A Separate Peace?

[Liberty Belle]

Thanks, everyone, so much for your input.

I found a few books that he's interested in and that are right at or slightly above the lowered lexile: Brian's Winter, by Gary Paulsen, Across Five Aprils, by Irene something, and Downsiders, by N. Shusterman. These all sounded interesting to him.

Brian's Winter could work for the Adventure month, and he could read Downsiders now for the free choice month, and Across Five Aprils would work for Historical Fiction month. So I'm off to a good start!

I'm just very thankful the teacher allowed him to do a lower level. There wasn't much at all at the higher level.

**Englishteacha - Funny thing is in second grade, they diagnosed him with a reading (and writing) disorder. Then in Third grade his reading just took off and now he's reading at these high levels. He does love to read. He has anxiety and it's always something that helps him relax.

 

[HM]

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.



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.

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I'm currently reading Enders Game, and I think your son would like it.

Yes, Hatchet comes before Brian's Winter and should be read first. I love those books. There is another one about the same boy, something with River in the title....

I'd also look at The Maze Runner series and The Hunger Games series. Also try, The Yearling for an older book.

 

[Liberty Belle]

I'm currently reading Enders Game, and I think your son would like it.

Yes, Hatchet comes before Brian's Winter and should be read first. I love those books. There is another one about the same boy, something with River in the title....

I'd also look at The Maze Runner series and The Hunger Games series. Also try, The Yearling for an older book.

Unfortunately, those are all leveled too low. He's read The Maze Runner (I think it's about 800) and The Hunger Games first book (also around 800). He's also read Hatchet and loved it. I'll look for that other one, thanks! The Yearling - hmm...will have to look it up and see what the level is.

Personally, I feel he should be allowed to read anything fifth grade level and up, but I'm not his teacher.

 

[Liberty Belle]

Just checked - Ender's Game is only level 780. The Yearling is 750.

For the heck of it, I looked up Starship Troopers - 1020. Closer, but still not the required level.

See how crazy this is?!

 

[mrsklamc]

Bummer. During the night I thought of the Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy but it's only 1000. Do you have a list of all the categories he needs to read from?

 

[Liberty Belle]

And just for reference:

War and Peace - 1240
Moby Dick - 1200
Brothers Karamazov - 1010 - 1150 (depending on the version).

 

[NHdisneylover]

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

It is a moot point, given that it is still too low of a lexile level (which I put in my post--not sure why the OP looked it up), but i think many kids who are very strong readers would get a lot out of it.

They might miss SOME of the social commentary, but they would still enjoy the adventure and coming of age aspects of the story and overall like the book; there is enough good plot there to keep it entertaining and have it work on some level even if someone is not catching everything.

That was the case for me in 6th grade and my DD in 5th. I am pretty sure my younger cousin was in 5th when I sent it along to him after I read it, and it is one of his favourite books to this day.

It would be like kids reading and enjoying the Oz or Narnia stories without getting the political/social commentary of the first or the Christian underpinnings of the second--they are great stories with a lot to offer even without that stuff (heck, I felt like I "lost" something once I could get that and am glad I got to experience them without all the adult clutter when I was younger).

 

[Liberty Belle]

Bummer. During the night I thought of the Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy but it's only 1000. Do you have a list of all the categories he needs to read from?

Let me get the sheet...

Ok, here are the months, genres, and projects due


September - free choice - design new book jacket
October - Mystery/Horror - Make a book trailer using Animoto
November - Biographies - Dress up and give character monologue
December - Adventure - Make persuasive top ten list
January - Historical Fiction - Newspaper using publisher
February - Fantasy/Science Fiction - Glogster
March - Non-fiction - make comic strip
April - Classics/Newbery winners - Postcard
May - Realistic fiction - student choice

 

[Liberty Belle]

It is a moot point, given that it is still too low of a lexile level (which I put in my post--not sure why the OP looked it up), but i think many kids who are very strong readers would get a lot out of it.

They might miss SOME of the social commentary, but they would still enjoy the adventure and coming of age aspects of the story and overall like the book; there is enough good plot there to keep it entertaining and have it work on some level even if someone is not catching everything.

That was the case for me in 6th grade and my DD in 5th. I am pretty sure my younger cousin was in 5th when I sent it along to him after I read it, and it is one of his favourite books to this day.

Sorry NH - I guess I'd forgotten about that. Didn't read over those posts this morning and since I was on the lexile page, decided to look it up.

 

[NHdisneylover]

And just for reference:

War and Peace - 1240
Moby Dick - 1200
Brothers Karamazov - 1010 - 1150 (depending on the version).

Don't get too caught up on who the intended audience was/is or if it is known as a "classic" book. Many (mostly older) books aimed at children also have high lexile levels (unfortunately, more of the ones I can think of were aimed more at girls).

A few examples:

Little Women - 1230 (nearly everything Alcott wrote is over 1100)

The Magic of Oz - 1110 (several of the OZ books count, some are even higher)

The Prince and the Pauper - 1160 (I know I mentioned this and other Twain books before, but here it is again, just in case you missed it)

Lemony Snicket's The Slippery Slope - 1150

Paddington at Large (yes! A Paddington Bear book very much NOT going to have material that could be a problem) - 1160

The Book of Dragons - 1170

Wind in the Willows (about as tame as Paddington!) - 1140

almost anything by Gary Paulson or Robin McKinley (The Door in the Hedge is one of hers that appeals to many boys, its lexile level is 1110)

 

[K and K's Mommy]

My kids have this same problem. I've told them all they need to become writers and write books that are high level, yet appropriate for 8-12 year olds. I just let my DD 12 read the Hunger Game series, but it was just for fun since they are too low for school.

