoured this series. This series is a spin-off from a series called Ranger's Apprentice, but for some reason, my boys preferred the Brotherband series.

What would you add to this list of middle school fantasy?