I don't know for sure that they're at the right reading level for most eight-year-olds, but the books I loved the most then--and still think about a lot today--were the Great Brain books by John D. Fitzgerald. Funny, smart, and subversive, they were also interesting to me at that age because the early twentieth-century Utah they depicted was at the same time very different from yet weirdly similar to my own rural Southern Illinois surroundings.

Not sure what the 8yr old's reading level is, but I'd suggest Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson series. I'm reading aloud to my 7yr old (Kiddo) now and he LOVES it. There is adventure and excitement plus lots of boy humor in there. Kiddo isn't up to reading this on his own yet but I know some kids his age who are, so it might or might not work for your nephew.

As a bonus, the movie version of book 1 is coming out soon - that might be more reason to get him started on the series. :)

(No need to enter me in the contest - my shelves are overflowing as it is!)

It definitly depends on what kind of reading material he'll like. At that age I really enjoyed Lloyd Alexander's The Chronicles of Prydain starting with The Book of Three. This is a fantasy book but doesn't talk down to the reader and has some fairly intense scenes (in a good way).

My brother who is not a big reader really enjoyed the Matthew Christopher series of finctional sports books. Oddly both are from PA.

A Wrinkle in Time was a pretty good book at that age but again SciFi.

The only other books I can think of are the Hardy Boys series of which there was a more modern version that was a mystery and action mix (apparently called Hardy Boys Case Files) where they apparently worked for a govt agency (according to Wikipedia).

Hope that helps.

Need to read "Lush Life" by Richard Price, it is one of his best (also Pres. Obama took it on his summer vacation).

You don't say what your nephew likes but here's a few suggestions, based on the 4th graders that come to our shop:
Dog Days (Diary of a Wimpy Kid 4 - came out Oct 12);
Holes (Stanley winds up at a detention camp);
Wound Too Tight (Shawn and his buddies discover pirate treasure on vacation but it turns out to be haunted);
The Invention of Hugo Cabret (Hugo lives in a 1920s-era Paris train station and works on his uncle's automatons - which turn out to be much more)

Hope these help!
Lauretta

What I'm reading - The Year of the Flood - Margret Atwood, on my IPOD touch (ereader, not Kindle) purchased from Fictionwise (which is owned by B&N). I'm hoping the Nook doesn't kill the secure ereader format. Regardless, I'm enjoying the book.

On the 8yo boy question - I'd go with relatively short books in a series. Junie B. Jones by Barbara Parks is not a girl-only series IMHO, more like a female Denis the Menace. Captain Underpants by Dav Pilkey and Weenies (lawn, road, campfire etc) and Ricky Ricotta books both by David Lubar are great for kids with warped humor. The Time Warp Trio by Jon Scieszka and Lane Smith are good adventures with male main characters. The Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket might be hard going for an 8yo, but if he reads well they were favorites in our house. The Magic Tree House series by Mary Pope Osborne should be about right. All of these are books that go really fast, so we mainly got them from the library.

Harry Potter is a good read for an 8 year old! Moves quickly, suspense and progressively challenging vocabulary.

Is there a haunted hay-ride around town?

My daughter-in-law is an elementary school librarian, so she always gives the very coolest books. I only give books to kids when she won't be there.

That said, I like to go with Walter the Farting Dog for kids up to about 1st or 2nd Grade. After that, I go with Captain Underpants.

Nancy, I loved the ghost story "The Crossroads" by Chris Grabenstein. On Amazon, it says the reading level is ages 9 to 12. Hmm, that says something about me, doesn't it?

Reading the fractured Jane Austen mashup Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Seth Grahame-Smith, I'm thinking 8 year olds would love the gore and violence, but be exposed to a classic in spite of themselves anyway. Plus good bragging rights to have read the book BEFORE the movie comes out.

I've been reading The Maze Runner by James Dashner for the DystopYA reading challenge. (Young Adult Dystopian fiction) It might fit the bill for your nephew too. It's written for Young readers, but it's really held my interest. A young boy wakes up in an elevator that has taken him to a place called the Glade. He can't remember who he is except for his name. And the Glade is a place run totally by a group of young boys. They've created a society out of necessity with rules and order. Outside of the Glade is a maze that keeps changing, so they haven't been able to find a way out. There are also these creepy monsters outside the walls of the Glade that only come out at night... Definitely a good read!

I am reading the Bible this week. I read the Book of Judges a couple of days ago and parts of the Gospel according to John today.

Crumb is a serious artist & writer even when he is dealing with apparently irreverence.

I'm reading Ayn Rand again, The Fountainhead. I enjoyed it as a young adult and wanted to read it again in my almost near retirement age. As far as your nephew, why not bring him to a book store and let him choose.

At 8 he may be a bit young for the Hobbit but you can give it a shot. I'd think he'd be old enough to appreciate the Narnia series. If he likes those you can give him George MacDonald's stories.

Amen to the Prydain and Great Brain recommendations too.

I'm reading Exquisite Corpse Annual no. 1, Andrei Codrescu edited, and loving it - but wondering what's with the Ralph Steadman illustrations. So disturbing, and he also coincidentally illustrated the other book I'm currently reading: Psycho Too, by Will Self.

For kids books - you can't go wrong with Daniel Pinkwater!

"Traffic: Why We Drive the Way We Do (and What It Says About Us)" by Tom Vanderbilt

It has dramatically changed the way I view driving. One provocative point: those late mergers actually HELP, not hinder, the traffic flow, so let them in!