So what are your HS kids reading?

[Sandra in NC]

Here are the books he's read recently. He is an avid reader, reading 2 books outside school assignments, each week. He prefers nonfiction - mostly from the 300's of the Dewey decimal system.

 

The prince / by Machiavelli, Niccolo

Life's a Campaign by Matthews, Chris (good book-- I read it too!)

What WE Say Goes by Chomsky, Noam

Freedom from Oil by Sandalow, David

Violent Politics by Polk, William Roe (dense book...I tried to read it but it put me to sleep.)

 

For school, he's reading Julius Caesar by Shakespeare. (Part of the Stanford EPGY English series).

[Sharon in MD]

He's not a really great reader and would much rather do just about anything else, but, he does like Twain. For pleasure he was reading the Golden Compass series, but got bogged down with too much other work and hasn't picked it back up lately.

 

Me....who has time to read? I barely keep up with the darned texts books. But when there is time and I don't fall asleep the second I get in bed.....Francis Schaefer's How should we then live?

[Jill W.]

17 yod is reading Huckleberry Finn and Leading Lives that Matter for school, and the Stephenie Meyer "Twilight" series for fun.

 

13 yos is reading Call of the Wild for school, and Teach Yourself Electricity and Electronics for fun.

[Guest Lorna]

Our daughter (12) is reading 'Sophie's World'. I haven't seen her all day so she must be enjoying it.

Our son is reading 'Doctor Doolittle's Zoo' by Hugh Lofting on his sister's recommendation.

I am reading Amy Tan's 'The Hundred Secret Senses' and deciding if it is a suitable read for our daughter. I am still not sure. I shall just have to enjoy it some more and forget the housework. ;)

My husband is reading a Biztalk computer manual (he really knows how to have fun!).:eek:

[Mrs. Readsalot]

My ds just finished Potomac Captive, and he loved it. This is not an exceptionally difficult book. This story is fantastic though and he and I both really enjoyed it. It is a true story of Henry Fleete who was taken captive in Virginia in about 1623 by a Native American tribe.

My ds is more of a science kid than a reader. He loves to build complex electronic projects and gadgets. When it comes to reading, I look for books that he will enjoy, and they hopefully will encourage him to be more of a reader.

[Sharon H in IL]

My 11 yo son is reading The Witch of Blackbird Pond, he's reading avidly, but is too proud to admit he likes an assigned book. He's a fairly strong reader, but my 8yo son isn't, so he's enjoying The American Girls series, the first ones about colonial life.

 

Can you tell we're studying colonial America at the moment?

 

I'm reading this thread carefully. I always take notes to see what literature other WTM moms suggest. Thanks for starting the discussion.

 

BTW, I'm going to enjoy this new, private format. Thank you so much.

[MaryM]

Ds, 13, just finished Dante's Divine Comedy, Dorothy Sayers' translation, and absolutely LOVED it! Says it is his all-time favorite pice of Literature. It pulled together all of the previous learning, readings in Greek and Roman history/lit/theology for him which generated some excellent discussions and papers!

 

Mary

[Amy in Orlando]

My 15 yo ds is reading Dante's Inferno - he's enjoying it. For fun reading he's reading Ken Follet's Pillars of the Earth.

 

One of my 14 yo sons is reading Sarum by Edward Rutherford and, for his fun book, he's reading Life of Pi.

 

My other 14 yo, who despises reading, is dragging through Shakespeare Stories by Leon Garfield. For his fun reading he's actually found a series he likes and is working through Maximum Ride by James Patterson. Literature, not quite, but it's nice to see him interested in an actual book.

 

Last week we worked through the Song of Roland - we were all ready to gouge out our eyes by Friday afternoon. The next couple of weeks will be spent on Canterbury Tales which should be a lot more fun.

 

My neighbor just lent me a copy of World Without End by Ken Follet so I'll be reading that as soon as I can. I just finished rereading The Grapes of Wrath. Boy! It's amazing how much of that book was lost on me in high school.

[carolinagirl710]

My 14yo is reading The Aeneid which she is enjoying ...well, she says compared to Homer, the Aeneid is an improvement. She will be thrilled when her year in the Ancients is over! For fun she is reading Moby Dick and Stepping Heavenward.

