Multiple Narrator Novels for the Precocious YA Reader

November 21, 2022 9:45 AM

I have a precocious 5th grader who is finishing up Crichton's Jurassic Park. I'd like to find him some good reads with multiple narrators. Recommendations?

In particular, I'm looking for novels that explore multiple viewpoints on the same events through the eyes of different narrators. Game of Thrones and Wheel of Time do this well, but are far too mature and long for my dedicated reader.

posted by bfranklin to Writing & Language (10 answers total)

Wonder fits your requirements exactly, though your 5th grader may have already read it.
posted by Winnie the Proust at 10:01 AM on November 21, 2022

This old Ask question might be useful. Dracula was the one that immediately came to mind for me.
posted by saladin at 10:33 AM on November 21, 2022 [3 favorites]

Children of Blood and Bone, by Tomi Adeyemi is told in first person, with three narrators. (And there is a sequel, but I haven't read it.)

The Klipfish Code by Mary Casanova has two narrators.
posted by RedEmma at 1:39 PM on November 21, 2022 [1 favorite]

The Bridge of San Luis Rey

I don’t know how indigenous people see this 1928 Pulitzer winner, but finding that out after reading might make for an interesting lesson about points of view in and of itself.
posted by jamjam at 1:44 PM on November 21, 2022

Carry On by Rainbow Rowell and its two sequels fit this description.
posted by spiderbeforesunset at 4:13 PM on November 21, 2022

The View from Saturday is a wonderful version of this!
posted by earth by april at 4:38 PM on November 21, 2022

The Kane Chronicles by Rick Riordan, the siblings take turns narrating each chapter across all three books. My kiddo is also telling me that the Percy Jackson series follow-up Heroes of Olympus is "multi-POV".

Animorphs, each book in the series is narrated by a different character. We built our series collection by browsing our local thrift store on a regular basis because the original cover art is awesome!

The Origami Yoda series

City of Ember, Nick & Tesla, and the first Mr. Lemoncello's Library might also fit the bill according to my kiddo. Happy reading!
posted by Lady Sugar Maple at 8:00 PM on November 21, 2022

Depending on their stomach for gore, I remember World War Z doing a good job with different narrators.
posted by LeeLanded at 6:59 AM on November 22, 2022 [2 favorites]

Gordon Korman's "No More Dead Dogs".
posted by brainwane at 10:15 AM on November 22, 2022

I second Carry On by Rainbow Rowell. At first you get fairly long sections with individual narrators, but later it gets shorter and often jumps back and forth in a scene to get alternate viewpoints, when that's important. It makes really good use of who is telling you the story and what you learn from them. (It's also a really great book and sequels.)
posted by blueberry monster at 8:38 PM on November 28, 2022