Two Awesome Series for Preteen Boys

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I discovered two awesome series for preteen boys!

Have you tried looking for books and series for preteen boys lately? These boys are PICKY! It’s almost impossible to meet a preteen boy’s demanding standards.

What are his standards?

First and foremost, plenty of action.

Give him pirates sailing the seas, Vikings raiding, knights challenging dragons, wars, battles, and feats galore.

Bruises, broken bones, and death-defying deeds? Not a problem. Storming the castle walls and fighting a thousand foes at the top? Awesome! Visions of duels, dragons, and demons dance through his head.

These boys will choose violence over plot any day of the week. Fist fights are fantastic. Swashbuckling swords swinging at heads is splendid. Give them more!

2 awesome series for preteen boysSecond, absolutely no mushy stuff.

Our hero can have no emotional angst, no heartbreak, and definitely no mooning over GIRLS. My son flees from the room and starts packing his bags the moment I whisper the word Twilight.

The damsel in distress better not spend any time swooning over her rescuer. He’s off for more daring deeds and dueling dragons.

Dare we give him any kissing or mooning and the book will be tossed across the room in disgust.

Third,  new story lines are name of the game.

Redwall, Narnia, and Lord of the Rings series are old friends, but new books are desired. New adventures. New monsters. New challenges.

So I foraged the library shelves, inspected likely specimens, and consumed my little spare time reading.

The Ascendance Trilogy by Jennifer Nielson

The Ascendance Trilogy absorbed my attention from the first word. The main character is a bit of a rascal, but one with a good heart.

We follow him closely through trials, fights, treachery, battles, and even a fair maiden. However, there is absolutely no mushy stuff. No emotional angst over whether or not she loves him.

I passed the trilogy on to my preteen son, who dutifully opened the first book to read. A few paragraphs later, he was hooked. My comic book-loving son found a book series he loved. Once he finished, he implored me for more books.

In the meantime, he started Fellowship of the Ring.

I snagged The Brotherband Chronicles by John Flanagan.

The Brotherband Chronicles is a really cool series. You have Skandians, who resemble Vikings. They love nothing better than a good fight, a good story, and a good party. There are pirates, battles, treachery, and death-defying deeds.

Our main character Hal is only half Skandian, so he’s not exactly one of the in-crowd of his village. We follow him and his band through intense training, successes, failures, and epic adventures.

After reading The Outcast, I couldn’t wait for the rest of the series! Luckily for me, the next two books of the series quickly became available at our local library. So I stayed up late, late, late reading them. Don’t tell my children!

If you’re looking for an awesome series for preteen boys, try either The Ascendance or The Brotherband Chronicles. You won’t go wrong. These books are AWESOME!

What are your favorite books for preteen boys?

Recommended Reading:


16 Comments

  1. These look like great book series. My son loves the Percy Jackson books so much he’s devoured all of them. I agree with you, boys want action, no girls, no boring story lines, no “it’s been done”. Thanks for some new reading ideas!
    Thank you for sharing on the #SHINEbloghop.

    Have a wonderful week!

    xoxo
    Tammi

  2. Thanks for the recommendation. My son is hard to please but like the previous comment above, he loved Percy Jackson. We will check these out. Thanks again!

  3. This is absolutely perfect! I have been asking my teen what boys he’d like to read and all I get is an “I don’t know.” At least these suggestions give me a starting point. Thanks a bunch!

  4. Thanks for the recommendations! I’m not to “pre-teen” yet, but I’m sure the day will come quickly when I need them! Just the other day my 6 yr old said to me (while he was reading a book), “Mom, I like the parts best where there’s war.” I didn’t expect to hear that already =) Oh Boys!

  5. Thanks for this post! My son, too, loved Percy Jackson. I’ve had a hard time finding quality books that fit his desire for adventure. He loved the Ascendance Trilogy that you recommended, and he’s about to start the Brotherband Chronicles. Thanks!

    1. I loved the Brotherband Chronicles! There’s another series written by the author, The Ranger’s Apprentice, that’s good also. Has your son read that one as well?

  6. Oh, thanks for the recommendations. They sound great! I’ll definitely have my boys check them out. They’re always on the lookout for more good books! Right now, they’re reading the Eragon books by Christopher Paolini. 🙂

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