This was going to be my suggestion - wouldn’t call it “advanced” for an 11-year-old but good and age-appropriate.
I read way more smut as a 9-14 year old than I realized at the time…
His Dark Materials, if they’re advanced at 11 it’s totally doable
Three recommendations that are a stretch but I’d recommend
The first series of Dune, I believe it’s 7 books. (Then a bunch of spinoffs that weren’t as well-received.) Heavy political intrigue, might be something for a year or two in the future.
Johnathan Strange & Mr. Norrell. Dry British novel about a new magician in the waning age of magic. This also has a Netflix adaptation I really liked. Might be a fun exercise, read a couple chapters then watch an episode. Catch something in the show you read, then see something you haven’t read about yet that gets you excited for the book again.
A series called Otherland, 4 books of maybe 600-1000 pages each, about a world that has a full-VR internet, but unknowingly there is a second layer that is basically “if you die here you die in real life”. Hard to describe in just a few sentences, contains hard topics like racism and alcoholism but in a very YA-appropriate way.
Up through God Emperor Dune, it shouldn’t be too bad on the “sex” front. However, the last two books written by Frank start to get a bit more sexual in nature–including being a key part of the nature of several characters.
But, if one finds Dune enjoyable, the Butlerian Jihad trilogy might be an interesting read. But two of the non-Frank books–Hunters of Dune and Sandworms of Dune–are to wrap up the original set of books that Frank wrote. (FTR, things are left hanging after Chapterhouse: Dune.)
Blast from the past: The Xanth novels by Piers Anthony. Only the first book (A Spell for Chameleon) might be too “mature” as he wrote it for a YA audience, but the rest were written for a teen/pre-teen audience.
That’s the series I was trying to remember! It might’ve just been me at ~10 years old, but I was shocked at how graphic some of the books got. It’d be buried at like page 200 of 300 and then just 2 pages of smut.
That might be in A Spell For Chameleon. Might also be in The Color of Her Panties . . . but don’t recall that one too much (only read it once long, long ago; in a galaxy far, far away).
Tad Willimas is very good I enjoy him very much but oddly I could never get into the Otherland Series I may give it another go next time I’m looking for a book since we have the whole series on our wall. My wife enjoyed that one. Other Tad Williams that might be appropriate -
Tail Chaser’s Song - A fantasy standalone book about the world of cats and one cat’s journey to “save the cat world” sort of.
Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn - An epic high fantasy “trilogy” where the 3rd book was split into 2 due to length much like Harry Potter final book. Don’t recall any real sex scenes in this series but been a while since I read it. I really enjoyed this one as did my wife, my son found it a little too slow paced.
He has a followup Trilogy now set in the same world picking up events roughly 50 years after the end of the Memory, Sorrow and Thorn. I’ve read the first book in that series and enjoyed it very much and look forward to the rest of the series but it is not appropriate for a 10 year old as the main character is a degenerate alcoholic who goes through new set of whores nightly at the start of the series.
And don’t even think about his Bobby Dollar series for a 10 year old, very inappropriate.
I read these as a kid and revisited some of it as an adult. Piers Anthony was a little too graphic in his descriptions of 13 year old girls. It is a bit disturbing as a father of daughters.
I have been trying to come up with a specific author’s name to add. Looking through my kids’ goodread list was helpful.* I recommend Brandon Mull. The Fabelhaven series in particular but his other worlds are entertaining (I haven’t read anything new from him in at least 5 or 6 years, probably longer, so 11ish is probably about the time my kids were reading it).
If you have kids who read a lot, I recommend building out this list. It is especially helpful once they move out of the house. Pre-GoodReads I bought repeat books and/or books they already purchased on their own more than once.
If you’ve read The Chronicles of Narnia, the I would suggest a second read. But add to it The Narnia Code. It might be a fun thing to expand their reading skills by reading the chapter from The Narnia Code on a particular book and then re-reading that book to look for those elements (and then discuss if you agree or disagree with The Narnia Code’s analysis).
I do have The Narnia Code; and it is a very fun read. For example, it gives a reason why you see Father Christmas only in The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe.
I really like this suggestion, thank you! I’ve set up a profile for my son and one for me so I can start tracking better. I will go through this thread and put in all of those books as suggestions so he can see what he wants to read. He’s getting an iPad for Christmas, so I put the app on there for him.
Andy Weir-- the martian, project hail mary
Kelly Link-- Pretty Monsters
Erin Morgenstern-- Night Circus, Starless Sea
John Green-- numerous coming of age books
Perks of Being a Wallflower
I think, the only one with absolutely no hint of sex is the Martian.
Erin Morgenstern might mention it in passing. But there’s no detail or fixation.
Kelly Link – pretty monsters is kid rated, but her other books have sex. The sex is never the point though.
John Green has about the most sensible/mature take on sex you could ask for.
Perks of Wallflower has some assault, handled in a sensible/mature/realistic way.
Saying this, I just had to yank Kelly Link out of my 7 year old’s hands, because she was drawn into a lovely fairy tale that ends with queen of hell weaponing sex. Not a great intro to the birds and the bees!