Recently, I realized I am mostly blogging on girl books. In my defense, I am doing this from my point of view. I'd like to think I've read "boy books" as well. The trouble is when I try to think of books boys would like I'm coming up blank.
So I decided to think back to the books my dad enjoyed that he passed onto me. The first one I thought of was the classical Pinocchio. My father had an old copy of that book in Italian but since I never read that, being unable to read Italian, I can't say if the book was decent or not. Disney movies don't count, because they tend to change things around. Look at the Little Mermaid. In the original Hans Christian Anderson story, the little mermaid sacrifices herself to save her lover, and gains a soul in the end, but we don't see that in Disney! They leave out souls altogether and concentrate on octopuses with a smoker's voice!
I think one of my dad's favorite books was Tom Sawyer. I remember him giving it to me to read when I was 9 or so,and I loved it.
For those of you not forced to read it in high school, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer was a book written by Mark Twain, about an orphan boy who lived with is aunt, half brother and cousin in rural Missouri during the 1840s.
Tom's aunt tried to look after the boy, but Tom was a free spirit with an active imagination. In this day and age they would have probably stuck him on Ritalin, and put him in special ed classes but in those days they either whipped him or chalked it up to him being a boy.
Some of the adventures Tom got into were sneaking out of the house late at night, running away from home, smoking, conning friends, and breaking the windows of his "enemies" houses. Not only Ritalin but juvenile delinquency charges too!
And yet, when you read the book, you don't see a menace to society. You see a boy with a heart as big as the world, who thinks outside the box, and who isn't afraid of anything except soap and water.
Tom Sawyer was the prototype of Bart Simpson. Like Bart, the adults around Tom are interested in helping him to be a model citizen. Bart never found enough money to set him up for life, but he's probably still looking.
I would be remiss if I didn't mention that in recent years Mark Twain's books come under controversy for some of the language used.
In my opinion, censoring a story that was written 170 years ago over a single word that was commonly used as part of a local dialect is unnecessary. I realize some might feel strongly about it, so for them there are edited versions.
Read Tom Sawyer again. Then read it out loud to the kids. You'll be surprised at how much everyone will enjoy it!

Catherine Called Birdy

"Catherine Called Birdy" is a story by Karen Cushman about a young girl who lives around 1290 in England. I call her a young girl, but in fact she was 13 which was the edge of adulthood in medieval times. Her father, a nobleman is caught up with trying to find his daughter a suitable husband. Catherine is caught up with avoiding marriage with avoiding marriage. She is very creative in it too. At one point she manages to lock one of her potential suitors in the privy, leaving him in there screaming.
But eventually, her father makes a deal with a man older than he is, a crude boor of a man whom Catherine calls "Shaggy Bird".  This time it looks like Catherine is about to be a bride. The question is, will she be a happy one?
The author, Karen Cushman has written several books. Her first two, "Catherine Called Birdy" and "The Midwife's Apprentice" were Newbery award winners. All of her books revolve around difficult adult decisions. Most of her books are based in medieval times. Her writing on that era is amazingly lifelike.
For instance, Catherine is called Birdy because of her love of birds. She keeps several of them in her bedroom. She also hosts such creatures as fleas and bedbugs, giving us a view into what the sanitary conditions were like back then. <Hint, there weren't any!> 
While her life is dictated to an extent by her father's wishes Birdy manages to rebel to the extent that she makes life difficult for him. She might have to do as he says but not without a fight. Catherine is a very imaginative fighter.
This book might look at first to be a story  enjoyed only by girls, but my 26 year old son enjoyed it when he was younger. Dan loves anything to do with medieval times, starting <so he said once> when he was little and used to watch the Walt Disney version of Robin Hood. Dan is the reason why I first read "Catherine Called Birdy". He brought it home once, and we were both hooked. So if your son enjoys reading about way back when he might enjoy this book as much or more than a daughter. 
"Catherine Called Birdy" is a fascinating look into medieval England. Some of it may surprise you, some may disgust you, but most of it will make you laugh! 

"A Secret Garden" and "The Little Princess"

