I have seen the Percy Jackson books mentioned here a few times. In general, what age group would they be geared to? Though I teach High School (ages 14-19) in the US, I often have low readers and these seem like high interest books, especially for boys.
I loved the Percy Jackson books and the Artemis Fowl, not to mention Harry Potter and I'm considerably older than those age ranges. They didn't write books like that when I was young!!!!
I read all Sachar's "Wayside" books and adored them. I do not like "Holes", at all. The kids loved it, but I really don't like that. I also will NOT teach "House on Mango Street". Funny, how some books really turn me off.