History and Science book recommendations

[moonlight]

Hi,

 

We aren't getting enough science or history done here consistently. DS13 has done about half of Big History Project. We are putting it on hold for now to do in a co-op setting next year which I think will be more beneficial in a group. He is trying to get through Conceptual Physics, but he's just doing the reading at this point and doesn't feel like he's getting enough out of it. My husband has really dropped the ball with that with him!  :glare:

 

Can I get book recommendations for history and science please for him to read on his own? He is a very strong reader, mature and is great with comprehension.

 

Anything interesting in science would be good. I have a couple already lined up: The Third Chimpanzee for Young Readers and The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind for Young Readers. 

 

For history, it's a bit tough. He doesn't have a good big picture of history in general. So, anything in that department would be awesome. He also claims to not like history so anything of high interest might appeal to him. 

 

Thanks!

 

[Kerileanne99]

If you aren't looking for anything too structured, for a 13 yo boy the Horrible Histories box set would be awesome:)

 

For that matter, the Horrible Science set would be as well:)

 

We do a designated free reading, history reading, science reading, and math reading time every day and my kiddo regularly chooses these!

[moonlight]

We have those! I think he may have gone through most of them though.

[hellen]

The Secret Subway has been my son's favorite.

 

Others he has read include:

Decoding Life

Bushnell's Submarine

Dr. Jenner and the Speckled Monster

 

I can't think of any others off the top of my head but I get a lot of my ideas from the NSTA recommendations. It's the National Science Teacher's Association. There is a social studies list also. I think if you google best social studies trade books you'll find it. They have a nice selection of history books.

[Aurelia]

Science:

The Disappearing Spoon

Itch: The Explosive Adventures of an Element Hunter

Uncle Tungsten

The Violinist's Thumb

Exploring the History of Medicine

The Story of Science trilogy (Hakim) 

 

History:

Steve Sheinkin books: Bomb, Two Miserable Presidents, Most Dangerous, etc. 

Sugar Changed the World

Wicked History series

Dead Famous series (very similar to Horrible Histories)

A Picturesque Tale of Progress has a ton of information from the earliest civilizations through the Middle Ages, presented in a narrative, but it isn't super-high interest and some of the terms are a bit dated, as it was printed in the 1920s, I think. 

[Chrysalis Academy]

Sorry about the wonky numbering, I cut and pasted. Here are things my dd has read and enjoyed the last two years:

 

8th grade

1.       The Year of the Turtle - David M. Carroll

2.       The Forest Unseen - David G Haskell

3.       The Story of Science – Susan Wise Bauer

4.       Genome – Matt Ridley

3.       The Clockwork Universe: Isaac Newton, The Royal Society & the Birth of the Modern World – Edward Dolnick

4.       Bomb: The Race to Build and Steal the World’s Most Dangerous Weapon – Steve Sheinkin

5.       The Science of Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials – Mary and John Gribben

6.       Science Matters: Achieving Scientific Literacy – Robert Hazen & James Trefil

7.       A Short History of Nearly Everything – Bill Bryson

8.       Carbon Chemistry – Ellen McHenry

9.       The Cell – Ellen McHenry

 

7th grade (while doing Big History)

1.       A Mind for Numbers: How to Succed in Math and Science

2.       Do You Wanna Bet? Your Chance to Find Out about Probability – Jean Cushman

3.       Dr. Art’s Guide to Planet Earth

5.       Think: Why You Should Question Everything – Guy P Harrison

6.       The Skull in the Rock – Lee Berger & Marc Aronson

7.       Evolution – Daniel Loxton

8.       Bones, Brains and DNA – Ian Tattersall

9.       The Third Chimpanzee for Young People – Jared Diamond

10.   Dr. Art’s Guide to Science

13.   The Omnivore’s Dilemma – Young Reader Edition – Michael Pollan

14.   A Compact History of Humankind

15.   Watersheds: A Practical Approach for Healthy Water – Clive Dobson

16.   Eyes Wide Open: Going Beyond the Environmental Headlines

17.   From Then Till Now – Christopher Moore

18.   String, Straightedge and Shadow: The Story of Geometry

19.   Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind – Yuval Harari (read aloud by me)

 

[moonlight]

Thank you all for the book recs! These will keep us busy for a long while. I'm happy to see some that we already own, some we've already read and many I'm looking forward to getting!