Book question

People who have kept up better than I have with Tamora Pierce: what book, or series, do you think is the best starting point in terms of getting someone (a ten-year-old Harry-Potter-loving boy, in particular) interested in one of her worlds? I loved the Alanna books to pieces, but when I read Protector of the Small I was very struck by how much better the writing was there. Help?

I'm giving his twelve-year-old brother The Hero and the Crown and The Blue Sword by Robin McKinley. Now that they're into reading (which they weren't for many years) the time is right to impress upon them that It's Okay To Read About Girls.

Also, antennapedia rocks. NOt that y'all didn't know that already, but.