Comments on: Open Mic at the iMonk Cafe: What Might Boys Read?

By: JoanieD

JoanieD — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 19:06:32 +0000

A high school friend just posted this on Facebook as a blog that he follows regarding getting boys to read: http://www.gettingboystoread.com/

By: Martha

Martha — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 20:57:16 +0000

For non-fiction, there’s the “Horrible History” series (all the bits they don’t tell you about in school left in!)

A very humorous, basically accurate, romp through history from the Stone Age up to the Second World War.

Very Euro-centric – of course! – written by an Englishman, so all to do with British history. Still, disgusting tales of the plague, torture, and executions should be very appealing to boys. My nephews loved them (and to be fair, I laughed my backside off as well).

http://www5.scholastic.co.uk/zone/book_horr-histories.htm

I have no idea if they’re available in America, or if they are, and you use them in school, if you’ll be fired from your job afterwards.

By: Robert F

Robert F — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 18:30:07 +0000

My oldest son is 17 doesn’t read much except sports magazines and gaming magazines. My youngest son is 14 and reads voraciously. His short list includes:

Harry Potter
The Redwall series
Artemis Fowl
Alex Rider (sort of a spy, action series)

By: Keith B

Keith B — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 04:58:54 +0000

I wish Terry Brooks and R. A. Salvatore would have been around when I was young, I think they are easier to read than Tolkien. I just googled and found this link to a series called Alfred Hitchcock and the Three Investigators: http://www.thrillingdetective.com/3invest.html I remembered reading every one I could get my hands on, the guys had a club house hidden in the middle of a junkyard. I read every Louis L’Amour, the Sackett stories are really good, and could draw them in to wanting more. Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew, Tom Swift were good. Harry Potter is good. Heinlein was good.

I don’t know how to get them to read unless they start very young. I remember reading a slim version of Robinson Crusoe with some photos when I was maybe 8 or 9, I never read the whole unabridged version until I was an adult. I remember reading a book called The Discoverers, a non-fiction historical work by Daniel Boorstin, it was very readable. (I just googled it to find the author, and it looks like there’s a trilogy, I read it when it was fairly new, ‘86 or so, wow, I’m old.

Nicholas Kristoff at the NYT put out this list of “the best Kids Books ever”: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/05/opinion/05kristof.html

By: Garrett

Garrett — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 14:20:25 +0000

I wasn’t much of a fiction guy, but I remember enjoying:
Fahrenheit 451 (Ray Bradbury)
The Giver (I forget)
Hatchet (Gary Paulsen)
Ender’s Game (Orson Scott Card)

By: Ravine of Light » Stuff I’m Suddenly Peevish About

Ravine of Light » Stuff I’m Suddenly Peevish About — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 14:18:07 +0000

[...] issue of boys and reading. So it was with interest that I followed the second happening - Open Mic at IMonk Cafe: What Boys Might Read … there was a fairly lively discussion (128 comments at last count) about books of interest [...]

By: MikeS

MikeS — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 20:25:03 +0000

My junior high son reads:
the Harry Potter series (J.K. Rowling),
the Eragon series (Christopher Paolini)
the Redwall series (Brian Jacques)

He also will read non-fiction if it’s simply written, biographical (or autobiographical), and reasonably short (less than 250-300 pp). He’s read stuff about sports figures, a history of the Apollo program, and books on science and engineering (how to make things, how they are made, how they work) that are aimed at high school students.

My take on this is he’s looking for both adventure and concrete experiences of real people in his reading.

By: That Other Jean

That Other Jean — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 20:09:16 +0000

Spider Robinson!

The Flashman bboks are indeed bawdy, but it’s all in good fun. An older teen should be able to handle that–swashbuckling and babes at its literate best. Good history, too.

By: Joel

Joel — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 18:21:41 +0000

Definitely Heinlein, filtering his later novels for age/sexual content. I also second Just Bill on Alvin Maker as well. That has the advantage of being very infused with Christianity (Card is a strong Mormon, but the Christian themes apply nonetheless). David Eddings’ Belgariad is good boy reading too.

When I was about 16 I discovered George MacDonald Fraser’s Flashman books and laughed my butt off while learning more history than I could ever have gotten in school. They’re pretty bawdy, but humorous rather than smutty. Certainly not beyond the capacity of a teenager to handle.

By: Blake

Blake — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 18:13:08 +0000

I never said I recommended Left Behind or any of the books I listed. I just read them. I generally hated reading Steinbeck, Dickens and London though London’s “The Iron Heel” is one of my all time favorite books (I have a fondness for dystopian fiction).