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Book Recommendations for 17 yo boy, non-reader


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My ds HATES to read...

His reading level is low, but we are trying to work on that during the summer.

I would love some book recommendations.

I want them to be FUN books, engaging... I'm not looking for literature.... just something to let him know that reading CAN be fun, even though I'm making him read 1-2 hours every am :D

 

TIA,

Lauren

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How does he feel about audio books? My boys and I enjoy listening to books when we're working on projects around the house, cleaning, painting, or, this summer, packing and organizing for college.

 

I just asked about fun books in another thread, and there were gobs and gobs listed. Did you take a peek at that list?

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Does he like the Japanese style Manga comic books?

 

My son HATED to read, but these books he will read morning, noon, and night.

 

He goes to the library at least once a week to exchange one huge bag full for another. He's on the library website putting books on hold all the time.

 

After years and years of reading to him and homeschooling . . . who knew it would take COMIC BOOKS to get him to actually enjoy reading.

 

Now I can't get him to put them down. He brings them to the dinner table, whenever he'll be in he car more than 5 minutes . . . literally EVERYWHERE.

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I have a ds who is NOT a reader, so I feel your pain:)

 

I second the recommendation of audio books. I have my son read along with the recordings. I have gotten literally dozens and dozens of good, high- quality books into him this way.

 

A few he has recently enjoyed are: The Hunger Games books by Suzanne Collins, the first two Ender Games books by Orson Scott Card, The Road, by Cormac McCarthy(not uplifting, or "fun" however), Starship Troopers, The Alchemist, and The Eyes of the Dragon by Stephen King.

 

Hopefully more people will post some good books, as I am ALWAYS on the lookout for more:)

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Guest JNJSMOM

I also have boys who hate to read...so I read to them (yes, even to the 16 year old), and they love it.

 

The ones they enjoyed this year (the 16 and 14 year olds):

 

Daniel X (2 in series so far) by James Patterson --- about a 15 year old boy alien hunter trying to save Terra Firma (Earth) from bad aliens...

 

The Outsiders by SE Hinton --- about a gang of boys from the 'bad' side of town

 

The Old Man and the Sea by Hemingway

 

Robinson Crusoe

 

Johnny Tremian - about a boy who wanted to be a silversmith in Boston and ended up helping the with the Revolution

 

Night by Elie Weisel -- a non-fiction book by a man who survived the concentration camp during WWII

 

Blood on the River -- set in early America, Jamestown, between a young boy and the Indians

 

They really enjoyed the Alex Rider series by Horowitz whcih they read on their own.

 

Hope this helps!

 

Kelly

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I have one ds who is a non-reader and one who is an avid reader. The non-reader will never be someone who reads for enjoyment. Ever. I did all the right things with both kids -- reading aloud, surrounding them with books, sharing my love of books, but reading fiction for pleasure just isn't something that the oldest will do on his own. He does read non-fiction -- the newspaper and trade magazines and that IS reading, and reading that he does for pleasure.

 

Given my experience, and your need to increase your ds's reading level, here are some recommendations:

 

The newspaper -- the business section and sports sections or general news

magazines -- Scientific America, Discover, or computer magazines or whatever topic interests him

 

biographies and memoirs of people in the fields that interest him

 

Fun, readable books:

 

Da Vinci Code (I haven't really liked the other Dan Brown books)

Jurassic Park and other Crighton books such as Andromeda Strain

Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglass Adams

Discworld series by Terry Pratchett (Going Postal is my favorite)

Harry Potter -- can't go wrong with him!

Bill Bryson books, especially his memoir Thunderbolt Kid; also Walk in the Woods

Ender's Game

 

Audio books are also worthwhile, especially to get him used to the language of classic literature:

Sherlock Holmes short stories and especially Hound of the Baskervilles

Tom Sawyer

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some series he might enjoy:

 

Alex Rider by Anthony Horowitz

Alex is a reluctant teen spy. He is forced to work as a spy to complete his uncle's mission. Until his uncle died, he thought that his uncle had been an investment banker. This series is written at a 4th grade level, but is intended for teens. I've thoroughly enjoyed all the books myself.

 

Harry Potter

I'm sure you know all about these. They start off at 5th grade reading level and go up from there.

 

Traces series by Malcolm Rose

This is a mystery series set in the future in England. The main character gets his forensic investigator license at the start of the first book. It's written for teens, but the reading level is just 4th grade. I think these are a lot of fun. They're great Hi/Lo books (high interest, low reading level).

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My son is younger but exactly the same.

 

Here's MY suggestion, since he loves VIDEO GAMES (like my son).

 

What about programming books?

 

My son wont voluntarily open any book. Yet when we went to the bookstore, he was BEGGING us to buy him programming books.

 

So, we started him off on a programming (free) program and bought the book to go with it.

 

Once he finishes this program, we will learn 2d game programming, then 3d game programming, then we will learn how to program wii games.

 

He pours over programming books, and it's learning! Just a thought!

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My ds LOVES the Percy Jackson series by Rick Riordan - he whizzed through those. He also likes Thieves and Kings by Mark Oakley. The Bone books by Jeff Smith are very popular with all of my kids.

 

I'll second the Alex Rider books and Terry Pratchett's books.

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