<p>My kids are 13 and 11. I have been buying books for them based on Amazon’s customer reviews. Lately I notice that a lot of the reviews are fake. The comments are the same or very similar in wording. All give 5 stars. I suspect that they are posted by the authors themselves or related parties. How do you normally choose which books to buy for your kids?</p>
<p>The librarians can be excellent sources, especially if you can name some of the titles your kids have loved. Other parents with kids of similar ages or slightly older are also good sources, as are teachers of children near that age range who love books. It’s a great topic and parents who have kids who love books are always happy to make suggestions. Bookstores also often have great staff who would love to encourage book lovers (just be sure to buy some of the books from them if you’re picking their brains for advice).</p>
<p>My kids would often find an author they liked & want to read just about everything from the author. We tended to spend much more time in the library, where we could all graze & borrow than bookstores. When they found books they LOVED and wanted to re-read, we would invest in purchasing the book(s).</p>
<p>Newspaper book reviews. I’ve gotten great suggestions from the Wall Street Journal, the Los Angeles Times, and the New York times. I first learned about the Percy Jackson series from the WSJ, in fact.</p>
<p>I work at a library and one tip I tell parents is to do a simple google search with the name of favorite author, or book and then the words “next reads”. For instance when I search for The Hunger Games, next reads. This site comes up: [What</a> to Read Next ? THE HUNGER GAMES Edition | Daemon’s Books](<a href=“daemonsbooks.com is available for purchase - Sedo.com”>http://www.daemonsbooks.com/2010/09/21/what-to-read-next-–-the-hunger-games-edition/)</p>
<p>I also suggest these sites for boys - [GUYS</a> READ](<a href=“http://www.guysread.com/]GUYS”>http://www.guysread.com/) and [Summer</a> Reading Suggestions for Boys | Getting Boys To Read](<a href=“Welcome gettingboystoread.com - Hostmonster.com”>Welcome gettingboystoread.com - Hostmonster.com)</p>
<p>I’ve also found that the more specific terms you put in a search engine, the better. For instance, yesterday someone asked about fantasy books for her daughter who was 12, but she wanted something without sex or profanity. I knew this person fairly well, and that she and her family are evangelical Christians so I put in the search words, “Juvenile Christian fantasy books” and came up with several sites with books that she and her daughter thought sounded interesting.</p>
<p>HK, agree that many Amazon reviews must have been written by author’s Mom. </p>
<p>Book Passage, a fabulous independent bookstore in northern CA, has staff well versed in juvenile lit…they never let me down. Many interesting suggestions/descriptions (for kids and adults) on their website as well.</p>
<p>Try Teen Reads . com or Kids reads . com A school librarian recommended the sites to me years ago, I stilll use them. The Teen reads has books sorted by general type, including Christian fiction. I have signed up for the Teen Reads.</p>
<p>The New York Public Library has suggestions for media for teens. I don’t approve of all of the choices–but recognize that it is trying to appeal to a lot of kids who aren’t fond readers and live in difficult circumstances as well as middle class kids who enjoy reading. So, use discretion. See the link here:</p>
<p>[Stuff</a> for the Teen Age | The New York Public Library](<a href=“http://www.nypl.org/help/getting-oriented/resources-teens/sta]Stuff”>NYPL Blog | The New York Public Library) </p>
<p>Many other library systems have similar sites. I like the list the Massachusetts libraries post. Cross referencing it against the NY one to see “matches” works for me.</p>
<p>Here is a list of recommendations from Springfield (Mass): <a href=“http://www.springfieldlibrary.org/reading/teenbooks.html[/url]”>http://www.springfieldlibrary.org/reading/teenbooks.html</a></p>
<p>Here is one from Salt Lake City (UT): <a href=“http://www.slcpl.lib.ut.us/libLists/view/56[/url]”>http://www.slcpl.lib.ut.us/libLists/view/56</a></p>
<p>Anyway, my point is that LOTS of public libraries have these lists and you can read most of them on-line without a library card.</p>
<p>I like the lists put out each spring (on-line) by the Houston Independent Schools Library Network - good mixture of old, new, fiction, nonfiction. I always look thru the 11-12th grade list for myself.</p>
<p>[Houston</a> Area Independent Schools Library Network](<a href=“http://www.haisln.org/recommendedreadinglists.html]Houston”>http://www.haisln.org/recommendedreadinglists.html)</p>
<p>Why not let your kids choose their books? That’s easy for you and fun for them.</p>
<p>I found it helpful to put books in front of my D; in fact, I still do and she is 25. </p>
<p>You might find this book helpful:
500 Great Books for Teens by Anita Silvey</p>
<p>Your public library should have Horn Book, School Library Journal, Kirkus Reviews and Publisher’s Weekly. All have reviews of new books for kids and young adults. Those are the most important review sources in the industry for children’s books, along with the NY Times.</p>
<p>We relied on a specialty kids bookstore. They were fabulous - they knew if you liked one book or another, they could recommend well. </p>
<p>But they also went to small private big on language arts so the librarian, the library itself, the teachers, the school summer reading list for each grade, were all easy great sources. </p>
<p>But I should add that at a pretty young age-9?- they and their friends were reading tons and learned from each other what was worth reading, and chose their own books without much input from us parents. They were also not restricted at all in what they read.</p>