Books for autistic 15 year old....I may be asking the impossible

[CatkinToadflax]

DS1 will be 15 very soon. He has ASD and various compelling ‘extras’ and attends a special school. He has hyperlexia, so he is capable of reading anything at all, and in hindsight we realised he could read before he could talk.

The problem is that his hyperlexia is pretty much useless to him as he struggles to understand or concentrate on what he’s reading. So he completely avoids reading unless it’s a Wimpy Kid book. He loves the Wimpy Kid series so much that he takes the whole collection to school every day in his bag (“because I can so why wouldn’t I?”) but he’s read them all.

Can anyone suggest a series or individual book that’s similar to the Wimpy Kid but not too ‘babyish’ for a 15 year old? Emotionally and socially he’s very young but he’s very aware that he’s in his mid teens. He has the Captain Underpants books but I think they’re a bit young for him, plus he has high standards of decency and has advised me sternly that you can’t wander around half dressed and he won’t be reading them until Captain Underpants puts some trousers on.

Any suggestions please? He’s going to try Harry Potter as he loves the films, but the books are so big that he may be daunted by the size. Thanks for any thoughts!

A lot of the children I work with who enjoy the Wimpy Kid books like the Treehouse series too (13 storey treehouse, 26 storey treehouse etc). There's quite a few of them in the series so they might be worth a try

Has he read Tom Gates books?
My DS likes those.

How about some old fashioned adventure stories - Arthur Ransome (strong morals in those too)? Enid Blyton?

'he has high standards of decency and has advised me sternly that you can’t wander around half dressed and he won’t be reading them until Captain Underpants puts some trousers on.'

Also, I love this!

Alex rider? Not anything like wimpy kid but might seem more grown up - no pictured
Tom Gates - illusteation
Storey Treehouse (might be too young) but has illustrations
Planet Stan - lots of charts
These are books my 10 year old with asd likes but Alex Rider text was a bit hard for him

The 13 storey tree house books are good fun and have a similar humour to wimpy kid. My daughter devours them. Think they are targeted at 7-9 year olds, but the humour is suitable for any age.

Mr Penguin

Would he read female characters ? There are the Dork Diaries. Similar to Wimpy Kid but with a girl main character - although there is a couple of spin off books about one of the boy characters.
Middle School series by James Patterson are not bad either.
Has he read the two Wimpy Kid spin off books about Rowley?

Other suggestions.....
Alex Rider series by Anthony Horowitz.
Theodore Boone by John Grisham.
They are a bit more 'grown up' but not in the 'Young Adult' zone.

How about comic books? Also maybe and comic strips like The Far Side, which you can buy collections of as books.

Just another thought. Terry Pratchett does some good childrens books.
I'm not sure how your DS would feel about them, as they aren't that 'real' but mine liked the Father Christmas's fake beard one.

The first Harry Potter book is actually pretty short, so it’s worth a try presenting him with volume 1 (don’t show him volumes 4-7). If he gets hooked then he’ll be reading the big ones before he notices.

I’d also recommend Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them and Quidditch Through The Ages, the two very short illustrated books JKR did for Comic Relief which might well hit the spot with a boy like your DS.

The Percy Jackson books are a good next step on from the Wimpy Kid stage, really gripping plots but a similar sort of sense of humour.

Dog Man or Tom Gates could work. Who let the gods out series is also quite fun

How about the young Bond books by Charlie Hinson?

How To Train Your Dragon is nicely pitched at the level just above Wimpy Kid. I think it has some pictures.

Thanks everyone - some great suggestions to look into. We’ve got some of these already as DS2 has read a few of them. I probably sound batty but DS1 finds learning/reading and understanding what he’s read/life in general so hard compared with DS2 that I’m wary of shattering his confidence by handing him books that DS2 read a couple of years ago and him finding them too hard. Does that even make sense?! Your suggestions are great though - it’s good to know what other younger children have read. Thanks!

My boy liked the books with the skeleton detective...Skulduggery Pleasant. He also liked the demigods ones...Percy Jackson.
He loved the Mysterious Benedict Society books but he might need some help to access them initially.
There are loads of diary type format books. One with a character called Norm... Gosh my memory is shit this morning!

The illustrated Harry Potter books might be less daunting than the standard paperbacks. They've only published up to number 4 thought.

DD1's teacher has introduced them to Mr Gum and she loved it, she devours the Wimpy Kid books too. She is reading Wizards of Once at the moment and she liked the first How to Train Your Dragon. I don't read with her any more as much as I should so I'm not sure exactly what level those stories are at.

DH buys me a series of young adult books for Christmas each year. Uglies, Maze Runner and Eden are all fairly undemanding - Harry Potter is very complex with a lot of characters, I would say the three above are easier to digest.

The Young Sherlock Holmes books by Andre Lane might suit. Gripping stories but clearly and directly written.

Andrew Lane, not Andre

Dog Man books very good but not recommended for someone with a strong sense of decency!
If you did consider comic books, we like Tintin in this household- I think it's ageless.

Would he be interested in graphic novels? If so, the Alex Rider series also comes in that format. It might make the content more accessible to him and not so much of a direct comparison to his brother's books (if DS2 has already read the standard books).

Has he tried graphic novels? Assuming that’s part of the appeal of the Wimpy Kids books?

Quite a few ASD authors of these as well

Would he find reading a kindle easier, otherwise audio books