Adult vs Young Reader's Edition of Book

[domestic_engineer]

As I gather a list of books to read for the Modern History cycle, I see several books offered in both the original, adult version and in a Young Reader's edition.  For teens and tweens, are there any particular books where you strongly advocate one version over the other?  In your house, do you generally gravitate to one version over the other?

(I'm specifically thinking of Unbroken, Hidden Figures, and Boys in a Boat.)

[Homebody2]

I gravitate towards the young adult version. I guess my reason is because I can. Although many of the topics in these books are ones my son, 13, is familiar with, reading them in a narrative form is a whole different experience because the characters are real people from the recent past.

I read the adult version of Unbroken , and I chose for him to read the young adult version because it was much more appropriate, simply because there is a lot of detail in the adult version that just isn't needed to understand and appreciate the story. The man has a colorful childhood and suffers greatly in captivity.

My son also read the young adult version of the other 2 books you mention, but he chose them, not me. He especially enjoyed Hidden Figures.

I'm reading through the young adult version of Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson right now. The adult version is one of the best nonfiction books I have ever read. It is a compelling read about race, inequality, the criminal justice system, the death penalty, sacrifice, determination. These are heavy topics, and again, the characters are real people from the very recent past. And the injustices that they experienced were sometimes brutal (like being raped in prison) and they happened when they were children or barely adults! I know my kid, and he's not ready for that. I haven't read enough to decide if I'll have him read the young adult version now or the adult version later in high school. I think this book would be valuable to read before To Kill a Mockingbird. He ties together life for African Americans since the end of slavery like no author I have ever read. 

Edited December 28, 2019 by Homebody2

[Homebody2]

Off topic, but in case you want more book suggestions to add to the list 😄 my son also read Refugee by Alan Gantz. It's a fictional book written for middle school students and tells the stories of 3 refugee children from different modern-era time periods. They each experience harrowing journeys of survival. Lost in the Pacific, 1942: Not a Drop to Drink tells the true story of 3 WWll soldiers who were shot down and lost at sea.

Edited December 28, 2019 by Homebody2

[Jackie]

We’ve done some books with the YRE, and some with the originals. Overall, I prefer the YREs. In the YREs, technical details not necessary to understanding the narrative are omitted, and it makes the entire book more approachable. In some cases, additional background information is added because there is less assumption that the younger readers will already have the necessary context,