Books for My 17 Year Old

[goldenecho]

Hi.   I am looking for books for my 17 year old who used to be an avid reader but now rarely reads books except for school (he's not homeschooled).

The last book he got for fun was some ancient Chinese epic folk tale that he was convinced to try after seeing it on Overly Sarcastic Productions.   But that's not his normal style.  

Book series he used to really like are anything by Stewart Gibbs (Spy School, Spaced, that animal series I can't remember the name of), the Origami Yoda Series, the Kid Detective series by John Grisham (hmm...maybe I should get him a modern John Grisham).   He also really liked The Hunger Games.

Of the books he had to read in school he liked V for Vendetta and a book by Trever Noah (autobiography I think).  

He liked Of Mice and Men until the end, and then he hated it, so no depressing endings.   He HATED The Great Gatsby. 

Thanks so much!    I'm ok with violence and swearing.   I'm also ok with Christian books (but I think he'd not like it if it was overly preachy).   IFiction or narrative nonfiction (nonfiction that tells a story, like a biography or memoir) would both be good. 

[BookMamaLade]

An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir

Ballad of Snakes and Songbirds (Hunger Games Prequel)

The Lord of the Rings trilogy

Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Odd Thomas by Dean Koontz

 

[Momto6inIN]

The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings

Divergent series

[Lori D.]

books by Douglas Adams -- high on humor
- The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
- The Restaurant at the End of the Universe (sequel) -- the next 3 sequels were not great, and rather crude
- Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency

books by Terry Pratchett -- high on humor
- the Bromeliad trilogy: Diggers, Truckers, Wings
- Discworld series: (40+ books in that world setting, and not linear); I recommend the following as esp. fun: Color of Magic; Interesting Times; Mort; Hogfather; Thief of Time
- Good Omens (Pratchett + Neil Gaiman)

mystery/detective
- One of Us is Lying (McManus)
- Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore (Sloan)

action/intrigue
- Alex Rider series (Horowitz) -- a sort of teen "James Bond"

teen dystopia, fast reads
- Ender's Game (Card)
- The 5th Wave trilogy (Yancey)
- The Uglies series (Westerfeld)
- Divergent series (Roth)
- Maze Runner series (Dashner)

dystopia, but not heavy
- Ready Player One (Cline)
- Shades of Gray (Fforde) -- note: this is NOT the s*x book with a very similar title
- The Tripods: The White Mountains (Christopher) 

sci-fi
- The Martian (Weir) -- the classroom edition cleans out the abundance of 4-letter words; a "shipwrecked on Mars" adventure
- The Murderbot Diaries (Wells) -- there is some 4-letter words, but... fast paced, humor, and like the action "cut scenes" in a video game; I am almost embarrassed at how MUCH I enjoyed this series 😉 


And of course, if he hasn't already read them -- young teen characters, but they get older in each book:
- Percy Jackson series
- Harry Potter series

Edited December 19, 2020 by Lori D.

[daijobu]

My dd also enjoyed memoirs of people she's admired including RBG.  She's currently reading A Very Punchable Face by Colin Jost.  (Since your DS enjoyed Trevor Noah.)  

[EKS]

How about Michael Crichton's books?

[MamaSprout]

My kiddo who liked Trevor Noah also liked:

The Martian... 4 letter words and all. My mom swears like a sailor, so we are kind of immune.

Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth

Anything Randall Monroe

100 Year Old Man Who Climbed Out a Window and Disappeared.

She mostly liked and mostly read the Hitchhiker's series... Like Lori said they kind of go down hill.

She liked the Matched series... maybe more for a female audience?

Inquisitor's Tale-For a somewhat younger audience (get it at the library? Quick read, but very engaging) 

The Chosen

The Importance of Being Earnest

East (female protagonist though)

The Golden Compass books (sorry SWB). She didn't care for the last one, though.

I liked the White Mountains book Lori suggests, but dd didn't think it lived up to it's potential.

ETA- She also liked Michelle Obama's book.

 

Edited December 22, 2020 by MamaSprout

[Servant4Christ]

I second Maze Runner and Divergent Series. Also, maybe The Giver and Eragon books. Oh, and what about Lorien Legacies Series?

Edited January 3, 2021 by Servant4Christ

[LindaOz]

My 16yo son is not a massive reader but he loved Going Solo, autobiography of Roald Dahl. Loved it!!

He also really enjoys the Ranger's Apprentice series by John Flanagan. He reads these for fun over and over. 

[clara_jenkins]

On 12/18/2020 at 10:41 AM, goldenecho said:

Hi.   I am looking for books for my 17 year old who used to be an avid reader but now rarely reads books except for school (he's not homeschooled).

The last book he got for fun was some ancient Chinese epic folk tale that he was convinced to try after seeing it on Overly Sarcastic Productions.   But that's not his normal style.  

Book series he used to really like are anything by Stewart Gibbs (Spy School, Spaced, that animal series I can't remember the name of), the Origami Yoda Series, the Kid Detective series by John Grisham (hmm...maybe I should get him a modern John Grisham).   He also really liked The Hunger Games.

Of the books he had to read in school he liked V for Vendetta and a book by Trever Noah (autobiography I think).  

He liked Of Mice and Men until the end, and then he hated it, so no depressing endings.   He HATED The Great Gatsby. 

There are so many good books advised to you here! Tell me, have you managed to return your son's love of reading? I have advice for you as well. Have a look at this site at your leisure https://freebooksummary.com/category/out-of-the-silent-planet there is a lot of information about different books here. Almost every day I read a summary on a book there, and soon I read it in full (now I am reading Out of the Silent Planet). But, thanks to this site, I can pick up interesting books by description.

Thanks so much!    I'm ok with violence and swearing.   I'm also ok with Christian books (but I think he'd not like it if it was overly preachy).   IFiction or narrative nonfiction (nonfiction that tells a story, like a biography or memoir) would both be good. 

There are so many good books advised to you here! Tell me, have you managed to return your son's love of reading?

[EKS]

There are sequels to The Chosen.