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Great books for young teens?


Woodhaven
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You guys have already helped me out a LOT with ideas for my boys in the "gifts for boys" thread a while back.  Now I'm looking for great books to give for Christmas or birthdays.  My eldest and youngest have birthdays right after Christmas.

 

What books have your sons loved?

 

I have already purchased some of the Ranger's Apprentice books.  Any other ideas - especially for my 14 yo son, (but also for the rest)?  My kids are 9 (almost), 11, 12, 14 (almost).

 

We have SO many books already, mostly for school.  But I want to give them some great books just for fun.  They all love to read and read very well. 

 

Thank you very much for your ideas!!

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I posted this one in your last thread:

 

Oh, Yuck! The Encyclopedia of Everything Nasty.

 

For science lovers, I'd recommend The Elements: A Visual Exploration of Every Known Atom in the Universe by Theodore Gray. It's  a stunning book that anyone might enjoy browsing through.

 

I've also seen a recent recommendation for Solar System: A Visual Exploration of All the Planets, Moons and Other Heavenly Bodies that Orbit Our Sun by Marcus Chown.

 

Do you have any math fans?  Consider books by Theoni Pappas or her The Mathematics Calendar 2014.

 

Our teen enjoyed reading Classic Feynman: All the Adventures of a Curious Character

which is a compilation of two of Richard Feynman's earlier books -- "Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!" and "What Do You Care What Other People Think?".

The edition I've linked above is wonderful because it includes a CD of Richard Feynman telling some great stories of his time at Los Alamos.

A non-book possibility to consider that my teen loved (and our whole family continues to enjoy) is the music of Tom Lehrer. I suggest An Evening Wasted With Tom Lehrer (This is not for the easily offended even though many of his numbers were first recorded in the fifties and sixties.) You may be most familiar with his songs The Elements (look on Youtube) or Poisoning Pigeons in the Park.

Regards,
Kareni

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My boys are 9-14 (14 year old will be 15 next month). 

 

Favorites (from younger to older): 

 

the Fudge books

Baseball Card Adventure series

the Moomintroll books

Diary of a Wimpy Kid

Calvin and Hobbes

My Side of the Mountain

Redwall

Bud, Not Buddy

Ender's Game & the Bean series

The Mysterious Benedict Society

The Cryptids

The Lord of the Rings series (12)

Sherlock Holmes 

the Harry Potter books

the Pendragon series 

Coraline or The Graveyard Book (14)

the Maze Runner series (13)

Hunger Games series (13)

the Eagle of the Ninth trilogy 

mid-grade versions (like Rosemary Sutcliff's) of The Illiad, The Odyssey, and Gilgamesh 

World War Z (14)

HP Lovecraft horror stories (14)

 

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