Reddit reviews The School for Good and Evil

I have a few ideas. But I have no idea how easily available any of these will be for you.

Geronimo Stilton is a really popular series. It's not "my first chapter book" like Magic Treehouse, but closer to Nancy Drew or 39 Clues in reading level.

If he likes animals, there's the Warrior Cats series which is a large series as well. Somewhere between Nancy Drew and Harry Potter/Percy Jackson reading level.

The author also writes Seekers which are similarly animal themed.

If you're looking for something lovable and good, try The Middle School Series by "James Patterson" or Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney (this one is very popular).

If he was a fan of the movie, How to Train Your Dragon is actually a set of books too. Same goes for Rise of the Guardians (the movie about Santa, Jack Frost, East Bunnymund, not owls. Though Guardians of Ga'Hoole has a series as well).

These following books are closer to Harry Potter in level.

Haddix is immensely popular.

Redwall is about rodents on epic adventure.

Rick Riordan has 2... 3? series that take place in the same Percy Jackson and the Heroes of Olympus world. They're a fun series, he should really like them.

The School for Good and Evil is fun.

The Land of Stories seems more like a boy-friendly version of Sisters Grimm but I have no idea how boys feel on reading about girls.

That's about all I can think of off the top of my head. I hope something works out :D

The School for Good and Evil a YA series by Soman Chainani. I'm somewhat embarrassed to admit that I heard about these books on Tim Ferriss' podcast, but so far, it's a really great story.

I easily got hooked into The School for Good and Evil by Soman Chainani. It's a bit like Grimms Fairy Tales thrown into a Harry Potteresque universe with a love story and Disney Villains.

My daughter just turned 11 and OMG the pain. I know your pain. She also loves singing and art, and we just got these amazing 3d pens that were on sale at a Radio Shack going out of business. In case there isn't a RS going out of business near you, here is a listing on amazon.

As far as reading material, my daughter has really been enjoying "The School for Good and Evil." I actually read the first one, and it's pretty damn good.

For your younger daughter, this was one of (still is) my favorite books about horsemanship. It's absolutely inspiring.

If your family is into board games, this one is really fun (could be a joint gift?) and the perfect balance of challenging but not too hard.