New here and have just recently entered the world of Neil Gaiman. I am reading Neverwhere, fiance' American Gods and my daughter just finished Coraline. I was wondering, as she could not put it down and has been begging for another, if there are any other works of his that would be appropriate for an 11 year old. Thanks much!

Maybe "Wolves In The Walls" and "The Day I Swapped My Dad for Two Goldfish"?

Thank you but I have checked those out and they seem a bit young for her. She is quite mature but not mature enough. Does that make sense? Does anyone know if he plans to do more like Coraline?

The next novel Neil will be writing is aimed towards a similar audience as Coraline (as I understand it). It will be called The Graveyard Book.
Of Neil's novels, Good Omens, Neverwhere, Stardust and Anansi Boys could be acceptable for teen/pre-teen depending on the family. They do reference sex (Stardust has one sex scene near the beginning), have some violence, and a small but by no means excessive amount of language. None of them are specifically aimed towards that age group though. Since you and your fiance' are reading his books, I'd suggest one of you read Stardust, which is a fairytale of sorts, to see if they'd like that. Otherwise, you should examine our Other Writers forums were I'm sure there are threads discussing good books for fill-in-the-blank age group (Lemony Snicket, Philip Pullman and Diana Wynne Jones are frequently mentioned)

Thanks so much for the tips! She has finished the Lemony Snicket collection and said that Coraline blew them away. Also Harry Potter. Like me, it takes a lot to hold her attention and Neil Gaiman has accomplished that big time! Going to pick up Stardust today and will also be checking out Philip Pullman and Diana Wynne Jones. Also excited about The Graveyard Book. Thanks again for pointing me in the right direction! Your help was greatly appreciated!

Terry Pratchett has also written books aimed for younger readers, The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents (although this one is rather dark in my opinion, but hey, I think Coraline is dark, too) and the Tiffany Aching books, Wee Free Men and A Hat Full of Sky.

GMZoe beat me to suggesting Stardust!

Thank you Maeve! The darker the better for her. Nothing satanic mind you!! LOL! She is heading into the stage in her life where she is trying to "find" herself and with us just recently moving into the sticks, she is finding that the kids just "don't get her" here. Books, for her, are a means of escape, as with a lot of us, and the look on her face and her mood after reading Coraline was priceless! So I'm trying to do all that I can to find more that are similar. What better way then to come here! Thanks again for your input!

I'd look at pratchett too. as well as the ones maueve has mentioned there is the Johnny series of books (set in England, but that's an education in itself), and the truckers books.

Clive Barker's ABARAT series- it is for "younger readers", but like Coraline, it's dark dark dark with cool illustrations.

Website link

This message has been edited. Last edited by: pkitty,

Wow!! Thanks Smaug and pkitty!! I'm going to have a small library for her by the time all is said and done! Getting her started with Stardust then for Christmas, the ARABAT series and The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents. I think she will really enjoy the ARABAT series as I just checked it out and it will be perfect! You all are wonderful and again thank you!! I'll keep you posted!

ABARAT...sorry!

No worries, Satine, I totally misspelled it-at least I got the link right!

Um, if she's into fantasy, the Eragon series is totally fun too (it was written by a wunderkind who was 15 when he wrote it). You can see he took his love of LOTR, Dune, and Anne McCaffrey's Dragonflight series (which in itself is great for younger albeit precocious readers) and incorporated in a sprawling series.

Eragon website link

Blame it on the wine I say!! Being new I didn't want to p anybody off! Ha!

The ABARAT series looks really good. Something I think she can identify with. I will check out Eragon too. She really got into LOTR and begged me to find a place like The Shire to live. Well we came close. We're in the woods. She brought one home today, How to Train Your Dragon by Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III. Maybe now I can head back to Neverwhere!

Thanks again and by all means, keep them coming!! What a wonderful list I have now!

My 13-yr-old likes many of those mentioned. She also liked the Dealing With Dragons etc. series by Patricia C. Wrede, and Sorcery and Cecelia by by Patricia Wrede and Caroline Stevermer.

Also, a bit younger in tone but very, very good: the Earthsea trilogy (the original 3; the later-published 4th is more adult) by Ursula K. LeGuin, and the "Dark Is Rising" series by Susan Cooper.


(If you had the misfortune to see the awful recent TV series of Earthsea ... note that the books have very little to do with what was shown!)

- Cho

I have fond memories of The Dark Is Rising. It must be at least 20 years ago that I read that series, and I don't remember many of the specifics of the books, but I do remember the scary place those books took me. I echo Chomiji's recommendation, and might go revisit these books sometime this year.

Oh, and never mind about being too old for The Wolves In The Walls and The Day I Swapped My Dad for Two Goldfish. There's something in those books for everyone. Of course they won't take long to read, but they are very entertaining nevertheless.

*bump* for later...

I just started to read The Dolphins of Pern by Anne McCaffrey (my first book of her) and I think it's perfect for a 10-12 years old so far, after about 40 pages.

I agree with bigstripeydave, The Day I Swapped my Dad for Two Goldfish is by no means just for children. In fact, I think adults would get more out of it, and it's a great achievement of book design. I can only imagine children who have just graduated from picture books might think it beneath them, but they'll come around in a year or two.