5 fiction and 5 non fiction for 15yo boy

[shortbun]

My son has been assigned to go to the library and pickout 10 books he wants to read. I'm tempted to go to half-priced books because no way is he going to read 10 novels in 30days. I'm going to try to direct him toward short books incase this teacher expects many to be read over break. My son swears he doesn't know what his teacher's expectations are and two of his classmates agree. Weird assignment. I can see instructing them to pick out two books or even three but 10? Any recommendations?

 

[Ceila]

My son has been assigned to go to the library and pickout 10 books he wants to read. I'm tempted to go to half-priced books because no way is he going to read 10 novels in 30days. I'm going to try to direct him toward short books incase this teacher expects many to be read over break. My son swears he doesn't know what his teacher's expectations are and two of his classmates agree. Weird assignment. I can see instructing them to pick out two books or even three but 10? Any recommendations?

He's 15 - my recommendation is to drive him to the library and let him pick his own books out, especially since that's the assignment.

I'm sure by now he has an idea of what kind of fiction books he likes (fantasy, adventure, realistic fiction, etc.), so he should start with a catalog search using those keywords. Or he can just browse the shelves and see what strikes him as interesting.

For non-fiction, he should do a subject search for things that interest him. He'll find that a certain call number tends to have the greatest number of books on that subject. Then, he can go to that section of the library and browse through those shelves to find books he might like to read.

And maybe I'm misunderstanding something, but why would you go to the half-price store when he can just check the books out right from the library? Most libraries have 2-3 week lending periods, and he can always renew them if he needs them longer.

 

[Agri]

Wow.

How about taking your son to the library and seeing what he picks out first? He's 15, he needs to be responsible for his own schoolwork. And unless he's got some major issues with reading, you should just encourage him to complete the assignment instead of assuming he can't from the get-go. He's got 30 days, for Pete's sake. 10 books in 30 days is nothing. Its not like his teacher is demanding him to pick out 10 books the same length as War and Peace!

 

[Scurvy]

I have to agree with Celia. You know the whole "You can lead a horse to water . . ." saying - well, unless your son finds the books interesting, he's not going to want to read them. 10 books in 30 days is easy, if the books are ones you want to read. If he chooses his own it's much more likely that he will end up with ones he will enjoy reading.

Especially as far as nonfiction, he should pick ones on subjects he actually wants to learn about. With the fiction, other people's recommendations might matter more. Could he talk to his friends and find out what books they've enjoyed lately? If they have similar tastes, that might be a good starting point.

That said, my son has had good luck with H.G. Wells and Jules Verne when he has needed to read books for school. They are quick reads and most boys I've known really enjoy them. If your son is at a complete loss and can't think of anything that sounds good, it might be worth looking through their books to see if there's anything he would like.

 

[Christine]

My son has been assigned to go to the library and pickout 10 books he wants to read. I'm tempted to go to half-priced books because no way is he going to read 10 novels in 30days. I'm going to try to direct him toward short books incase this teacher expects many to be read over break. My son swears he doesn't know what his teacher's expectations are and two of his classmates agree. Weird assignment. I can see instructing them to pick out two books or even three but 10? Any recommendations?

Stick to the Young Adult section in your library. These books are usually pretty good, easily manageable, but with watered down adult topics that appeal to teens. I would just get them and get started. My son is pretty good with school work and a good reader if he enjoys something but he's not the type to have his nose in a book. He'd have a tough time reading 10 books in 30 days.

 

[shortbun]

I should have clarified that my son is sick and can not go to the library. Thanks for the judgement guys. Wish he COULD go on his own; I dream of that day. He's been out of school this whole grading period. I've gotten a couple of ideas from him but I'm looking for others. And -10 books in 30 days with the other classwork he has would be nearly impossible, not easy. That's a book every 3 days. He's chosen Dickens', A Tale of Two Cities and The Winter King by Bernard Cornwell thus far. I suggested Peter Pan and he agreed because he thinks it will go pretty fast.
I also put Ishmail on his list. The non fiction will be hard without him there. I'm going to choose one biography, maybe Winston Churchill as he's very interested in England and the World Wars.

 

[RitaE]

Does your library have an online catalog? That's what I would do - have my kid request the 10 books and then I'd drive in and pick them up.

Or even have him poke around Amazon and come up with 10 titles and then you can call those into the Library and they'll pull them for you.

The thing is, 15 year old is really an adult reading-wise. It is hard for me to suggest books without knowing his interests.

 

[metalis4ever]

Here's some help...

Fiction:

All of these I have had on my bookshelf since I was 15 y.o. or younger...I still read them on a consistent basis

A Spell for Chameleon by Piers Anthony (344 pages - but easy read)
The Color(Colour) of Magic by Terry Pratchett (240 pages)
I, Robot by Issac Asimov (272 pages)
The Giver by Lois Lowry (179 pages)
The Call of Cthulhu by HP Lovecraft (50 pages)
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury (208 pages)
1984 by George Orwell (267 pages)
Anthem by Ayn Rand (256 Pages)


Non-Fiction:

I wish I had read these when I was 15 y.o.

