Re: Book suggestion for 11 year old

I second many of the recommendations already given, especially
Pratchett and Lloyd Alexander. For Pratchett, the stuff he's had
that's deliberately aimed at younger readers is his "Johnny" series,
which I believe is being re-issued, and his Tiffany Aching series set
on the Discworld. They're both quite good, but Tiffany is of course
a female, and I know some younger male readers have issues there.
In her defense, she's pretty cool, and she hangs out with the most
bad-ass group of wee folk you'll ever want to meet.

Only two other recs, going by what few of my books are unpacked:

Doomfarers of Coramonde and The Starfollowers of Coramonde,
both by Brian Daley. Great sword and sorcery stuff,with some
of the most memorable characters ever.

Airborn and Skybreaker, by Kenneth Oppel. Alternate history
adventure in a world where ginormous zeppelins remained
financially viable, as is only right and proper. The first one
is a cool lost island adventure and the second is a hunt for
a legendary ghost ****p. Oppel also has a series about bats
that's extremely popular, but I haven't read it.

Oh, does he like PC games? You could do a lot worse than
to grab a copy of Sid Meier's Pirates! No dragons, but plenty
of swords.