recommended reading for year 7 boy, reluctant reader

[lu9months]

any good ideas? he didn't get into the cherub series, only seems to like fact books or cartoon books. needs to have something to read at school, but tends to get half way through books and then give up

[SueDunome]

Gone series, or just let him read factual books. How about an autobiography?

[Lilaclily]

Is he obsessed with anything?
My ds was obsessed with man u and loved the Alex Ferguson biog
He also loved star wars so I got him the new graphic novels from the force awakens
Also The Simpson graphic novels

The football series, I forget the author but one title was shoot to win, Dan freedman I think ?

[lu9months]

no he's not that into football unfortunately!

[SharonfromEON]

Captain underpants
Diary of a wimpy kid
Tom Gates
Horrid Henry.
Roald dahl..

David Walliams last book the worst children much easier read.

With my DS I find sometimes reading a chapter each helps.

[SharonfromEON]

sorry just realised year 7 not age 7

[PitchFork]

how to train your dragon books
beastquest
astrid lindgren: karlsson on the roof is a firm favourite here

[PitchFork]

oops

[lu9months]

thanks all these are a bit young for him. he's a bright kid, just not inspired by reading!

[PitchFork]

would something like mallory towers appeal to him (or a boys equivalent)?
classics like the scorcerers mill from preussler?

[Acopyofacopy]

Gone
The Maze Runner
Pig Heart Boy
Divergence
The Hunger Games
Diary of Anne Frank
When Hitler stole pink rabbit
The last wild
His dark materials
Dark Lord Series (similar in style to the wimpy kid)

[WuTangFlan]

Elementia Chronicles - Minecraft-based

[notagiraffe]

Has he read the Alex Rider series by Anthony Horowitz? DS1 hated reading until he started on those and then he got hooked. Worth a try.

Louis Sachar's books Holes and Small Steps are absolutely brilliant too.

DS2 liked John Green's stuff (The Fault In Our Stars etc) at that age. Good for the less macho sporty boy.

What about some easy to read classics like Curious Incident or Animal Farm?

[notagiraffe]

Flip By Martyn Bedford is also brilliant.

[MoonfaceAndSilky]

My DS hates reading and would no-way read a thick book.
Have you tried the Barrington Stoke books? They are for children with dyslexia/reluctant readers, so are shorter in length but the content is for an older child.
My son liked 'pale' by Chris Wooding.

www.barringtonstoke.co.uk/?s=pale

[RedAmberGreen1]

Agree with the Horowitz Alex Rider books, if he's into spies: he's also done a couple of other children's series Power of Five was one. Nicholas Fisk if he likes sci-fi. Andy McNab if he likes soldiers (make sure you get the childrens' books though, not the adults!)

I'm assuming he's tried Harry Potter and doesn't like them? Perhaps the Demon headmaster by Gillian Cross?

Some older ones, the Sherlock Holmes stories. A lot of the famous ones are short stories, only about 8-10k words, so easy to get through. Possibly some of the shorter Agatha Christie's if he's into murder mysteries?

[LouisTherouxsGlasses]

I loved Artemis Fowl at that age.
His Dark Materials is also great.
Mo Farah's autobiography is straightforward and interesting.

Could you tempt him into Jacqueline Wilson...?

[Waterlemon]

I saved this a while ago, i keep meaning to work through them all myself!

www.mumsnet.com/books/books-to-give-your-10-year-old-self

[Waterlemon]

Obviously they are not all going to be suitable for a teen, but many of them are.

[VagueButExcitlng]

Hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy
Terry Pratchett
Sharpe series
Bill bryson (any but particularly the short history of nearly everything)
Simon Singh's book about the Simpsons and mathematics

[LiveLifeWithPassion]

Ds1 is similar but he absolutely loved Wolf Brother by Michelle Paver, Percy Jackson series and has really enjoyed some horror books.

[SausagesAndMashed]

Any luck with Michael Morpurgo? DD loved his books when she was around 12/13.

[AnyTheWiser]

I agree with Terry Pratchett, they're v funny.
Isaac Asimov has some short mystery stories that are very clever, but just the right level so that he'll solve the puzzle before it's revealed, boosting his confidence. (Black Widow mysteries)
Sherlock Holmes
Skulduggery Pleasant? (Not entirely certain of target age, but they're popular)
Percy Jackson (or Jacksi Person as we say )
There's a series by same author aimed at older children (high school age) about a boy named Magnus (sorry can't remember name!) And the mythology is Norse instead of Greek.
There are lots of very good graphic novels that might interest him- maybe just take him to a decent sized bookshop for a mooch?

[AnyTheWiser]

Just seen vague's suggestion of Bill Bryson. Oh, I wish I had had BB to read at that age! Yes- Notes from a Small Island, and the one about language are v good.

[yeOldeTrout]

Don't confuse Bright with mature. If you want to encourage love of reading, then The Beano might be the best thing even if he's 7a in English or whatever.
Calvin & Hobbes books have lots of great vocabulary.

[HereIAm20]

Agatha Christies and Dan Brown and Jeffrey Archer have gone down well with my early teen sons