HELLO I LIKE THIS QUESTION.
Hero by Mike Lupica (Slade’s very excited abt this one)
The Clockwork Three by Matthew J. Kirby (he’s reading this one now)
Stuff he read earlier / last year:
The Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzanne Collins
The Maze Runner by James Dashner is supposed to be similar to The Hunger Games
Percy Jackson & the Olympians by Rick Riordan (also he has a new series now, The Heroes of Olympus, and the first book just came out recently)
The Mysterious Benedict Society Series by Trenton Lee Stewart (might be better suited for 10-11yrs)
Bran Hambric series by Kaleb Nation (22 yr old author who’s been writing since he was 12)