I think that’s a great age to read the Percy Jackson series. I never finished it, but I found the books I did read enjoyable.

Where the red Fern grows, Maus, Holes, series of unfortunate events, I think Bea Wolf looks good too but I haven’t had a chance to read it yet. Edit, Maus and Bea Wolf are both graphic novels so maybe not what you’re looking for. But Maus should definitely be required reading, especially now.

Without knowing what your kid has read or likes, here’s some info about my kid:

My kid is currently reading:

• Jeff Kinney’s Diary of a Wimpy Kid
• Zanib Mian’s Meet the Maliks series
• Zanib Mian’s Planet Omar series
• Marcus Rashford’s The Breakfast Club Adventures series

All of these have illustrations though. I feel Diary of a Wimpy kid has most of them, while rest have less, but they still have them. You should take a look to see if that’s acceptable.

Other books/series I have been recommended here, but haven’t started yet:

• R. L. Stine’s Goosebumps
• Brandon Sanderson’s Alcatraz vs The Evil Librarians
• Eion Cofler’s Artemis Fowl
• B. B. Alston’s Supernatural Investigations

Beverly Cleary’s books, Roald Dahl’s books, Piers Anthony’s books, Stuart Little, the Redwall series, etc. I don’t remember what age I picked up Ray Bradbury’s books, but The Illustrated Man might be a place to start too.

I used to read the Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew, Chronicles of Narnia, Artemis Fowl (earlier boxcar children).

I never really got into them, but Terry Pratchett’s Discworld books are really popular. My friends around then liked Animorphs.

(It’s hard for me to judge reading level super well because I was always pretty ahead of my age group, so take it with a grain of salt.)

Another suggestion is find a local library and just wander the kids section with them. They should have stuff managed by approximate age level and you should be able to find stuff that way.

My kids have participated in the Battle of the Books at school, and I read some of them with them… Some amazing book quality that I wish I had as a kid! They pick really good ones. https://www.oregonbattleofthebooks.org/2024-2025-titles/

My little reader enjoyed “The Wizards of Once” by Cressida Cowell.

Maybe some Borges too?

Does he go for science fiction? I liked Starswarm by Jerry Pournelle as an adult, but think it’s intended as YA. The main character is about your kid’s age, an orphan in a extrasolar colony. Thanks to some things his parents did for him before they were killed, he knows some things the adults in charge of the colony don’t. Including that the native life on the planet is more intelligent than assumed, and advanced enough to defend itself from human encroachment.

You can try on !parenting@lemmy.world as well

I think I was about 12 when I first read The Lord of the Rings. So I suggest giving him The Hobbit and seeing how he likes it.