How old was your child when they read Ender's Game?

[madteaparty]

And did you find a need to read along to be able to process it with them. It is not my genre and I'd rather not, frankly..

[regentrude]

Ds was 11 or 12. I did not read the book.

[madteaparty]

Thank you. My 9 year old has asked to read it, though I suspect he will set it aside for later once he does start

[EKS]

My 11yo just read it and loved it.  My older son read it when he was 12 and loved it also.

[Lori D.]

I pre-read it, and when DS was 14 I handed it to him. Because he was older, we didn't discuss, beyond the usual, "Hey, what did you think? I really liked..."

 

I tend to be conservative, and probably would not have recommended it to someone under 13yo. The book was originally written and published for adults. If in doubt, preview, as you know your child best! BEST of luck as you come to a decision. Warmest regards, Lori D.

[Jilly]

My twins were 13. I am not sure I would let anyone much younger than that read it, but I also tend to be conservative in this area. 

[HS Mom in NC]

Between 10 and 12 ish.

[Tess in the Burbs]

my ds read it recently, age 11.5 years old.  I pre-read it.  It's a quick, easy read and not my first choice genre but it was ok.  

[mommymilkies]

My 11 & 12 year olds listened to the audiobook with me.  It was waaaaay more mature than I had anticipated.  They did fine with it, but they did give lots of odd looks at particular spots.  I might not recommend it for kids under 13, honestly.

[Ravin]

I read it at 20 and wished I'd discovered it at 10, when I was reading a lot of classic sci-fi and it would have been right up my alley. That said, the sequels/expansions set in that world I would NOT have been ready for. 13 or so at least would be more appropriate for those.

 

So I'd say for an advanced reader, 10, If they can be patient about the rest of the books.

[AK_Mom4]

DD12 is reading it now after seeing the movie.  The older kids were 12-13yo when they picked it up.

 

While the story is certainly entertaining enough for youngers, there is quite a bit of vicious violence being committed by children.  While there is a point to it in the story, the violence is a bit gruesome for me to recommend it to the under-12 crowd.

[snowbeltmom]

My son was 14 when he read the series.

[MerryAtHope]

I tried to use this as a read-aloud when my kids were 15 and 13. 15 yo was engaged enough that he wanted to finish it, although after it was done he did say that there were quite a few disturbing scenes. 13 yo was appalled at how Ender was treated in the first few chapters, that it was child abuse. She was upset enough that we didn't finish it--and I think this is the only time I've opted NOT to finish a book I was reading aloud.

 

We enjoy a lot of science fiction shows here, so I thought it would be a hit (I hadn't pre-read it--I don't usually with read-alouds). I tried a discussion of genre's--we talked about Fairy Tales and how if the things described in those books really happened, we'd be horrified, but because they are so absurd, we accept the suspension of reality to enjoy the story. (A few years ago we read the unsanitized version of many of the Grimms' tales--my kids referred to it as "The Bloody Book.") But she can't make a similar "leap" with Ender because she's too emotionally close to the idea of how awful it is to mess with a very young child like this. Even though he's obviously not a normal child, has extra-human strength, doesn't think or reason like a 6 yo...

 

My advice would be to either pre-read it or read a lot of reviews online that discuss the troubling aspects of the book, and then decide. I personally wouldn't hand it over to a child younger than high school without pre-reading it.

 

HTH as you decide what to do! Merry :-)
 

[Lizzie in Ma]

13 year old just read it and loved it, I read it years ago. Can't wait to go see the movie with her!

[chelsmm]

Madteaparty- have you read it before?

 

It wasn't "my genre" either, until I read it. It's the book that got me hooked on sci- fi ;)

[RootAnn]

I enjoy Orson Scott Card & have read every book in the Ender series (plus the Shadow series). My dd#1 & dd#2 just recently listened to the audio of both Ender's Game & Ender's Shadow. They both enjoyed them. That said, I'll have to preread the later books in the series before deciding to let them continue. It has been awhile since I read Speaker for the Dead, etc.

[Monica_in_Switzerland]

Ender's Game is one of my favorite books.  I read it when I was about 13 and have re-read it many times.  I would NOT give it to a young child.  The book is about children, but not really for that audience.  There is a lot of child-to-child violence, including murder (in self-defense).  Without giving too much away, the stroy raises MANY moral questions about war and civilian casualities, and if a child knew a bit about Hiroshima and Nagasaki, it might make the interpretation more interesting.  The chidlren are driven to their breaking points by adults that don't really care much about them as people. 

 

It is a really intense book, for all that it is short and an "easy" read. 

 

I get something new from it every tiem I read it.  I like the next two books int he series, and the first few Shadow books, but now I feel like Cardis sort of nursing the Ender brand... 

 

Can't wait to see the movie though!

[AuntPol]

My son read it when he was 10 or 11.