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!

I love Asterix as well but dd struggles with comic books. She can't seem to work out what order to read it in because the pictures and text are all so small and close together.

The first Adrian Mole Diary might work for him?

Anything by Frank Cottrell-Boyce is a good read, try “Millions!“.

Astronauts, ninja Meerkats, Tom Gates, Spy Dog, how to Train your dragon, Artemis Fowl, Vampirates, Secret Benedict Society, Roman Mysteries, Magic Treehouse (but these might be a little young for him, you'd need to judge for yourself.) All loved by my ASD teenager.

would he like the Curious incident of the dog in the night time?

does he have a school librarian who can advise?
or even the teacher?

Brilliant ideas - the graphic novels in particular should go down well. DS2 adores Alex Rider but doesn’t have the graphic version. He never read Percy Jackson so this might be a good one to try as he won’t be ‘following his younger brother’.

The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Nighttime is the most amazing book and we’ll try that too.

Thanks so much everyone - I will google every suggestion made and see what looks best. Hugely helpful.

Something like James Herriot or Agatha Christie, maybe?

There also used to be a series of simple books for adult learners of English.

Mr gum series utterly brilliant, such clever writing. My autistic child (admittedly younger than yours) knows them all by heart. There are audio books of them too read by Andy Stanton the author which we listen to in the car over and over - the whole family laughs out loud every time and sings along with the songs etc (Although they aren’t always exactly decorous - one of them features a burp solo)
Treehouse series also popular here as is Tom gates and the Jeremy Strong books.

Neil Gaiman has some lovely books for YA. Coraline and The Graveyard Book.

His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman is a great series.

Michelle Paver has a great series, think it's called The Chronicles of Ancient Darkness, but the first book is called Wolf Brother.

They are great books, but do deal with themes like death etc so may not be right for your son. But then again, if he's giving Potter a go ....

A series of unfortunate events might also be good.

Comics are good because of the short burst of attention. We would recommend Garfield and Calvin and Hobbes.

Darren Shan series? Theres also the Artemis Fowl (again the protagonist is a bit of an antagonist so he may not approve). Both are fictional worlds with mystical creatures/vampires etc

If he likes Wimpy Kid and Harry Potter, maybe the Groosham Grange series? I think it’s by Anthony Horrowitz. It may be a bit too young but I seem to remember it being quite similar ability-wise with Wimpy Kid.

A pp beat me to my recommendation of Dork Diaries. I’ve found that girl’s books (and tv) have been very helpful with my ds (also has asd) as there’s always a socio emotional element.

Excellent - thank you all so much - we’ve ordered book 1 of the Percy Jackson series as a graphic novel and are looking through your other suggestions. So many options here - hugely appreciated! 😊

I would also recommend A Series Of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket. There are 13 altogether.
They're that little bit more grown up that wimpy kid, but the nice thing is that difficult words are explained in the text as they're introduced.
I believe there's also a new Wimpy Kid book out.

If you'd like some graphic novels then I recommend Hilda by Luke Pearson, though it may be a little too young (but they are lovely).
Then Zita The Space Princess series and Mighty Jack Series by Ben Hatke.

There's also a Michelle Paver series for younger readers than the Wolf Brother books named Gods and Warriors.

Tom gates or Finn credible are great.

Big Nate and Timmy Failure are similar. The private blog of Joe Cowley is a bit older in terms of content.

Was going to suggest a few above, but also the Hamish books by Danny Wallace. Maybe Pamela Butchart as they’re quite funny, but not sure if Published age range Too young?

Could try some manga. Comes with pictures which will aid his understanding. Has the added bonus of being very cool

I know a similar teen who has liked Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy and some Terry Pratchett. And the Frank Cottrell Boyce one with the space dog - Sputnik's Guide to Life on Earth.
Now he's on to old SciFi like Asimov.

Terrific - thanks everyone. So many good ideas here!

It might be worth looking on the Barrington Stokes website. They have books which are aimed at teenagers but the reading level is very low. Your ds definitely wouldn't feel that they were babyish. Although they might be too easy in terms of his decoding skills, they could work if his comprehension and concentration put him off reading.

There's also a website called Guys Read which the author Jon Scieszka founded. I haven't read the books but he's got a lot of really great writers involved. Some of the titles have been published as short story collections and some are available as audio books.