A Separate Peace?

[Liberty Belle]

I've never read it. Do you guys think it would be ok for a ten year old?

In my son's class this year they have to read every night and each month do a book project. The books they choose have to be on their Lexile level (they get the level through MAP testing). My son's was 1385 and it's next to impossible to find books for him on that level.

I emailed the teacher and he said he could go as low as 1100, since his level was so high. Which is better, but still hard to find books he'll be interested in.

I saw A Separate Peace and thought, maybe? If you've read it, what do you think?

 

[anelson81993]

I've never read it. Do you guys think it would be ok for a ten year old?

In my son's class this year they have to read every night and each month do a book project. The books they choose have to be on their Lexile level (they get the level through MAP testing). My son's was 1385 and it's next to impossible to find books for him on that level.

I emailed the teacher and he said he could go as low as 1100, since his level was so high. Which is better, but still hard to find books he'll be interested in.

I saw A Separate Peace and thought, maybe? If you've read it, what do you think?

I read it as a freshman in high school in the honors program. I don't know that he would enjoy it; I know I hated it. When we read it, we followed it up by watching the movie Dead Poets Society, which I liked a lot better, but which is not based on the book. If you've seen the movie, that would be on approximately the same level regarding maturity/appropriateness for kids--there's definitely some mature content, but would really depend on the maturity of the kid in question.

I feel you on having difficulty finding appropriate books with students who test highly in reading. I struggled all the time to find good books on my level. Our public library published suggested book lists grouped by grade level (K-4, 4-5, 6-7, 8-9, 10-12), so what I ended up doing was going to the library, picking up the list for the set above me, and then reading the books with interesting titles. I probably read some stuff that I was not mature enough for--the one that stands out in my memory was Tess of the d'Urbervilles in 7th grade--but it worked better for me than to read books below my level. Your mileage may vary, of course.

What free reading books has he been interested in lately?

 

[Liberty Belle]

I read it as a freshman in high school in the honors program. I don't know that he would enjoy it; I know I hated it. When we read it, we followed it up by watching the movie Dead Poets Society, which I liked a lot better, but which is not based on the book. If you've seen the movie, that would be on approximately the same level regarding maturity/appropriateness for kids--there's definitely some mature content, but would really depend on the maturity of the kid in question.

I feel you on having difficulty finding appropriate books with students who test highly in reading. I struggled all the time to find good books on my level. Our public library published suggested book lists grouped by grade level (K-4, 4-5, 6-7, 8-9, 10-12), so what I ended up doing was going to the library, picking up the list for the set above me, and then reading the books with interesting titles. I probably read some stuff that I was not mature enough for--the one that stands out in my memory was Tess of the d'Urbervilles in 7th grade--but it worked better for me than to read books below my level. Your mileage may vary, of course.

What free reading books has he been interested in lately?

Thanks for your input!

He likes historical fiction, adventure, and science fiction, plus non-fiction. He loves the I Survived series, even though he reads them so quickly, but they are way below his level, I'm guessing. He also read the first book in John Grisham's series (Theodore Boone) for kids and really wants to read the rest, but I'm guessing they're too low to be included in his school reading.

ETA: What's making it worse is each month is a different genre, so that narrows it down further. This month's is free choice as far as genre goes.

 

[Imzadi]

I read it as a freshman in high school in the honors program. I don't know that he would enjoy it; I know I hated it. When we read it, we followed it up by watching the movie Dead Poets Society, which I liked a lot better, but which is not based on the book. If you've seen the movie, that would be on approximately the same level regarding maturity/appropriateness for kids--there's definitely some mature content, but would really depend on the maturity of the kid in question..

I also read it as a freshman for the honors program. I loved the book, but I think some of the subject matter emotionally may be too mature for your DS.

 

[si-am]

I'm not sure he would really "get it" at that age, even though it's not a particularly difficult read.

 

[Liberty Belle]

Ok, thank you all.

Since I posted I have found a couple of books that would be more his interest: The Crossing, and Brian's Winter, both by Gary Paulsen.

