Secular Charlotte Mason

My middle son and I have been reading these together for the last couple of years.  The main protragonist, Harry Dresden, is a wizard in Chicago--but this is not Harry Potter.  We bought the first book on a recommendation from a friend and wound up driving back to the bookstore the next day to purchase the next six or seven books in the series.  Now my son, who just turned seventeen, buys the books in hardbound when they come out.  (There are currently 11 in the series, with another scheduled for release next spring.)

What we like about these books, besides their sense of humor, is their wry, noir feel.  Harry's life isn't always fun and derring do, and he doesn't escape wounding either emotional or physical.  But he's got a sense of honor that won't quit, and a big heart.  The world building is fabulous and coherent from book to book, and things that are hinted at in one book are often explored much more thoroughly in another.  It's a world where there are consequences for actions that don't just go away at the end of one book, which is something I particularly appreciate.  The first title, Storm Front, is a more traditional genre mystery, but the books get increasingly complex especially in terms of character growth.  We absolutely adore them.

Fair warning, I tended to err on the side of laissez faire when it comes to my children's reading matter, so much of what we have read can skew older than what others may be comfortable with their children reading.  These I wouldn't hesitate to recommend for a mature 15 year old; and I'd simply hand them to an older child.  If your older kid grew up on the So You Want To Be A Wizard books and other similar titles, this might be something to steer them to now.  And they're just flat out fun to read--especially the one about the zombies.