<p>The Giver and Number the Stars are both good books, although depending on the kid they might be a little young for him.</p>
<p>The Giver is recommended for grades 6-9 and Number the Stars is recommended for grades 4-7.</p>
<p>Ok. Lots of CC kids read above grade level though :-)</p>
<p>My S enjoyed the “Redwall” series by Brian Jacques
Also the Gary Paulson books (Hatchet, etc)</p>
<p>Agree with jazzymom about “Night”. S1 had to read it for Soph. honors English. Pretty heavy topic for 12 yr. old</p>
<p>I stand corrected…Night is recommended for grades 9 and up.</p>
<p>A Samurai’s Tale by Eric Haugaard–nothing like feudal Japan to fire the imagination!</p>
<p>Catcher in the Rye is a good one…as was Dead Poets Society, although those might be a little to mature for him…</p>
<p>Has he read Garth Nix books? Sabriel, The Abhorsen, and others are really wonderful!</p>
<p>Has he read Garth Nix books? Sabriel, The Abhorsen, and others are really wonderful!</p>
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<p>Hi, I did a quick google for these books, and they look pretty interesting. I may let him see the Amazon reviews on them to see if he is interested. Thanks!</p>
<p>Update: He just shot down “Call of the Wild.” Informed me that he read it this year and “hated it.” I was rooting for it as I thought he might like it. He wants to take a look at “Enders Game” and Samarai’s Tale, so thanks for those suggestions.</p>
<p>My son has always hated reading. He considers reading to be punishment.
My girls have always been readers and would go to the library and come home with armloads of books and head for their beds.
Many of the books suggested he would bypass just by the thickness of the binding.
A few books he has enjoyed. Boy at War. Don’t be deceived by the thinness of the book, the topic is age appropriate for junior high. The things they carried by Tim O’Brien a bit more mature but the chapters are each sub-stories.
A series that I have found success in getting him to read for independent reading for school are spy novels for young adults by Anthony Horowitz.</p>
<p>I second the Brian Jacques “Redwall” series - my S had quite a bit in common with your son and liked those. He then moved on to the George RR Martin series (I don’t think they are too old for your S, but maybe someone else here knows).</p>
<p>I think he is just a little young yet for Catcher in the Rye. 8th or 9th grade might be more on target (that’s when my mother gave it to me and when I gave it to S, so we <em>must</em> be right 
). </p>
<p>Has he read all of Roald Dahl?</p>
<p>I let my S read whatever he liked. He started on the Red Wall series in 3rd grade (because he liked the volunteer who was reading with the 4th graders). I made sure not to recommend something because “it’s a classic.” That’s the kiss of death. </p>
<p>S loves sci fi and fantasy fiction (and manga!). Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card is great. Anne MacCaffrey (sp?); Philip Pullman (though my S for some reason did not like it when he tried it, but he was 9 then). Tamora Pierce, Piers Anthony (he loves the sophomoric puns); Terry Pratchett’s Discworld series (very Monty Pythonesque). Lord of the Rings. Roger Zelasny, Phlip K. Dick, Robert Heinlein.</p>
<p>For science books, Hoagiesgifted.org should have a good list of recommendations (it’s some time since I looked it up).</p>
<p>If your son likes Ender’s Game, there are a lot of other books in the series that you might want to suggest to him–a good way to keep him reading beyond the three books you give him for the summer. Given what you’ve said about him, he should skip the first few books in the series about the rest of Ender’s life (I don’t think they would interest him at all) and go straight to Ender’s Shadow and the rest of the books about Bean. Ender’s Shadow tells about the same events as Ender’s Game but from an extremely different perspective, and the books that follow it (Shadow of the Hegemon, etc) continue the story of Ender’s world without Ender’s actual presence. I think he’d like the Shadow books better than the books that continue Ender’s story because they’re sort of lighter reading (and because the rest of the Ender books get a little more ‘out there’ than what he might like). </p>
<p>I strongly second the Garth Nix suggestion. I really liked his books, as did my younger brother. I hope he isn’t the kind of boy who minds a female main character though because it would be a shame to cross of some of Nix’s books for that. </p>
<p>Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury would be a good choice as well. </p>