 

[Lilliputian]

I've read A Separate Peace. I don't remember it very well, but I don't think it's appropriate for young children. If it's the book I'm thinking of, it's about older boys, and one of them dies. It's very sad. I think there's some other stuff that's not good for kids, but I can't recall what it is. I just remember that it seemed a little "edgy" when I read it in high school.

My oldest sons are 10 and 9, and both read well above their age level. I'm not sure of their lexile level since we homeschool and don't do standardized tests, but I think they read at about a 10th-12th grade level. It is hard to find books appropriate for young children but written at an advanced level.

We have the most luck with older books. In fact, I bought both of my sons their own Kindles because you can usually find free versions of books written before 1923. Some of the books they've really enjoyed are Robinson Crusoe, books by Howard Pyle such as Men of Iron and Book of Pirates, books by E. Nesbit, Little Lord Fauntleroy and others by Burnett, Children of the New Forest, Princess and the Goblin, and historical fiction books by GA Henty. Books that I have scheduled for them to read in the upcoming year include Swiss Family Robinson, Treasure Island, Hans Brinker, and Oliver Twist (this one is a little gruesome and very sad). I don't know which of these books will have official scores with whatever program your school uses to determine the levels of books, but you can copy some of the text from an online copy of the books in Project Gutenberg and then use an online lexile calculator to see what the score is.

 

[Liberty Belle]

I've read A Separate Peace. I don't remember it very well, but I don't think it's appropriate for young children. If it's the book I'm thinking of, it's about older boys, and one of them dies. It's very sad. I think there's some other stuff that's not good for kids, but I can't recall what it is. I just remember that it seemed a little "edgy" when I read it in high school.

My oldest sons are 10 and 9, and both read well above their age level. I'm not sure of their lexile level since we homeschool and don't do standardized tests, but I think they read at about a 10th-12th grade level. It is hard to find books appropriate for young children but written at an advanced level.

We have the most luck with older books. In fact, I bought both of my sons their own Kindles because you can usually find free versions of books written before 1923. Some of the books they've really enjoyed are Robinson Crusoe, books by Howard Pyle such as Men of Iron and Book of Pirates, books by E. Nesbit, Little Lord Fauntleroy and others by Burnett, Children of the New Forest, Princess and the Goblin, and historical fiction books by GA Henty. Books that I have scheduled for them to read in the upcoming year include Swiss Family Robinson, Treasure Island, Hans Brinker, and Oliver Twist (this one is a little gruesome and very sad). I don't know which of these books will have official scores with whatever program your school uses to determine the levels of books, but you can copy some of the text from an online copy of the books in Project Gutenberg and then use an online lexile calculator to see what the score is.

Thank you!

 

[MinnieMouse09]

I read this book at about the same age and it is still one of my favorite books---from what I remember it would be fine for that age. It starts out with the main character returning to the boarding school he had graduated from years earlier and the majority of the book is spent with him retelling his memories of his days at the school with his friends as a member of the first class that was not busy preparing for war--the games they played and the "adventures" and their thoughts about being in this generation. If he enjoys this one, there's a follow up called Peace Breaks Out.

Sounds like I'm the only one that liked this book...oh well

 

[MrsPete]

A Separate Peace was my favorite book from high school English. I think I read it in 10th grade honors English, and that was just the right age. I read it again as an adult and thought, "why did I enjoy this so much?"

I do think its "too old" for a ten year old. Oh, he could move his eyes across the words without trouble, but the themes are just too mature: a friend's death, guilt in having contributed to that death, moving on after tragedy.

I definitely recommend it for later, but not now.

 

[MinnieMouse09]

This website might help---you can search by lexile or type in a book he enjoys and then find similar ones (at harder levels!)...it also allows you to sort by genre

scholastic.com/tbw/bookAlikeSearch.do?Ntk=TBW_BookAlike7_SI&workId=1315670&gradeOffset=3

 

[mrsv98]

I agree it is too old for him emotionally. I read it in HS and loved it but it is very sad. What about The Hobbit? Rick Riordin's Heros of Olympus series? DD also scores really high on the Lexile score but her school is happy as long as she is reading grade appropriate which makes it easier.

 

[diznygirl]

I disliked Separate Peace.

If you son likes historical fiction and adventure, how about Three Musketeers - that's my favorite book.

