Young Adult | Book Chatter

Some of you may remember this post, about The Boy and how he can’t seem to find anything to read since a lot of bookstores seem to be catering to tween girls or readers who prefer reading about vampires, etc. Whew! That was a long sentence. Anyway, with your help, I was able to present The Boy with all of your recommendations.

Thank you so much for taking the time to comment on that post. First he was ~~surprised~~ shocked that anyone reads my blog. Second, he was touched that anyone would care enough to respond. Since so many of you experienced the same thing, I thought you might like to see the list.

Please note, that these were recommended for a 12-year-old tween boy. I’ve not read many of them so use your own judgment on whether or not these are appropriate for your tween.

Books

Al Capone Does My Shirts by Gennifer Choldenko
Bullyville by Francine Prose
Chrysalids by John Wyndham
Cracker!: The Best Dog in Vietnam by Cynthia Kadohata
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson
Havoc by Chris Wooding
I am Number Four by Pittacus Lore
Incident at Hawk’s Hill by Allan Eckert
Last Bus Out by Beck McDowell
Locomotion by Jacqueline Woodson
Lost in the Barrens by Farley Mowat
Malice by Chris Wooding
Marcelo in the Real World by Francisco X. Stork
Maze Runner by Jasmes Dashner
Monster by Walter Dean Myers
Owls in the Family by Farley Mowat
Resistance by Carla Jablonski
Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe
Rocket Boys: A Memoir by Homer Hickam
Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi
Stuck in Neutral by Terry Trueman
Sunrise over Fallujah by Walter Dean Myers
Swim The Fly by Don Calame
Theodore Boone: Kid Lawyer by John Grisham
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon
The Giver by Lois Lowry
The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
The Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O’Dell
The King Must Die by Mary Renault (may be sexually explicit)
The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton
The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson
Wait Till Next Year by Doris Kearns Goodwin
Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls

Series

Alex Rider by Anthony Horowitz
Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer
Belgariad by David Eddings (Pawn of Prophecy, etc.)
Brian’s Saga by Gary Paulsen (Hatchet, The River, etc.)
Chaos Walking by Patrick Ness (The Knife of Never Letting Go, etc.)
Dark Rising by Susan Cooper
Ender Wiggin by Orson Scott Card (Ender’s Game, Speaker for the Dead, etc.)
Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling
Heroes of Olympus by Rick Riordan (The Lost Hero, The Red Pyramid, etc.)
His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman
Life as We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer
Maximum Ride by James Patterson
Percy Jackson and the Olympians by Rick Riordan
Shadow Children by Margaret Peterson Haddix (Among the Hidden, etc.)
Skeleton Creek by Patrick Carman
The Edge Chronicles by Paul Stewart
The Hardy Boys by Franklin W. Dixon
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
The Last Apprentice by Joseph Delaney
The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart
The Ranger’s Apprentice by John Flanagan
The Sandman by Neil Gaiman
Warriors by Erin Hunter
Witch and Wizard by James Patterson

Authors (not book specific)

Isaac Asimov
Ray Bradbury
Arthur C. Clarke
Robert Cormier
S.E. Hinton
C.S. Lewis
Jack London
Scott O’Dell
Gary Paulsen
Terry Pratchett
Jerry Spinelli
J.R.R. Tolkien
Mark Twain

Links to Lists

Best Books (K-12 School List)
Best Children’s Books (8-12 year-olds)
Graphic Novels for a New Generation

Also, the lovely Joya sent me a list a mile long from Amazon but it was very long, and I was feeling lazy at the time, so you won’t see it here. BUT, you can search Amazon for Books for Boys and all sorts of stuff comes up (as I’m sure you already know). Thank you Joya! I did print the list off and gave it to The Boy. Readers can see her comment on the original post if you’re interested.

Right now, The Boy is reading The Hunger Games. He did not like it when he tried to read it a few months ago, but since then, I think some of his friends are reading it so now he has decided that’s it pretty good. We’ll see if the interest carries over to the other books in the series. I also did a little Christmas shopping and purchased some of the books that you all suggested. I’m crossing my fingers that something sticks.

The Boy is not a reader. I’ve mentioned it here before so it’s certainly not news but with him starting middle school, it’s become increasingly obvious to me that his reading comprehension is not where it needs to be. He struggles a bit with his everyday coursework if reading is involved. He tends to forget important facts and his vocabulary is limited. So we had a conversation about it. I told him that if he read regularly, that these other things would eventually fall into place.

He agreed.

BUT, he said that he has nothing to read. That he goes to the library and all he sees are books about vampires, talking animals and eating disorders. So we headed out to the bookstore and this is what we found:

Bookstore Shelves

…books about vampires, talking animals and eating disorders.

Hmmm.

Look at those shelves! 80% of it, if not more, dedicated to books about vampires. Well, the kid doesn’t like vampires and a tween boy really doesn’t want to read about girl issues either. So we weeded through the pile and came up with Alex Rider which has a teen spy as its protagonist. The Boy thinks it’s just “ok” and not fantastic. He wants to read books that are more realistic but written from a boy’s point of view. He really enjoys S.E. Hinton but he’s read everything she’s written already.

I have to say, that for a 12-year-old, The Boy can handle more mature themes. It seems as if he seeks them out but can’t find books that work for him. I figured it was an excuse he was using to get out of reading but he’s right. The shelves are limited if you’re not into what’s popular right now.

Oh, I’m sure there are books out there, but they are aren’t being promoted in any way, shape or form when you go into the bookstore or even the library for that matter. All you see is a sea of black and red.

Is there a problem here that I am not aware of? Is it just a huge marketing push to display these types of books. Are they really THAT popular? I sort of thought the vampire thing was fading out. Or perhaps authors that cater to young adults cater to that genre because it’s what sells? Where are the books about teen boys, dealing with everyday teen issues? It seems as if an entire group is being overlooked. Am I right?

If you have any suggestions for The Boy, please post a comment. Sometimes I think if he got past the cover of a book, he’d actually enjoy the story but apparently he is a cover snob like his mom! He see’s a kid with fangs or a girl looking hungry and he heads the other way and don’t even get him started about talking dragons.