Book suggestions for nearly 15 yr old boy who's had enough of the made for teens stuff

[duchesse]

I've posted this on Dadsnet as well, but would be very grateful for any suggestions.

Formerly bookworm son has waned a little in his enthusiasm for reading over the last year . I think it's because he's exhausted children's fiction and the made for teens stuff.

I just wanted to pick the brains of you dads out there about what you enjoyed/ were inspired by at this age, particularly if you were on proper grown-up literature.

My husband wasn't much of a reader at this age, and I was a girl, so not much use at guiding the reading of a boy. My father is attempting to guide him, but seems to favour cold war/ spy stuff (eg Island of Sheep, 39 steps etc...)

My child loves reading non fiction more now he is older. He will read journals like the Economist, New Scientist etc. As long as he is reading he is happy. What are his interest, you could get electronics manuals, computer programming, cross pollination, art history, what ever he likes. A lot of the adult books contain relationship strains that don't appeal to my son yet, I know he'll come back to fiction at some point but it's a difficult age to cater for. As a teen myself I was keen on the fantasy books. Neil Gaiman is good right now,(Starstruck, Annansi Boys), Stephan King was a favourite of mine too. the book shops are heaving under the weight of vampire books at the mo, so don't go round the teen section, have a look in 'Thrillers', or Sci-fi instead. Ask the sales assistants what boys are buying right now, they will tell you what's really good at the mo.

I'd like to add my suggestions,I'm not a Dad or bloke either, but appreciate your dilemma.
Also, I like a wide range of books.
anyway, I'd suggest;

His dark materials by Philip Pullman

anything written by Stephen King yes I'm a bit of a fan.

The Lord of The Rings by JKTolkien ?

The curious story of the dog at midnight by ?? (don't know if I have the right title, but it's pretty well known.

hope that helps.

oops, just seen he's read LOTR. dunno how to edit posts here........

My suggestions would be:

'Under the Skin', by Michel Faber
'The Kite Runner'Khalid Hosseini
The Road' by Cormac McCarthy
'Catch me if you can' Frank Abagnale

Lots of Emile Zola is available in English translation.

I'd echo the suggestions about science fiction and crime fiction. Books about the first and second world/other wars? I read lots of background stuff about WWI at 16/17 and think that would probably be perfectly accessible, eg

Robert Graves' Goodbye to All That
Erich Maria Remarque, All Quiet on the Western Front

As well as the classic detectives, Mark Billingham's books might be worth a try, or Peter Robinson, and maybe some US PIs and police stories - I don't know if your son's familiar with Rick Riordan's kids' books but he also wrote 7 books about a Texas PI, Tres Navarre, which I love, before Percy Jackson took off. Easier to find here are Lawrence Block, Michael Connelly, Lee Child?

John Wyndham
Definitely The Godfather
The Bloodtide/Bloodsong books by Melvin Burgess
Neil Gaiman - Good Omens, Stardust, American Gods

Some Hunter S Thompson?

Ian Fleming and Iain Banks

The first two Hitchhiker's books

JG Ballard

William Gibson - Neuromancer/Idoru etc

The Princess Bride - William Goldman (if he knows the film)

Black Swan Green - David Mitchell

Books by Walter Tevis - The Man Who Fell to Earth/Mockingbird/The Hustler

True Grit - Charles Portis

These are all fiction however.

The Border Trilogy by Cormac McCarthy. If he likes it he will read all three. Rites of passage boys own adventure in the wild west type stuff.

I saw Phillip Pullman's His Dark Materials Trilogy on sale at amazon for &7.50! He should love this.

If the above seem like too much paper how about something like The Life of Pi or The Wasp Factory. Otherwise there are a lot of very good graphic novels out there, it might be a way to develop his interest in reading for pleasure.

Also.....what about Papillon by Henri Charriere, Gravity's Rainbow by Thomas Pynchon or Neuromancer.

It must be difficult, I guess you want to encourage him to seek out interesting books and explore them for himself. I always found it more exciting to develop tastes through finding things for myself. Why dont you let him buy one a fortnight from Amazon, then he can use the reviews and recommendations to find his own interest.

Are there any books that you would not allow him to read?

The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster.

The Johnny Maxwell collection by Terry Pratchett.

The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy/ Restaurant at the End of the Universe by Douglas Adams.

Clockwork, I was a Rat, Scarecrow's Apprentice (?) by Philip Pullman.

Actually, I think I've veered back into 'written for teens' there but if he hasn't read any of those, they're good. Also Michael Morpurgo, War horse.

I would like to recommend the novel, The Toucan Feather, for your fifteen year old, and who knows? ... You may even like it yourself! here's a link to the website where you can read chapter one and order it if you decide to: www.tocamu.com The author, Nicholas Stafford-Deitsch, has written this book specifically for young people 15 years old and up (he's also drawn the illustrations)

I would like to recommend the novel, The Toucan Feather, for your fifteen year old, and who knows? ... You may even like it yourself! Here's a link to the website where you can read chapter one and order it if you decide to: www.tocamu.com The author, Nicholas Stafford-Deitsch beginoftheskypehighlighting endoftheskypehighlighting, has written this book specifically for young people 15 years old and up (he's also drawn the illustrations)

I Robot by Asimov.
Tales of Ten Worlds - Clarke.

any collection of sci-fi shorts to fuel the young imagination. It's what i read. then if they like, there's much more where that came from...
Anne Mccaffery 'The ship who sang'

Dune by Frank Herbert - very readable.

Dh recommends Bradbury and Stephen King in addition.

The Flashman books by George Macdoald Frser - belting good stories.

star-trek books? (some v well written)

james patterson is a great author , try the maximum ride books if he hasnt already im twenty seven and i love them , also stephen king is a good one

my dss love jasper fford books

To Kill A Mockingbird
Catcher in the Rye

He's 17 now. This is a two year old thread

I gave my son Adrian moles diary 13+3/4,when he was about 14,he loved them,i got him the latest last Cristmas,he s now 28 and said he was howling with laughter in the airport and vry one kept looking at him,its light hearted about a teenage boy growing up,and the crush he has on a girl called pandora,and his grandad and the dog,i love them..

Thanks guys. He's actually just started to read again after a 2 year hiatus, so it's funny that this thread's reactivated itself!

He stopped reading mainly because he had got to the end of teenage and children's fiction, but emotionally wasn't ready for adult fiction.

It was worth contributing to this thread late on though as it might help other parents with a similar dilemma.

re Adrian Mole- I am exactly the same age as Adrian Mole and can remember thoroughly enjoying his diaries as they appeared. My daughters have read them- I recently found them and left them on the stairs, which is what I do with any book I think they might enjoy. DD2 was 12 when she read them, DD1 was 14 nearly 15, and they both found them hysterically funny.

Lord of the Flies
Birdsong

Both will influence him for life

Ronnie

Zombie thread, he'll be 19 by now!