Two of my favorite books growing up were by the same author. Frances Hodgson Burnett. Frances Hodgson Burnett was a British woman, whose socially prominent family, fell on hard financial times. In an effort to support the family, Burnett took to writing.
Born in 1849 she grew up during the Victorian era of England. Her stories were a reflection of the lives of Victorian children.
My favorite book, was "A Little Princess". I read it for the first time at age 11. This was the story of Little Sara Crew, whose father was an officer for the British Army stationed in India. Sara's mother died in her infancy, leaving Sara to her father's care.  He eventually decides to send her to school in England. The school he enrolls her in is owned by Miss Minchin. Miss Minchin, and her sister are greedy, hard hearted women, but are careful to put their best foot forward when a rich young British officer leaves his daughter with them. Sara, who is very clever becomes the star pupil of the Seminary. She is shown off to any visiting dignitaries as a shining example of the school. Luckily Sara is a kind, sensible child who doesn't allow all the attention to go to her head. 
One day, on her 11th birthday, word reaches Miss Minchin, that Sara's father has died in India after losing all his money in a bad investment. Angry, because she was owed money, Miss Minchin threatens to throw Sara out, but is advised against it. Instead she decides to keep her as a servant, although Sara is more a slave than servant. Sara is expected to be up well before dawn, and be in bed no earlier than midnight. She has to clean, run errands, and be at the beck and call of the entire school. Her only friends are Becky, another scullery maid that Sara befriended while her fortunes were up, and 2 little pupils from the school.
Eventually, Sara's fortunes again turn, but the how's and why's of that make for an exciting story.
"A Secret Garden" has some similarities, but also some basic differences. The heroine of the story is kind of an anti Sara. Sara tries to act her best no matter what. But in the "Secret Garden" Mary Lennox, is a spoiled, self centered brat. Mary was also born in India, to an Indian officer and his wife, a flighty socialite. The wife hands the child over to native servants to raise. The only rule regarding the raising of the baby is that she not disturb the lady of the house. So the servants do everything they can to keep the baby quiet by spoiling her. Mary is allowed to run roughshod over the servants, slapping, kicking, and screaming at will. One day she is playing out in the garden, when she overhears her mother talking to someone. Through the conversations Mary finds out that Cholera has broken out in their area. As the adults are talking, a wailing breaks out from the servant's living areas. That is when Mary and her mother find out that cholera has broken out in their own household.
The adults are terrified, but  no one gives a thought to the child. Mary is left all alone. Eventually, she is hungry, and goes into the dining room where it looks like a dinner party was started, but then abandoned. Mary eats the leftovers, then drinks the wine she finds on the table. The wine puts her to sleep, and she sleeps until she hears voices in one of the outer rooms.  It turns out that while she slept, her parents died of the cholera. Those still alive ran off, leaving her behind.
Mary is discovered by some army officers. They investigation turns up a relative in England. Her uncle takes her in. In England, Mary finds adventures, and in the process discovers that while being a spoiled brat, may not be the best thing in the world, sometimes it helps to get the job done.
Both these books are very reflective of the times. In the 1800s, children who were orphaned, even tiny ones, were often left on the streets. There were very few social services available. There were orphanages, but they were overcrowded, filthy places. Even young children preferred to take their chances on the streets rather than staying in places like that.
Although those books were originally written for young girls, around 8 and up, nowadays I don't believe children that age would be able to comprehend the concepts set forth in the books. The vocabulary alone might cause some confusion in a younger child. I would recommend these stories for a ten and above on the basis of the vocabulary alone. Odds are, the girls will enjoy these stories more than boys, although certainly in "The Secret Garden" there are many strong male characters. Still all in all, the style is more geared to girls.
As I said at the beginning, these two books were my favorites growing up. Try to find the copies illustrated by Tasha Tudor. Her illustrations are beautiful, seeming to capture the look of Victorian England better than any artist I've ever seen. Including some Victorian ones!
If your girls enjoy the American Girl series of books, I'd recommend "A Little Princess" and "A Secret Garden". It will give them a view of Victorian times as it was seen through the eyes of a Victorian woman.

The Chronicles of Narnia

The Chronicles of Narnia is another book, that like Harry Potter, has probably been watched more than read. There are 7 books in the series and out of the 7 three have been made into recent movies.
The series is about a world called Narnia, and the adventures that children from our time have while magically transported to this land. Central to this world is a lion called Aslan. Aslan is the god of that world. He is a god who walks among his people, helping them in times of crisis from beginning to end.
The first book written in the series was "The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe".  There are four children, two boys and two girls, who are staying in a house in the country where they are sent to be kept safe during the bombing of London by the Nazis. Bored one rainy day, the four children begin a game of hide and seek. The youngest, Lucy, hides in an old wardrobe, where she finds to her shock that it leads to another world.
All together there were 7 books written about the Narnia series. They were first published in the years between 1949 to 1954. 
The books were written by C. S. Lewis. Lewis was an atheist until the age of 33. His change came about gradually and was influenced strongly by his friendship with J.R.R. Tolkien, the writer of the Hobbit series. Once he converted, he began to write strongly christian books. When he died, he left the rights to all his writings to his stepson, who has worked very hard to keep any adaptions done by Lewis true to the books. It was the stepson who released the movie rights, and who oversaw the adaption to maintain Lewis' integrity.
I loved these books as a child. I remember first coming across them in my freshman year of high school. My English teacher, Sister Nancy Bourk, loved the writings of both Tolkien and Lewis.  So far as Lewis goes, I agree, but The Hobbit series?  Well if I ever decide to do a series on books I despised, the Hobbit will be right up there. <My apologies to all the Hobbit fans, especially to my son Tim!>
Although I read the books at age 14, they are easily read from age 8 up. Since the books are thinner than the average children's chapter book, a youngster who isn't used to reading might think it is a quick read. But there is a lot of information packed in those pages. It might take them a bit longer to read the books then they think, but the great thing is, they won't mind.
Pick up one of the Chronicles today, and be prepared to be transported to a place where elves, fauns and talking animals take you on some amazing adventures!