[Jean in Wisc]

Which translation is she reading? I'd love to find an easier translation for my 14yo.

 

Thanks.

[Tina]

My boys are just not that ambitious!

My 16yos is not a strong reader, but he's working his way through Ben Franklin's autobiography (LL). He's also working his way through the Old Testament and reading Run Baby Run on the side.

 

13yo ds is reading Treasure Island (LL8), but wanting to move onto The Hobbit.

 

Both are listening to Henty's In the Reign of Terror.

 

Dd7 and I just finished The Hundred Dresses.

 

Think I'm too busy with dh's bookwork to read lately. Can't even recall what's sitting next to my chair...

[Guest Katia]

15yo dd is currently reading John Steinbeck short stories for American Lit. She just finished The Open Boat and Red Badge of Courage, and is now reading The Pearl.

 

She reads tons of books for pleasure and usually has at least 5 going at once, and she also re-reads her favorites over and over. Her current re-reads are Mrs. Pollifax and the Whirling Dervish by Dorothy Gillman along three other Dorothy Gillman Mrs. Pollifax books; and Undercover Cat by the Gordons.

 

18yo dd is reading Fountain and Tomb by Naguib Mahfouz, and Wild Swans by Jung Chang.

 

She doesn't have a lot of time for pleasure reading, but just finished C.S. Lewis' Til We Have Faces (for the second time!) and A Week in Winter by Marcia Willet.

[readwithem]

16 dd is reading Canterbury Tales for school and a Robin McKinley library book for fun (Dragon Haven).

[Maxine in WA]

We are studying Transcendentalism so she is reading excerpts from Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, and John Muir. We'll spend next week on this and then she is on to "The Scarlet Letter". By the way, we are using Lightning Literature for my 14yodd. Lightning Literature skips Transcendentalism, but considering Thoreau is one of my favorite authors, I decided to make time to include some of these writings in our curriculum.

[MelodyInTx]

My 15 yo DS and DD are reading Uncle Tom's Cabin. We are only reading the parts of Uncle Toms that pertain to his life.

 

We are using American LL. They seem to enjoy it for the most part, but I supplement often.

[Brigid in NC]

My 17 yo ds is reading The Screwtape Letters. Just finished Great Expectations (a HUGE hit!). :D

 

My 14 yo ds is reading the Adventures of Tom Sawyer, and is about to start Red Badge of Courage. I thought he would love TS -- a fun, easy read. He did like it -- but it wasn't the sheer fun that I imagined it would be for him. I can only guess that he is too far removed from the kinds of activities and antics kids used to enjoy before video games and other electronics. :(

 

~Brigid

[Deidre in GA]

ds 14 is finishing up The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin (LL). he's not enjoying the writing style but is enjoying the story; Franklin has long been one of his historical heroes. for pleasure he is hip-hopping around The Onion's Our Dumb Planet (a Christmas gift from me) and some book on collectible cars.

 

i get my reading in with audiobooks while on the treadmill. just finished up My Antonia - a recommendation from my son, actually, who read it over our holiday break.

[MicheleinMN]

Ds 16 and dd 14 are re-reading the Aeneid and reading Dorothy Mills' History of the Ancient Romans.

 

They both have done very well with the classics so far. Ds does not read for entertainment very often. Dd reads most everything she can get her hands on.

 

Michele

[Holly S/NC]

My 13 yo has just finished Pride and Prejudice and is currently reading Glass Menagerie for school. She reads a lot and is currently working her way through all the Naruto books (shudder!).

 

I just finished Eat, Pray, Love and am now reading Middlesex for my book club.

 

Enjoy,

Holly

[TravelingChris]

My 14yo DD was reading Bulfinch's Mythology for school but she is now continuing for pleasure. She also is talking a AP government text by Wilson and somebody. She will be starting this week on the novel from which Mr. Smith Goes to Washington is based.

 

I have been reading some books for book clubs: The Kite runners, Waiting, and lots of mysteries for pleasure.

