Books for very reluctant 14 year old dyslexic

[Meadowbreeze]

I am at a loss and need some suggestions. We have tried so much to try to get DD 14 (Y10) to read. She is dyslexic and has DLD (language disorder) which makes things that much more difficult but she has no chance of passing her GCSEs if we don't raise her reading age. Shes just tested on return to school as reading age 12y8m. She's 14y5m.
The only books she has ever liked were:
Diary of a wimpy kid - this will do nothing to raise reading age
The whole series of super readable rollercoasters. She's read them all and enjoyed every one.
She also enjoyed graphic novels but the font in most is not very accessible for dyslexics.

Things she hasn't liked which I thought she would:
Anything Barrington stoke.
Agatha Oddly
Murder most unladylike
The land of stories

I have just ordered the London eye mystery but she's 5 chapters in and says it's not working out.
Audio books don't work. Her receptive language isn't good enough to process it all. It's been suggested to get an audio book and the physical book she can follow along with but I don't see that improving her reading stamina or age, and frankly that game is a bit out of my tax bracket.

Any suggestions?

@Sandysandwich the reading rollercoasters series was printed on dyslexia font and she loved it. Which brings me onto @EskSmith she loved graphic novels but the font in the more grown up ones is hopeless for her, often very unclear.
I've looked for other books with the dyslexia don't but it's mostly Barrington Stoke and she doesn't like those.

@PaperTyger yes, she did lots of work with her tutor on that. She followed dancing bears and apples and pears. They were brilliant.
Thank you!

Isn't that still phonics though?
Rather than actual mechanics of how words are built?

My son has always disliked reading and found it difficult. The only book I got him to read happily at that age was The Diary of Adrian Mole. As it's a diary it's chopped into short bots which makes it less daunting to read, and if course it's funny too

I was just going to suggest BorrowBox or Libby both accessible with local.library membership. They have audio books, ereader books etc as well as magazines.

My brother is dyslexic and he learnt to read through football magazines. My DD is also dyslexic, and actually sounds similar in that she can read any words you ask - it is the comprehension and writing that she struggles with. (Her reading age is high though). She reads adult history books - authority like Philippines Gregory. Is there a subject she's interested in which she might read different books in? Sports people biographies if she's into sports etc?

Coming at it from a different angle My ds has a reading age of around 12 - he is only 9 so similar issues perhaps with decoding above comprehension but for different reasons - books he has read recently... lemony snicket, chronicals of nania, doctor proctor, (diary of a wimpy kid, treehouse series,...) he also loves The Week Junior Magazine, which my daughter also picks up so is not to babyish maybe something like that would help?

*bits

Perhaps she just doesn't enjoy reading Some people don't. I don't enjoy physical activities. My son-in-law doesn't read books. We are all different.

You mentioned the fonts - can she use an ereader? Both kobo and kindle use OpenDyslexia as a font. You can use it on the libby app too...

@eddiemairswife I used to think that and accepted it till she read through this series if books and really enjoyed it. We just haven't found anything since. We also need to find an alternative way of boosting her reading age if it isn't reading. GCSE exam questions are written at reading age 15. If she is reading at age 12 she is at a big disadvantage from the get go. We are aiming for 4s here so every little helps.
@PaperTyger I'm not sure. She does lots of English language work at school now too. I'm sure she knows it. Not sure how it would help though?
@LittleOwl153 that's a good shout

My d is the same age as yours and has been really into the Heartstopper books since she was in yr 7. They're graphic novels, but the author has written some 'proper' novels too. She says the Netflix series is really true to the texts, so your daughter could watch alongside maybe?

@eddiemairswife has a very good point not everyone enjoys reading.

I'm also dyslexic, I love reading MN for some reason, but in my adult life I've read less than a dozen books, and 7 of them were Harry Potter the latter ones collected on day of release.

@Dinoteeth with all due respect that's of no help to me. Reading age of 12 is functionally illiterate for adult world purposes. I have slightly higher hopes than that for my DD. I'm looking for suggestions for books that are enjoyable. My DD has enjoyed books and read through a whole series of them. I just need others like it.

The first two Harry books are reading age 8.

@Dinoteeth She really hates magic stuff so not much hope with HP, although it would make my life much easier. We've ordered a couple of books and will try that alongside audio books.

At 14 she probably needs something a bit more grown up. What about The Fault In Our Stars, by John Green? Or The Time Traveller's wife?

And DS's class used to love reading Agatha Christie novels. The number of characters might be a problem, but you could print out a list of characters before reading the book, so she doesn't forget who's who.

I just want to say I very much empathize with you. My DS has dyslexia and we have tried every book/graphic novel under the sun it feels like with very mixed results. I just recently successfully got him to read 2 of David Walliams books though they seem a bit "meh". He is younger than your daughter so I don't know that my suggestions will be helpful but he did get through one Hardy boy book (I think, it can be hard to tell tbh) - would she like Nancy Drew?

I looked at that London Eye book sort of 8-12yr range...The Nim's Island books by Wendy Orr are really good in that age group. Would spooky books catch her attention? Like Goosebumps/RL Stein type books? What is her hook? - is she interested in boys and romance type books? Does she like fantasy? I recall a book series called..the Song of the Lioness by Tamara Pierce which a lot of girls were into at that age.