Declarations of Independence by Howard Zinn ( 352 Pages)

Year 501: The Conquest Continues by Noam Chomsky (336 Pages)

The Conquest of Happiness by Bertrand Russell (192 pages)

Civil Disobedience and Other Essays by Henry David Thoreau (90 Pages)

Common Sense by Thomas Paine ( 80 Pages)

The Greatest Stories Never Told: 100 Tales from History to Astonish, Bewilder, and Stupefy by Rick Beyer (224 Pages)

 

[metalis4ever]

I should have clarified that my son is sick and can not go to the library. Thanks for the judgement guys. Wish he COULD go on his own; I dream of that day. He's been out of school this whole grading period. I've gotten a couple of ideas from him but I'm looking for others. And -10 books in 30 days with the other classwork he has would be nearly impossible, not easy. That's a book every 3 days. He's chosen Dickens', A Tale of Two Cities and The Winter King by Bernard Cornwell thus far. I suggested Peter Pan and he agreed because he thinks it will go pretty fast.
I also put Ishmail on his list. The non fiction will be hard without him there. I'm going to choose one biography, maybe Winston Churchill as he's very interested in England and the World Wars.

Bernard Cornwell is amazing!!! I would suggest "The Last Kingdom" over "Winter King" though, both are great reads but "The Last Kingdom" is more action packed therefore a faster read...being that your son only has 30 days

 

[Pig Pen]

How about the Hunger Games series? My nephew read all three books in three days and he's 11.

 

[Suellen]

Chocolate War
Flowers for Algernon
Of Mice and Men
To Kill a Mockingbird
Animal Farm

(all pretty light easy reads)

 

[Cogswel_Cogs]

Dr Jeckly and Mr Hyde, just read it recently and it is truely terrific,IMO
One of my favorite classics that I have read.

 

[Cogswel_Cogs]

OH if he likes SCIFI what about Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. Very funny couple of dirty jokes but on the whole very very fun to read.

 

[redlight]

Chocolate War
Flowers for Algernon
Of Mice and Men
To Kill a Mockingbird
Animal Farm

(all pretty light easy reads)

I've all of these except Chocolate War. Those are good and short books!

If he likes science fiction, he should check out Asimov and Heinlein.

 

[Scurvy]

OH if he likes SCIFI what about Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. Very funny couple of dirty jokes but on the whole very very fun to read.

That's a good idea. I imagine there's someone somewhere who doesn't like Hitchhiker's Guide, but I've never met anyone who didn't. It is hilarious and doesn't take long to read. And if he likes the first one, he has several others he can read afterward. The series consists of:
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
The Restaurant at the End of the Universe
Life, the Universe and Everything
So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish
Mostly Harmless
And Another Thing...

They all flow together well, and are more like one long book than several separate ones.

 

[daughter_of_amid_chaos]

If he likes the World Wars, what about Night by Elie Wiesel for a non-fiction book? It is short and while some find it a little intense, I read it for summer reading going into 10th grade (so I was 15).
We also read The Catcher in the Rye, Fahrenheit 451, and Red Sky at Morning for summer reading that year too.

The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway is also a great short fiction book as well.

If you want any other suggestions, feel free to send me a PM.
I am a total bookworm, my dissertation is going to be on World War II, and I teach Western Civ., and I totally get the being sick and overwhelmed with school work.

Hope he is able to find 10 books he is at least interested in and maybe some he will fall in love with!

 

[gina2000]

A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah - experiences of a child soldier in Sierra Leone

 

[clarabelle]

"The curious incident of the dog in the night time" -hadden
It is very short -told from the viewpoint of a boy with Autism

"The Book Thief" -about a German girl during WWII

"The Outliers" by Gladwell -discusses people who become successful and what makes them that way (it sounds dull -but it is an easy read)

 

[Cindy B]

As an 8th grade English teacher, I will say that I would never expect my students to read 10 books in 30 days. It just isn't going to happen.

They may not be reading the books entirely. They may be getting them for genre studies, compare and contrast, they may be completing something what we call a "text set"-- a set of books centered around a specific theme or subject, it may be a theme study.

In my class we are reading specific different excerpts to notice different writing styles.

The teacher may also just be wanting to see what they pick in order to create a unit plan later. If 20 kids pick sci fi for example, a sci fi unit would be written. I don't have that luxury in my district (strongly set curriculum) but in some districts you have the freedom.

 

[shortbun]

Thanks guys, I love some of your suggestions and we have lots of them right here on our shelves. DS is asleep but I'm pretty sure he said sci-fi was off limits to this assignment. Cindy B, could be they are on a fishing expedition to see what's chosen. They started off the year with this excellent reading list and not one of those books has been read by this class so I think they've taken a different tack. I have friends who are librarians and they hate this assignment because kids just come in a take tons of books off the shelves, keep them for 30 days and never even read half of them. (this is what my librarian friend told me) Anyway, today I'll be stopping by the library to see which of his reserves is ready. the rest will come from our bookshelves or half-priced books. Appreciate the help guys; my brain is on cookies, gift wrapping and Handel's Messiah, lol!