[Guest Virginia Dawn]

17yo ds is reading Cannibals in Cars, a short story collection by Mark Twain.

14yo ds is reading The Mysterious Benedict Society.

[Susan M in WA]

They just finished Uncle Tom's Cabin and neither enjoyed it. Next is Huckleberry Finn which we missed earlier but want to read after Uncle Tom.

 

My 17 yo is reading a book of short stories for her CC Creative Writing class and some random books she picked up at a library book sale.

 

My 15 yo is also reading Kicked, Bitten and Scratched which is a nonfiction book about an animal training college.

[MOCA]

C.S. Lewis---lesser known fiction and all non-fiction

[txbloobonnet]

My 18 year old son is reading Emma and is not liking it one bit. He says it is too detailed and nothing ever happens! :eek:

 

My 15 year old daughter is reading Moby Dick and she is actually enjoying it and loving the symbolism.

 

I am reading Atonement, and it is a slow paced book with lots of details. It has not been a fast or easy read, but I am anxious to find out how it ends.

[pianoplayer]

My almost 14-year-old son is a voracious reader. He is currently two-thirds of the way through Adler's How to Read a Book. After that I expect him to read Postman's Amusing Ourselves to Death and Weaver's Ideas Have Consequences. I'm hoping that Adler's ideas will help him get the most out of these important books.

[Zoraida]

My 13 year old son is reading Robert Louis Stevenson's Kidnapped (required reading) and for pleasure he is reading The Wednesday Wars by Gary D. Schmidt.

 

My 14 year old son is reading The Hound of Baskerville by Arthur Conan Doyle (required reading). He noticed that in our area that Tom Cruise's War of the World will be on ABC Saturday night so I am requiring that he reads the original novel before he watches the movie. He's reading it and loving it. For pleasure he is reading Airman by Eoin Colfer.

 

My 16 year old daughter is reading The Portable Dante (required reading). My daughter is the most avid reader out of my 7 children. She constantly has a book in her hand. She wants to go to collage and major in English or library science. She has a stack of books in her pleasure reading pile. The last time I looked at her pile the books were: To Kill a Mocking Bird, A. S. Byatt's Possession, The Thirteenth Tale, The Time Traveler's Wife and Water for Elephants.

 

My 18 year old son who has been accepted to Our Lady of the Lake University in San Antonio, TX and who says he might be considering the priesthood is reading Ivanhoe (required reading) and for pleasure: The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly and My Losing Season by Pat Conroy. We were watching Oprah this afternoon and she had her book club show. After watching this my son thought that Ken Follet's Pillar of the Earth sounded like a good read. So he's supposed to be at Barnes and Noble about now (hopefully) purchasing the book for another pleasure read.

 

Blessings

 

Zoraida

[Nan in Mass]

Well, I'm impressed by Maus! It is highly thought of in my extended family. And it is too good for me to read.

-Nan

[Nan in Mass]

We're not always sure exactly what is going on in both of them, but that leads to some interesting discussions. Generally, we're enjoying them. The youngest is reading The Hobbit for fun and the older one some sort of male escape literature. The younger one is reading Number the Stars for history. The older one is also reading a non-fiction book about the historical basis for Dracula, which he read this summer and enjoyed (except when it dragged) and doing his junior research paper on. And I'm reading the last Harry Potter in French (taking me a bit of time), a book on transcripts and portfolios, Et si c'etait ca, le bonheur?, Making Watercolour Sing, one of my beloved Patricia McKillips, and as a before sleep book, Pride and Prejudice (for the umpteenth time).

[Nan in Mass]

Which computer game? We're reading The Inferno, too, among other things.

[mcconnellboys]

Nine year old, fourth grade boy: Hitler's Daughter, which he says is really good; a bio of Hitler by Usborne for younger children; a version of Anne Frank's story, I think by Hurwitz - and I think that's all - can you tell we're studying WWII right now?

 

Oh, and I think he's going through the third Harry Potter book at about a chapter a day on his own..... and he just brought home one of Schwarz' books of scary stories for the second or third time.....

 

Regena

[Nan in Mass]

Ooh! My boys all love Coral Island.

[Jan P.]

