The 5th Wave series?

[justme824]

I am curious if anyone has read this and what age you would recommend it for. My oldest has asked to read the series and I am not sure. I see reviews of kids as young as age 11/12, but then I see others say not at all until age 14/15.

 

I'd pre-read but I hardly have time to get through my own reading right now.

 

I'm not enjoying wading through all the YA lit out there so if anyone has any good rocommendations for a strong 12-year-old reader I'd appreciate.

[J&JMom]

The plot essentially is aliens killing off the planet with teenage protagonists. If your kid could handle Hunger Games then this should be fine. I have read the first two books and enjoyed HG more.  

[SparklyUnicorn]

Hey sounds interesting. 

[The Girls' Mom]

My daughters and I enjoyed them.  There are a few love scene type things, but I think it isn't too bad from what I remember.  I can't even remember if they ever actually do anything in the book?  (It was very much implied in the movie)  I wouldn't have really had an issue with my girls reading them at 12 or so.

Edited June 12, 2016 by The Girls' Mom

[jamijoy]

My 15 year old and I enjoyed them. There is a lot of cussing, especially in the third book. The love scenes are PG-13 I think.

The Divergent Series is also good.

[JoJosMom]

My DD is 13 and will turn 14 in August.  She read this last October.  When I asked her for her age recommendation, here's what she said:  "I think I agree with Common Sense Media's recommendation - basically, 13 and above. Depending on the maturity of the reader, maybe younger, but 11 at the youngest."

 

When I asked her why, she said:  "There is sexual content.  A couple of characters are sexually active.  It's not graphic and is more implied, but it's there.  Also, if they're conservative Christians, it might be a problem.  The main character is an atheist and says some things questioning God that might be a problem." (Note:  We are evangelical Christians, but I wouldn't describe us as very theologically conservative, if that is helpful background information for you.)

 

The language is also salty.  The "f" word is used 4-5 times in the first book, but DD says that it's not gratuitous and kind of fits the circumstances. (Not to condone it, but the author isn't just dropping bad language to shock the reader.)

 

That said, she's read the first and second books and really enjoyed them.

 

(I feel your pain on the trying to sort out the YA content, OP.  Luckily, we've reached the stage where DD will self-police and set aside things that don't meet family rules.  It's a very good thing, because I simply can't keep up with her!)

 

[justme824]

My DD is 13 and will turn 14 in August.  She read this last October.  When I asked her for her age recommendation, here's what she said:  "I think I agree with Common Sense Media's recommendation - basically, 13 and above. Depending on the maturity of the reader, maybe younger, but 11 at the youngest."

 

When I asked her why, she said:  "There is sexual content.  A couple of characters are sexually active.  It's not graphic and is more implied, but it's there.  Also, if they're conservative Christians, it might be a problem.  The main character is an atheist and says some things questioning God that might be a problem." (Note:  We are evangelical Christians, but I wouldn't describe us as very theologically conservative, if that is helpful background information for you.)

 

The language is also salty.  The "f" word is used 4-5 times in the first book, but DD says that it's not gratuitous and kind of fits the circumstances. (Not to condone it, but the author isn't just dropping bad language to shock the reader.)

 

That said, she's read the first and second books and really enjoyed them.

 

(I feel your pain on the trying to sort out the YA content, OP.  Luckily, we've reached the stage where DD will self-police and set aside things that don't meet family rules.  It's a very good thing, because I simply can't keep up with her!)

 

Tell your DD thank you - this is exactly what I was looking for!

[JoJosMom]

Tell your DD thank you - this is exactly what I was looking for!

 

Oh, good!  And I will definitely pass on your comments; she's a book lover and sharing thoughts about the things that she reads is one of her favorite things!  I'm glad that we could help. :001_smile:

[Farrar]

I'll add... there's a good bit of psychological twist stuff going on in these. I haven't read the third one but I was happy with how the first two had something more to them than the violence and romance elements - something missing from a lot of YA these days. More like Hunger Games in terms of having themes worth thinking about than some of the knock off dystopians. Agreed with the above about the references to sex and the peppered swear words. The violence is more graphic than the sexual content.

[momof4inco]

My son (12) loves this series, can't get enough of this type of book. I find that looking at Common Sense Media and Amazon reviews is really helpful. My biggest concern is always sex scenes - I remember reading books with plenty of sex scenes at this age, but I'm still a little nervous about it with my son. He's a lot less mature (in a good way) than I was at this age.

 

He loved: Hunger Games series, Divergent series, Maze Runner series, The Eye of Minds series, Guysread books, Don't Turn Around series, several books by Robison Wells. He's about to read the BZRK series and Gone series, both by Michael Grant. I know there are more, but we usually check them out at the library and I can't remember some of them.

 

I struggled for the longest time to find something for him to read. He doesn't get to sleep very quickly, so he'll read these books until well after midnight most nights. I know they aren't all considered "quality" reads, but I'll keep getting them if he keeps reading. I would love for him to read classics!

[Southern Ivy]

I couldn't get into the first one. Sounds like I need to try it again.

 

 

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[justme824]

My son (12) loves this series, can't get enough of this type of book. I find that looking at Common Sense Media and Amazon reviews is really helpful. My biggest concern is always sex scenes - I remember reading books with plenty of sex scenes at this age, but I'm still a little nervous about it with my son. He's a lot less mature (in a good way) than I was at this age.

 

He loved: Hunger Games series, Divergent series, Maze Runner series, The Eye of Minds series, Guysread books, Don't Turn Around series, several books by Robison Wells. He's about to read the BZRK series and Gone series, both by Michael Grant. I know there are more, but we usually check them out at the library and I can't remember some of them.

 

I struggled for the longest time to find something for him to read. He doesn't get to sleep very quickly, so he'll read these books until well after midnight most nights. I know they aren't all considered "quality" reads, but I'll keep getting them if he keeps reading. I would love for him to read classics!

 

My biggest concern is always about sexual content and sometimes, even with reviews, I am not sure. And thank you for the list of books he's enjoyed. I'll be sure to check them out for him!