Fantasy for younger readers...looking for recommendations

[temporus]

A good friend's ten year old daughter is looking to start up a middle-grade fantasy-adventure book club.  One of her requirements is that she wants THICK books.   I have to admit, I'm so far out of the loop when it comes to fantasy novels for younger audiences, I figured to open it up.  I welcome all suggestions, and will pass them on.

Frankly, I'm not sure I get the distinction of categories.  Chatper Books, Middle Grade, Young Adult.  I'm sure these marketing brackets existed when I was a kid, but I don't think I paid them terribly much attention, and other than knowing that books were marked in the library as YA on the spine, I don't think I would have understood the difference.

In any case, please do recommend away, it's all in the service of helping to encourage young readers, which is probably the noblest of all causes.  Well, there's true love, but right next to that would be a MLT when the mutton is nice and lean.  And then next to that...would be encouraging young readers.

Comments

[temporus.livejournal.com]

The only YA on your list that I read, was The Outsiders, and only that one because I think we read it in English class.

Mostly, I don't recall reading much that was labeled YA. Basically, other than in the library, I don't remember books having a YA on the label. I mean, it probably was there, but I wouldn't have noticed it, as I didn't much pay attention to that sort of thing.

I like L'Engle. Love Dahl, was probably one of my favorites as a kid. And Lewis, and Tolkein, and Baum.