Hi Susan,

 

My 15 year old is reading Tolkein's Fellowship of the Ring,

 

My 12 year old is reading Watership Down and The Once and Future King.

 

I'm reading Mr. Knightley's Diary. Not exactly a Great Book, but it's a fun read!

[Pam H]

My 15yo just finished The Crucible . He enjoyed it very much. He has started A Raisin in the Sun. With the help of an online co-op, he is enjoying the classics from TOG Y4 this year! Yay!! He is reading The Two Towers on his own.

 

My 13yo is about to start reading The Cross and the Swithblade Still waiting for the joy to hit this one. :rolleyes:

[Catherine]

assigned he is working on To Kill a Mockingbird. I'm re-reading my childhood faves, the Little House series, as I read them to my youngers.

[mama25angels]

A Christmas Carol and trying hard not to read it.:o:o

[Harriet Vane]

Dd is toggling between the Redwall series and Oliver Twist. She is 11yo.

 

I am reading ds some of the Old Mother West Wind stories (which he loves). He is also really, really proud of the Bible he got for Christmas and is laboriously working his way through one sentence at a time. He's still on the first page of Genesis, but is very proud to tell people he's reading the *real* Bible all by himself. He is 6yo.

[LisaNY]

is reading The Inferno, as is my husband. (Ciardi's translation because we own two copies of it!)

 

Jane

 

I really like the Ciardi translation. I leafed through Pinsky, but didn't like it as much. We only read a little bit of it last year, but my (then) 12yo. dd. found it interesting. :)

[Halftime Hope]

Dyslexia runs in my family, ds 18 and ds 13 both diagnosed and dd 15 has a couple of the traits.

 

So, our reading:

 

Ds18 - struggling, since abstract thinking is not his forte, through a Brit Lit textbook this semester (sonnets at the moment) after having read Sir Gawain in Old English, Beowulf in Old English, Piers the Plowman, and selected Canterbury tales in a side-by-side translation. he had asked for "whole books" but now is happy to revert to a textbook and get "just the facts ma'am".

 

Dd15 - reading To Kill a Mockingbird and just began Sayers' Gaudy Night for her Inklings class. Trying to make the leap to Brit culture is a stretch, as there is so much with which she is unfamiliar, but she's enjoying the relative "lightness" of the book, as compared to the other Inklings they've read. We were LOL at various aspects of "Talboys", a Lord Peter Wimsey story. I'll have to find more. Sheis also enthralled reading her new study bible notes for pleasure.

 

Ds 13 - reading The Hobbit. This is a major undertaking for him, and was of his own volition. He is *very* dyslexic, so this is a big deal. We have just been issued a new tape player, so reading along with books on tape will resume shortly.

 

I wanted to share, because for some of us, the educational path is not so stellar, not so superlative, but we keep on plodding, glad of the small triumphs.

 

Val

[Linda in NM]

My 13 yos is reading Valley of the Broken Cherry Trees (for "school") and one of the Warriors books (for fun--cat warriors)...we're reading Robinson Crusoe together, and I'm reading all the Fairacre books I can find!

[Rebecca in VA]

For years he was my unmotivated, stubborn, and asocial child. Last year he got a taste of leadership (patrol leader for Scouts) and he loved it! He serves this year as the Senior Patrol Leader for his troop of 60 Scouts. He works very, very hard at this -- he's constantly sending out helpful e-mails and agonizing over better ideas for campouts and trips. He has also joined moot court, and he's working hard and successfully there also.

 

We'd been fearful that this boy would take after his extremely hard-to-deal-with paternal grandfather. Suddenly (with the help of Proxac) he has done a U-turn and turned on the charm. He's now just like his very successful business executive *other* grandfather.

 

Don't give up hope, ladies! If this child could straighten out, there's hope for anyone!

[Grace is Sufficient]

Currently, he's reading Pilgrim's Progress and The Hobbit. Earlier reading for the year has included A Christmas Carol, Julius Caesar, Treasure Island, and Mere Christianity.

 

He's very much a math/science kid so even this has been a stretch.

[Tullia]

...it's part of his training as a future husband.:D For school we're reading Merchant of Venice.