What book(s) would pull my 15-year-old son back to reading?

<p>The Hunger Games and the Divergent Series. Both are ultrapopular and easy to read.</p>

<p>The Expanse series by James S.A. Corey (first book is “Leviathan Wakes”), “Fault in Our Stars” (John Green), The Martian (astronaut gets accidentally left behind on Mars), River of Doubt (Theodore Roosevelt exploring a tributary of the Amazon after his presidency), Year Zero (about aliens who owe Earth royalties under copyright laws for music streaming out into the galaxy)</p>

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D’s bf is going to be an English major. Gatsby is one of his favorite books. And I assure you I have on good authority that he’s a boy. Stereotype much?</p>

<p>What about non-fiction? Is there some topic he would like to know more about?</p>

<p>Also, he might be more interested in reading shorter things like magazine type articles rather than whole books. </p>

<p>I have to say that Gatsby is the one book that has been taught with passion by the teachers at D’s school. And it’s catching…I’ve been impressed by how sophisticated and in-depth the discussions I’ve overheard regarding Gatsby have been compared to other books that were included in the curriculum this year. </p>

<p>I have a 15 year old son that likes to read and buys books that he reads over and over. Here are
some of the books/authors that he likes:
The Harry Dresden series by Jim Butcher.
The Kingdom Keepers series by Ridley Pearson
Percy Jackson and the Olympians series and The Kane Chronicles both by Rick Riordan
The Beyonders series by Brandon Mull
The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson </p>

<p>John Steinbeck has some short stories and shorter novels that a young man may enjoy reading. And, maybe reading a biography or autobiography on Steinbeck first would help him get into reading the novels.</p>

<p>Brave New World</p>

<p>Seconding the Divergent series. GoT? Hmmm…</p>

<p>I do think it’s pretty cool that the author of the Divergent series wrote those books when she was in her early 20s. (She’s just 24 now.) </p>

<p>Hi folks, as the OP, I just want to thank everyone!! We purchased several of these today and my son actually seems sort of psyched to start in on them…I’ll report back with reviews! </p>

<p>Terrific! Owning books is nice, but you also want to get your son to a library. That way he can borrow and return. Does he have a tablet? Some libraries also have lending of Electronic books.</p>

<p>If he liked the Kite Runner, what about the author’s subsequent books (A Thousand Splendid Suns and And the Mountains Echoed)?
Unbroken (WW II)
The Boys in the Boat (Olympic rowers)</p>

<p>Graphic novels? </p>

<p>Orson Scott Card, starting with “Ender’s Game”. </p>

<p>Isn’t stereotyping what these threads are all about? Especially when the OP has provided few clues about what their kid might like? Will some boys like Austen? Of course. But it’s a small handful. And Gatsby? Both my boys might have liked it better if they hadn’t read it for English classes, though the summer I read it (along with *This Side of Paradise * which I loved ) I didn’t like it either. I think I might like it better now that I am older. </p>

<p>Everyone in our family enjoys the Dresden books and our younger son just recommended The Martian to us.</p>

<p>The Bear - William Faulkner</p>

<p>Helter Skelter. I remember when I was 15 I read it in two nights.</p>

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<p>Great book. Then again, I was so curious about hearing so much about him from overheard adult conversations and yet, not knowing anything about him that when I saw a copy in my junior high library in 7th grade, I immediately borrowed and read it. </p>

<p>I’d also suggest George Orwell’s 1984 and Animal Farm. </p>

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<p>We’re talking adolescent boys, not males in general. </p>

<p>Many boys who may not have cared for romantic themed literature in junior high*/HS end up appreciating it much more in college and later in life.</p>

<ul>
<li>Didn’t really appreciate Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet and Midsummer’s Night Dream nearly as much as a 7th grader reading it for English lit class as I later did as a college student who re-read and watched both plays being performed live. Granted, my initial dislike of Midsummer’s Night Dream as an adolescent was more rooted in confusion in following the plot than a predominance of romantic themes.<br></li>
</ul>

<p>My sons both loved “Red Sky at Morning” You might also look at “The Maze”, Childhood’s End", “Dracula” and “Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children” (love this). My youngest son was an avid reader prior to high school but went thru a phase where he quit reading for enjoyment. He said the required reading in high school took all of the enjoyment out of reading for fun- I’m sure the opposite of the effect educators hope for. Reading the “classics” during his summer break would have done him in. </p>

<p>At 15 my DS lost interest as well. Graphic novels like The Watchmen, Sin City, etc helped a lot. Also , non-fiction was great. Weird medical stories, true crime, etc was interesting to him. </p>