 

[anelson81993]

Thanks for your input!

He likes historical fiction, adventure, and science fiction, plus non-fiction. He loves the I Survived series, even though he reads them so quickly, but they are way below his level, I'm guessing. He also read the first book in John Grisham's series (Theodore Boone) for kids and really wants to read the rest, but I'm guessing they're too low to be included in his school reading.

ETA: What's making it worse is each month is a different genre, so that narrows it down further. This month's is free choice as far as genre goes.

For science fiction, I cannot recommend Orson Scott Card's Ender's Game enough. It would actually probably be perfect for your son's lexile level, and would not be too mature content for his age/grade level. I'm a total scifi/fantasy nerd, and I cannot recommend Card often enough.

Ok, thank you all.

Since I posted I have found a couple of books that would be more his interest: The Crossing, and Brian's Winter, both by Gary Paulsen.

Gary Paulsen would be a great author for adventure-type books. Has he read Hatchet? If I remember correctly, Brian's Winter is the sequel to Hatchet, but I might be misremembering.

I also liked a previous poster's idea of reading older books. Treasure Planet especially stands out to me as a great book that would likely meet both your son's interests and his reading level.

 

[FlightlessDuck]

I had to read that in 11th grade and absolutely hated it. In fact, I didn't really read it and faked my way through it. No idea how I ended up with decent grades that year. I hated a lot of what we read.

Very boring, and couldn't relate at all.

 

[englishteacha]

No to A Separate Peace. Another 10th grade honors English read, and while I didn't hate the book, I hated the teacher beating us over the head with all the symbolism. There's a LOT a 10 year old won't get.

Kudos to your son for having such a high Lexile level. One only becomes a better reader through reading, so you're totally doing something right. I will say that I am hesitant to suggest books that are that high for a 10 year old, though. The subject matter in a Lexile that high is generally for high school kids to adults.

I'm not sure of the Lexile, but some of my 7th graders really liked Artemis Fowl. It's a fun story, full of adventure and fantasy. Many of the kids in that group (I had a sci fi/fantasy reading group last year!) also enjoyed The Giver by Lois Lowry, and some of the dystopia books that are hugely popular now; Hunger Games, Uglies, The Shadow Children series by Margaret Petersen Haddix (she has written TONS of great YA books)...

Gary Paulsen has some great adventure stories, as does Will Hobbs. My boys at school also really like Mike Lupica, who writes sports books.

 

[mrsklamc]

10th grade honors English here too- hated it, but it might have just been the teacher.
Tried to mess around with a site that helps you find books by interest and lexile level- what jumped out at me from a very brief search was The Wind in the Willows and The Radioactive Boyscout.

DH was very into sci-fi and recommends Heinlein, Asimov, and Orson Scott Card.

 

[cobright]

Read it in Junior High ... 7th or 8th grade. Hated it. Authors from the late 50s and 60s hadn't learned yet that to tell an 'important' story they must first write an entertaining one.

Try him on the His Dark Materials trilogy maybe or the Narnia novels?

 

[NHdisneylover]

OP--I think you are on the right track with some of the adventure books. Many of Gary Paulson's books are high enough to work, so he can keep going a bit (until he is forced into a different genre by teh assignment) if he likes the first one. You could also look at Jack London books (The Call of the Wild is 1120; I suspect most of London's books would be similar).

For Sci-fi: I love Ender's Game (that a PP recommended) --but its Lexile level is only 780.

Starship Troopers is another great Sci-fi book for boys this age, but it is still coming in too low at 1020.

There is always HG Wells' Time Machine.

Does he like fantasy? Robin McKinley has several books with lexile levels over 1100. Many are intended for a young adult audience and do not contain anything that should be worrisome (the classic, The Hero and the Crown jumps to mind).

He might enjoy some of Mark Twain's writing as well. The Prince and the Pauper, Puddinehad Wilson, etc should be high enough (more so than the Sawyer and Huck Finn classics everyone thinks of).

 

[FlightlessDuck]

Starship Troopers is another great Sci-fi book for boys this age, but it is still coming in too low at 1020.

Do you think a 10 year old would understand the social commentary of Starship Troopers?