Does anyone have any suggestions for any recently published books that an 11 year old boy might like?
Does he like vampires/horror/paranormal stuff? Darren Shan's Cirque du Freak series was enormously popular with Jake (who was a bit older when he started them, but I don't think the reading level would be too difficult). They might be a tad too "grownup" depending on the kid, though.
Andrew Clements books are also wonderful, and I know there's a newish one out, although I forget what it's called. They're real-world, real-kids stories, and they're really good.
Thanks, AmyLiz! He goes back and forth on horror type things, he either loves them or they freak him out. I'll look at the Clements books.
Darjeeling:
I just looked up Andrew Clements, and I knew the name sounded familiar. I am fairly certain I went to a reading one time that he was at. Judy Blume was the main speaker that night. It was one of the few perks I got as an supervisor in retail book hell. According to wikipedia he currently lives very close to here, too. I am definitely going to go with one of his books for the nephew. Thanks again, AmyLiz!
Cool, sj! Jake loved his stuff, and Ben has just started on it.
I suppose it should go in the comics thread, but this is where Anita Blake gets mentioned occasionally, so I give you: The Annotated Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter.
8.4: In a caption explaining how her mystical vampire-sense works, Anita claims that she "knew vampires like some people knew horses." Given what I've heard about her relationships later on in the series, that line is frigg'n hilarious.
Be sure to mouse over the pics.
Bwah! Thank you for linking to that, Strega.
Jilli, have you read the book, Dragonfly, by Frederick S. Durbin? I'm almost done with it and it seems like something you'd like.
OMG.
They said "werewang".
If I weren't on a call I'd laugh myself silly.
Anita claims that she "knew vampires like some people knew horses."
Didn't they disprove that rumor about Catherine the Great?