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Can you recommed a Survival Story Book for 13 yr old Boy?

Nicholas_mom
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Nicholas_mom

Nicholas_mom

Posted
Posted

Hi,

 

I was going to have my ds read "Hatchet" but there is a part to the story that will not make sense to him.  The part of a mother "kissing passionately" not his dad.

 

Something about it is not sitting with me.  I don't know.

 

I was wondering if there are other survival type novel I might be missing?

 

 

Carol in Cal.

Carol in Cal.

Posted
Posted (edited)

Julie of the Wolves. Because it's a good book, and boys should read books about brave, tough girls.

 

If he is 'olderish', he might like:

 

"Into The Wild", although it has a much-foreshadowed unhappy ending.  It does include a lot of survival information, and can be read as a cautionary tale.

 

This book is not a survivor novel, but it is the best book about mentally improving your odds that I have ever read, and it has lots of true stories in it.  It is well-written, very engaging, with lots of food for thought.  I wish I had read this before DD went into her wilderness adventure phase--I would definitely have assigned it to her.  http://www.amazon.com/Deep-Survival-Who-Lives-Dies/dp/0393326152/ref=sr_1_30?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1460996715&sr=1-30&keywords=survival

 

Edited by Carol in Cal.
  • Like 1
Lori D.

Lori D.

Posted
Posted

grade 5-8 age range, closer to the younger end:

- My Side of the Mountain (George) -- boy lives a year alone by choice hunting/making everything

- Call it Courage (Armstrong) -- South Pacific boy lives alone on an island to overcome his fear of sailing

- The Cay (Taylor) -- shipwreck survival

- Heart of a Samurai (Preus) -- shipwreck survival, based on a true story

- The Incredible Journey (Burnford) -- true story of 3 pets who travel hundreds of miles to rejoin their family

 

grade 5-8 range, closer to the older end:

- Island of the Blue Dolphins (O'Dell) -- young woman survival story on an island alone, based on true story

- Broken Blade (Durbin) -- young teen must take his father's place on a year 1800 canoe exploration trip

- Walk the World's Rim (Baker) -- Spanish conquistadors in the New World turns into more about survival

 

grade 7+

- Lost in the Barrens (Mowat) -- 2 brothers surviving in the Arctic
- Banner in the Sky (Ullman) -- overcoming the mountain peak that his father died on
- I am David (Holm) -- boy escapes a 1960s communist camp and must cross Eastern Europe alone to freedom
- The King's Fifth (O'Dell) -- Spanish conquistadors in the New World turns into more about survival
- Julie of the Wolves (George) -- teen girl in the Alaskan tundra; there is one brief non-graphic moment that is the reason she is in the wilderness surviving -- the teen she is going to be forced to marry pushes her down with the intent of forcing her to had s*x -- it could pass over the head...

 

classics, or high school level

- Robinson Crusoe (Dafoe) -- the original shipwreck survival story

- Captains Courageous (Kipling) -- pampered boy falls overboard, learns to earn his keep on the fishing boat that rescued him

- Kon Tiki (Heyersdahl) -- non-fiction; 6 men in the 1940s recreate a log raft and sail from South America to South Pacific islands

- Swiss Family Robinson (Wyss) -- 1800s family shipwreck survival story 

- True Spirit (Watson) -- 16yo girl who sailed around the world in 2010

- Dove (Graham) -- autobiography of 18-year who sailed around the world in the 1960s

- Sailing Alone Around the World (Slocum) -- man who sailed around the world in the the 1800s

  • Like 2
Lawyer&Mom

Lawyer&Mom

Posted
Posted

This book is not a survivor novel, but it is the best book about mentally improving your odds that I have ever read, and it has lots of true stories in it. It is well-written, very engaging, with lots of food for thought. I wish I had read this before DD went into her wilderness adventure phase--I would definitely have assigned it to her. http://www.amazon.com/Deep-Survival-Who-Lives-Dies/dp/0393326152/ref=sr_1_30?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1460996715&sr=1-30&keywords=survival

Deep Survival is fantastic. Thanks for the reminder of such a great book.

*Jessica*

*Jessica*

Posted
Posted

Another recommendation for My Side of the Mountain. I read it last year for the first time and it is now my favorite children's book.

 

On a related note, I received a new book today titled The Natural Navigator: The Rediscovered Art of Letting Nature Be Your Guide by Tristan Gooley. I've only flipped through the book since I just received it, but it looks really fantastic for a kid interested in outdoor adventuring/wilderness survival. (We are doing a geography focus next year and I thought this might be a fun book to add as our nature study.)

  • Like 1
8filltheheart

8filltheheart

Posted
Posted

Another recommendation for My Side of the Mountain. I read it last year for the first time and it is now my favorite children's book.

 

On a related note, I received a new book today titled The Natural Navigator: The Rediscovered Art of Letting Nature Be Your Guide by Tristan Gooley. I've only flipped through the book since I just received it, but it looks really fantastic for a kid interested in outdoor adventuring/wilderness survival. (We are doing a geography focus next year and I thought this might be a fun book to add as our nature study.)

If you like The Natural Navigator, you might want to look at Finding Your Way w/o Map or Compass. I previewed both last yr when I was writing Homeschooling at the Helm. I liked them both, but Finding Your Way ended up making its way to the top of the stack. http://www.amazon.com/Finding-Your-Way-Without-Compass/dp/048640613X

  • Like 1
Emba

Emba

Posted
Posted

Sign of the Beaver, by Elizabeth George Speare

 

I also second Island of the Blue Dolphins and Julie of the Wolves.

 

Just read The Cay recently, and it is pretty good, too.

  • Like 1
Ravin

Ravin

Posted
Posted

Scratching my head about why that part of Hatchet won't make sense? I mean, the kid's parents divorced. He saw his mother's indiscretion and it's been eating at him. 

  • Like 1
Guest

Guest

Posted
Posted (edited)

Last of the Breed--It is about a Navajo Indian who is captured and escapes the Russians during World War 2. He crosses Siberia and escapes to Alaska.

Edited by Paradox5
Rachel

Rachel

Posted
Posted

Scratching my head about why that part of Hatchet won't make sense? I mean, the kid's parents divorced. He saw his mother's indiscretion and it's been eating at him.

I agree!

 

As a fairly conservative Christian I let my 8 year old read Hatchet and the rest of the series. Granted he doesn't know any divorced people and although I have told him my parents were divorced, I doubt he gets what it means. If he thought anything at all about that, he probably thought "that's odd" or something similar. He was definitely more interested in the survival part of the story. I'm going to have to go back and read that part of the book now! A 13 year old may have a few more questions, but he's not far from wanting to kiss people himself.

 

Even if I don't understand, I don't judge why people think certain reading material is ok or not, I'm sure there are things on my list that make people scratch their head. I'm also very inconsistent in what movies and tv shows I approve for my kids. ;)

 

OP has your son read "Where the Red Fern Grows"? I didn't see it recommended above.

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