The original Wizard of Oz series by Frank Baum are higher level. One of my favorite series is the Mysterious Benedict Society books. My kids read them in 2nd and 3rd, but I think they are a higher level.

My DS 8 read The Hobbit over the summer. He also read the first of The Lord of the Rings series.

Last year my DD discovered that most of the Lemony Snickett novels are higher levels. She had to read the first one for fun, but I think the rest of the series are higher.

My DS 8 is reading the Artemis Fowl books now, but his teacher will let him read 5th grade and up according to Renaissance levels. I can't remember how Lexile corresponds to Renaissance.

If he needs historical fiction, I think some of the Little House books are higher. I know my boys have both done Farmer Boy to get the historical fiction.

Good luck!

 

[Liberty Belle]

Don't get too caught up on who the intended audience was/is or if it is known as a "classic" book. Many (mostly older) books aimed at children also have high lexile levels (unfortunately, more of the ones I can think of were aimed more at girls).

A few examples:

Little Women - 1230 (nearly everything Alcott wrote is over 1100)

The Magic of Oz - 1110 (several of the OZ books count, some are even higher)

The Prince and the Pauper - 1160 (I know I mentioned this and other Twain books before, but here it is again, just in case you missed it)

Lemony Snicket's The Slippery Slope - 1150

Paddington at Large (yes! A Paddington Bear book very much NOT going to have material that could be a problem) - 1160

The Book of Dragons - 1170

Wind in the Willows (about as tame as Paddington!) - 1140

almost anything by Gary Paulson or Robin McKinley (The Door in the Hedge is one of hers that appeals to many boys, its lexile level is 1110)

Paddington! lol ok.

Thank you! I'm copying and pasting all this so I have reference for later.

 

[NHdisneylover]

all of the suggestions below would be classified as juvenile literature in most libraries

Let me get the sheet...

Ok, here are the months, genres, and projects due


September - free choice - design new book jacket
October - Mystery/Horror - Make a book trailer using Animoto The Case of the Gypsy Goodbye (1110) or The Case of the Cryptic Crynoline (1120) both by Nancy Springer; they play of off Sherlock Holmes with modern characters--the heroine is Elona Holmes

November - Biographies - Dress up and give character monologue If your son enjoys the Paulson book, maybe he would like to read Paulsen's autobiography? My Life in Dog Years has a level of 1150

December - Adventure - Make persuasive top ten list You could fall back on the Paulsen books again. Or, some of the Twain books (The Prince and The Pauper could be interesting, a top 10 list of why one or the other has a better life), or maybe Green's Adventures of Robin Hood (1110) (


January - Historical Fiction - Newspaper using publisher Nothing is jumping to mind here.


February - Fantasy/Science Fiction - Glogster again, most of Robin McKinley's stuff. Or The book of Dragons (1170)

March - Non-fiction - make comic strip He should have no issue here at all--there are TONS of choices that have high lexile levels and are written for kids.

April - Classics/Newbery winners - Postcard If it has to be a Newberry Award winner--you he has very few options. I found this list: http://libguides.coastal.edu/content.php?pid=138959&sid=1191454. For classics but not Newberry books, The Jungle Book (1140), or as I said upthread: The Magic of Oz (1110), Wind in the Willows ((1140) or Paddington at Large (1150). He could also read the Twain novels here.

May - Realistic fiction - student choice Well, Paulson would be great again for this one!

Sorry NH - I guess I'd forgotten about that. Didn't read over those posts this morning and since I was on the lexile page, decided to look it up.

No worries--I just thought it was kind of funny

 

[Liberty Belle]

Oh! He loves Neil deGrasse Tyson. I just found a book by him (The Pluto Files) that I think he'd like to read and it's level 1300! He can use that for the non-fiction month. Yay.

 

[FlightlessDuck]

How about T.H. White's classic work, Sword In The Stone? It's 1120, which is in the range the teacher set.

Here's a list of 1100 - 1500 from a specific school:

http://www.macarthurschool.org/stustuff/scholastic/lexiles/1100_1500/export.html

The list has a few non-fiction sports books in it, too.

 

[Liberty Belle]

How about T.H. White's classic work, Sword In The Stone? It's 1120, which is in the range the teacher set.

Here's a list of 1100 - 1500 from a specific school:

http://www.macarthurschool.org/stustuff/scholastic/lexiles/1100_1500/export.html

The list has a few non-fiction sports books in it, too.

Thank you!

My son is not into sports at all, other than liking to play some a little at recess, etc. He's not the most coordinated/athletic kid. He is very much into science (physics, astrophysics, chemistry, etc) and computers, engineering toys, geography, history, and some political science.

 

[HM]

Just checked - Ender's Game is only level 780. The Yearling is 750.

For the heck of it, I looked up Starship Troopers - 1020. Closer, but still not the required level.

See how crazy this is?!

Wow. I had no idea.

 

[HM]

The Call of the Wild by Jack London

 

[Liberty Belle]

The Call of the Wild by Jack London

He may like that.

 

[Disneefun]

I didn't see this suggested, but you can just go to the Lexil homepage (http://www.lexile.com/) and enter the lexile number you need to accommodate. Then you can choose from various genres and the site will recommend some books.