Books for 5th grade boys?

Isaac and I have accomplished a nearly impossible feat...we have finished reading a book together! Taa daa! This is not an easy task, especially with my youngest, orange-haired, freckle-faced olive shoot but I was determined to succeed. Despite countless temper tantrums, drama galour, Ike and I read every page of Roald Dahl's book The BFG.

As a fine purveyor of words, I find great joy and peace reading to my sons. With a dictionary somewhere nearby, some of the most cherished moments I've had with my boys have been cradling a book in my hands with one of my olive shoots (sons) tucked closely by my side. I love digging into the dictionary and learning new definitions, words fascinate me. I should have been a linguistics major!

And I can't resist adding funny accents to the characters in the books. When Aaron, Ike and I read The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien and The Tale of Despereaux (amazing book!) by Kate DiCamillo, I had countless crazy voices. Sometimes I'd change the accent mid-sentence when I realized that the character had an American accent instead of a British one, or it was a female

character not a guy but my boys put up with the inconsistencies and indulged me nonetheless. While reading The BFG, I had a lot of fun using quirky British lilts as I read the scrambled words of the Big Friendly Giant. The BFG said words like "bobsticle" instead of "obstacle," he was quite a colorful fellow. Occasionally Ike would allow himself to grin in the midst of my silliness. Even if he'd rather be outside playing basketball, I think deep down inside he was enjoying himself.

We turned the final pages of our book and I'm wondering this...Do any of you have any recommendations as to what we should read next? Ike is an 11 year old boy. I need a book that is interesting, clever with some surprising twists. Do you have any ideas? Let me know, I'd appreciate it and I'll let you know what we pick. I've got one in mind but it might not be a good fit. Your suggestions would be great.