One tip we were given is to put the close captioning on the TV - so we are trying that for what its worth...just thought to mention it.

Best of Luck

Oh sorry - I see you mentioned she hates magic stuff - so disregard my fantasy question

@FixItUpChappie thank you, your comment is very kind and helpful.
She really likes suspense and thriller type books. No soppy romance, magic or sci fi. I'll have a look at Nims Island. I've just ordered the first book in the poppy fields murder mystery series so I'll see if that maybe works. Seems short and has reading age of 9 so hopefully should be ok.

What about short stories - as someone who is dyslexic I much prefer those and feel I've accomplished something if Ive read a completed story than 'just' a chapter. For that age Gaiman would be good but if she doesn't like fantasy maybe not but definitely worth looking into

Possibly too young but Victoria Jamieson's Roller Girl and the like may be graphic novels without the font issue. If you start with that on Amazon you'll probably find other similar ones a bit older and even graphic novel versions of more complex stories.

Also think of classics like Agatha Christie's they are quite short, good but simple plots and characterisations.

Finally thought, bribery. Not necessarily going to instil a love of books, but then she might never achieve that and your actual goal is just to be reading. Maybe 'earning' screen time or cold hard cash by reading would be enough motivation for her?

Another one coming to suggest a kindle. My DH uses the ‘dyslexia friendly’ font and has gone from reading maybe one book a year to three or four.
In terms of book ideas, what about the young James Bond series? Aimed at teenagers but quite exciting.

Try the lovereading4kids website. You can download the first chapter of books so that she can get a feel for what they are like (and see if the print is dyslexia friendly). They have lots of dyslexia friendly texts and you can search for books by interest age and reading age.

Alex Rider books have lots of action and the font is nice and clear. There are also 2 seasons of it on Amazon prime (based on second and third book)

My reluctant reader dd is obsessed with Percy Jackson. It's also action packed and feels modern even though there is some magic. She's also obsessed with the Heartstopper graphic novels.

All these are part of a series which is good if you find one she likes! There are many Alex Rider and Percy Jacksons to be found in charity shops but definitely start with the first in the series.

I agree that a kindle ereader could help. As well as choosing the dyslexia friendly font, you can also choose a sepia colour background which my dd finds easier.

Also agree that a magazine or newspaper is a good idea. It's not cheap but there is a nice monthly magazine called Teen Breathe which has lots of stuff about well being/ mental health/ baking ideas - I've seen it in waitrose. Might be worth trying for something different?

I feel your pain - I wish my teens would read more. In my case they are expected to do well at GCSE- ds in particular is great at English and hasn't read a single book all year except his school texts!!! I just don't get it.

My daughter is dyslexic also and hated reading. We found a book she loved that kept her reading as she found the story so gripping. It's called the recruit by Robert muchamore.

www.amazon.co.uk/Recruit-Book-1-CHERUB/dp/0340881534

It's also aimed at the teenager market as it has young relationship aspects to it too so it caught her attention. It's a huge series and she's on about the 10th book now.

Another thing we did was pop subtitles on the TV. She moaned to begin with as she said it kept pulling her eyes down to read when she just wanted to watch the film 😊

At 14 she will want a bit more meat on the bone's of the books I'm sure.
A series that got some younger DC reading was the warrior cat book series's. Older dd tore through it ( when youger) and now I'm reading it with younger and she's enjoying it. I'm enjoying it as well...it's about clans of cats?

My 9 year old had suspected dyslexia and was massively behind at school in year 2.
During COVID I did lots of research and ditched phonics.
We did sight cards as it less stressful than longer sentences 9f high frequency word's.
I got the school reading scheme, and we broke down word's with root words and suffixes. .

So she had a good grasp of how words are made .

Interest.
"In" interesting "ing"

Uninterested

"Ed".

It's just helped her understand language more.

She went from 0/10 for spelling to over 7 /10 regularly.

I also raised her from basic sentence books up to the more meaty reading styles book.

About 4 levels over lock down so when she went back to school she could read.

When we come across a word in a book like indignation, I repeat it , write it out, put it into sentences and use it myself for a few days.

Yesterday we had ambiguous.

I only point it out because unless she's got specialist dyslexic help at school, which it sounds like she might my own experience through myndd and work has shown me most in education don't have a clue?

She would still be massively struggling if it wasn't for my intervention.

I got her a tutor with special Sen experience and did multi sensory lesson's.

My dd won't pick up a book to read still but she is slowly being exposed to reading.
If I can get words like mentioned above into her pysce ...
There also inference things you can print out to show her.

Eg , what does ,he knew the streets like the back of his hand mean.

I guess all I'm suggesting is maybe she needs to go back to basics and get foundations in if you are concerned she won't pass exams

I just wouldn't rely on the school unless she has a level 5 ish trained support/teacher in dyslexia.

Phonics worked beautifully for older dd but the nonsense aspect's of it didn't help second dd at all.

I mentioned 11+ word flash cards because it's easier than dense text and you could choose 5 cards a week rhats 10 word and just get her to memorise some to get her vocabulary up.

Re stamina again tricks to read words really fast and stuff like that.