I just finished Rick Riordan's kid-lit series Percy Jackson and the Olympians. There's a 5th that I haven't found yet, but I tore through 1-4 pretty fast. I quite liked the interwoven Greek Mythology and modern kid issues. He did a nice job with making it accessible and fast-moving as well as getting some Greek Myth in there too. Probably a little old for Oliver but maybe when he's 12 he'd be up for them. He's deeply involved in The 39 Clues series, which I also picked up. It's a pretty cool little series with codes and problem solving and major adventures - perfect for an 8 year old with a slightly older reading level.
I also just finished The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Steig Larsson and I am currently reading The Girl Who Played With Fire. These books have been showing up for the past few years and I avoided them because the covers didn't appeal to me. My sister-in-law recommended them as did my mother and when I found out they were mysteries I was interested. Plus they were on sale at Chapters! I quite liked the first and I hear the second is better... here's hoping!
