Non fiction for a 12yo boy

[OutragedAtThePriceOfFreddos]

My ds has gone right off reading recently, it's becoming a real struggle to find books he's interested in.

He has aspergers, so struggles with imagination which I don't think helps his enjoyment of fiction, but he liked Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Alex Scarrow books, The boy In the dress, Horrible Histories/Horrible Science. He is a very capable reader, but anything that requires imagination really doesn't seem to go down well.

We tried the Stephen Hawking children's books with little success, so any more recommendations would be very welcome. I'm thinking he might prefer non fiction books, as he's really enjoyed a book about the Olympics recently, but I'm not sure where to start. It's hard to know what he will find interesting before he is actually introduced to it iyswim.

Any ideas?

What is he interested in generally? DD's friend (10 y/o) who doesn't particularly like fiction reads books about coppicing, tractor maintenance etc but of course that only works if you are interested in that sort of thing!

Thanks for the reply.

I have been asking myself that question and it sounds awful, but I'm not really sure! He never has an interest that lasts that long when it comes to reading.

He's read up loads about the history of Man Utd , we have had a first world war phase, more recently he's read about the Olympics history and the various games, but there just doesn't seem to be a long term interest. He's a bit geeky really, likes computers and Maths! But I want to find something else that he would like to learn about through reading to broaden his interests a bit.

It would be good to know what types ob obscure things other boys are interested in.

Books about the history of computing?

My 12 year old likes

the Hungar games
Anthony horowitz
Cherub series/ Henderson - Robert Muchamore
Robert westall

Why not also try Famous five Enid blyton

That's not a bad idea actually!

Ooh, cross posted!

I need to investigate this whole hungar games thing! I'll have a look at the other authors on amazon as well, thanks.

He did go through an Enid Blyton phase, but he liked the Naughtiest girl books and I couldn't get him going on any of the other ones, he says they're not as good

You could try "Alex's Adventures in Numberland" which is about numbers and maths work (not an arithmetic text book, more a consideration of things like 'why do we need zero and who came up with it first?' or 'why are numbers arranged as base 10, not say 12?'

There are various books published by the Science Museum with such memorable titles as "Why is snot green?" that he might like.

If he's at all into cricket, try Wisden.

Long shot: how about the Greek myths? And if he liked Wimpy Kid, he might like the reworking into the Percy Jackson series.

My son likes outdoor stuff so the Bear Grylls books go down well and although he loves fiction, things like the guinness book of records and ripley's believe it or not books are a hit. Presume he has done the Captain Underpants cartoony books too. Would he be interested in Manga style animated books? My 11 year old collects the Naruto series and really enjoys those.

Biographies, no? Especially in wake of Olympics, there are loads of biographies out & autobiographies to read.

We are a geek family.

The Little Books of Ignorance (vols 1 & 2, 10yo DD loves them)
Why is Snot Green & other Science fact books
100 Places in the world to see before you die type books.
I Never Knew That books about bits of Britain
The Master Switch (Tim Wu)
The Physics of the Future (M Kaku)
Insanely simple (Ken Segall)
Anything written by Steve Jobs
Notes from a Small Island (other travelogues, Bruce Chatwin, Dervla Murphy, Josie Dew)

If you want fiction with heavy realism elements, could try My Sister Lives on the Mantlepiece & The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime, BUT I must admit I'm minded to save both of those until my own 12yo DS is more like 14yo.

The National Geographic Infopedia or the US Almanac version. Lots of very interesting articles, great pictures.

I bought this for my DH's little cousin who is 11 and has aspergers.

It's a good mix of numbers and imagination/fiction and he really enjoyed it.

Guiness book of world records and the 'Ripleys Believe It or Not' books have gone down well here.