<p>He might also like Diana Wynne Jones’ Chronicles of Chrestomanci. I thought of it because I remember my cousin reading it obsessively one summer when he was around your son’s age. My younger brother liked it a lot, too, and while I don’t remember much about it myself, I remember that I liked it as well. I think it might be a tad easier than the others, but it’s a good fantasy choice. </p>
<p>He also might like Phillip Pullman, as some others have suggested. A lot of kids who like fantasy love his books, although I know some people who somehow got turned off of them by the writing style or something. </p>
<p>Some new titles that haven’t been mentioned are hovering at the edge of my mind but I somehow just can’t think of them right now…I’ll try again another day. </p>
<p>You might also want to post this question in a forum that more kids go to (high school life or something). I’m not even sure that my parents know most of what I read other than their gifts or suggestions, and the best-selling/popular/classic titles are the easiest to remember when your child or someone you know reads them…you might get more variety from high schoolers.</p>
<p>Killer Angels by Michael Shaara.</p>
<p>But stop there and avoid the Jeff (son of Michael) Shaara knockoffs, they are unreadable.</p>
<p>I’m a reading specialist. I can’t tell you how many reluctant boy readers in your son’s age group I have seen turned on to reading by Gary Paulsen. He writes on a variety of topics. Start with the adventure book “Hatchet.” Read some of the kids’ reviews at Amazon.
<a href=“http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0689826990/qid=1148914597/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/103-6487719-8434213?s=books&v=glance&n=283155[/url]”>http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0689826990/qid=1148914597/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/103-6487719-8434213?s=books&v=glance&n=283155</a></p>
<p>Another great author for boys in that age group is Louis Sachar. Very funny!</p>
<p>I also highly recommend “The Westing Game.” <a href=“http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0140386645/qid=1148914828/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/103-6487719-8434213?s=books&v=glance&n=283155[/url]”>http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0140386645/qid=1148914828/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/103-6487719-8434213?s=books&v=glance&n=283155</a></p>
<p>One of my sons loved Dumas when he was that age. If your son’s likely to be assigned Dumas for a language arts class, I’d skip it.</p>
<p>Libraries have lists for young adult readers. Pick out a few books for yourself to read. There are some outstanding books written for young readers that are a pleasure for adults to read, too (Lois Lowry comes to mind). Try reading the same book as your son to get the interest and discussion going. See if your local Books-A-Million or Barnes & Noble has summer book discussions for and by kids.</p>
<p>Don’t neglect nonfiction. That’s usually a big hit with teen boys. Just take him to the library to peruse the informational book shelves. Nonfiction is one area that’s shamefully neglected in most school curricula, yet most kids choose it when given a choice; and it’s often the focus of state-mandated reading tests. Good luck!</p>
<p>Also don’t miss Shades Children by Garth Nix. Its a quick read but kids that like sci fi will love it. And it poses interesting questions so its a great book to read with your kid. (In some families this book might be controversial - the story takes place in a world taken over by aliens and no human is allowed to live past the age of 14 or 15).<br>
Philip Pullman’s Dark Materials (The Golden Compass) etc. is the favorite book in our family. When my son was 8 or 9 I kept showing him the book but he kept saying no due to the main character being a girl. Once I finally convinced him that we should read the book (we read aloud together until he was 13, it was a habit we just kept up after he started reading on his own) he loved the book and we re-read the series several times & he’s read them on his own.</p>
<p>Thank you all for listing some great books and authors. He has decided that he wants to try “Enders Game.” His grandmother has him excited about “Oliver Twist.” I have never read it, so I will be reading it with him sometime during the summer.</p>
<p>if youre still looking…i just browsed this post but did anyone say the hobbit/lord of the rings?</p>
<p>oops…just saw that somebody else did…sry</p>
<p>Ender’s Game is a great place to start!</p>