Stephen King books for a teen

[skuttle]

My 13 year old nephew loves to read, and based on the book he left in my car (it has the grim reaper on the cover!!), he enjoys horror fiction books.

I loved Stephen King when I was younger and read every thing he wrote up until my 20's when I just ran out of time to read for fun while in law school!

We always give him cash, but I want him to have something to unwrap. I asked my SIL if he has ever read any Stephen King, and she said no. She said she always shows him that section in the library, but he never picks anything. She thinks he gets confused. LOL!

I want to pick two of the shorter books for him. I was thinking maybe Carrie and Salem's Lot. Any thoughts?

 

[just4today]

They aren't really short, but the Gunslinger series and "The Talisman" are two of my favorite Stephen King works. They have elements of horror, but also western and science fiction.

 

[skuttle]

I loved the Gunslinger series. I don't think I ever got around to reading the final one, though!

When we moved to this house 3 years ago, I sold/donated all of my Stephen King Books! I wish I had kept them all now!

 

[JessicaR]

Get him 'Thinner'. Penned by Richard Bachman, pseudonym of Stephen King. My son read this at 12-13 loved it!

 

[Pixiedust34]

Get him 'Thinner'. Penned by Richard Bachman, pseudonym of Stephen King. My son read this at 12-13 loved it!

I forgot about that King book! That might be a good one for a "starter" book when being introduced to King's writing.

A collection of his short stories might be good, too.

 

[skuttle]

I never thought about Thinner! Short stories is a good idea, too.

 

[acmeyer]

How about Stephen Kings Green Mile Series. Each book is short and sweet and the Tom Hanks movie is oh soo good

 

[JerseyJanice]

Salem's Lot was the first King novel I read when I was 15. I loved it!

The Shining is another good one for a King beginner. I was afraid to go to sleep one night after reading it, but it's a great book.

 

[Meriweather]

My DS started reading Stephan King and Dean Koontz in 5th grade.
He (and me too) really enjoyed the Gun Slinger series....and by Koontz "Watcher" is a favorite.

 

[skuttle]

I forgot about the shining, too. I also thought about Pet Cemetery. I figured the Classics would be my best bet for now.

I agree that the Dark Tower/Gunslinger series is great. I need to finish it...took him so darn long to write the last book! I think I need to start off my nephew on some shorter ones first to get him hooked. I know the first Dark Tower is on the short side, but the others, from what I remember, are pretty long.

 

[Darcy03231]

Its not short, but I read a lot of Stephen King as a teen and to date my favorite was The Stand.

 

[krcit]

Its not short, but I read a lot of Stephen King as a teen and to date my favorite was The Stand.

 

[scrapquitler]

I was reading all of Steven King in middle school, so I think that your nephew is at the perfect age! I think that Carrie was the first one I ever read, but you might want to consider some of the short story collections, they are easy to read and give a good sense of his style.

 

[Nik's Mom]

I'm a huge Stephen King fan. I started reading his books in my early teens. I'd start out with one of the short story collections then go from there.

 

[Ephany]

He's got quite a few short story and novella collections:

Night Shift
Skeleton Crew
Different Seasons
Everything's Eventual
Just After Sunset

If you want single story books, The Stand, It, and the Gunslinger series (there's 7 of them) were always my favorites as a middle schooler and beyond. The only thing to look out for is that sometimes stories that were published in as a short story are sometimes reprinted as their own book. It's best to double check that it wasn't already printed previously so you can get the most bang for your buck. The reviews at amazon are usually pretty helpful in determining this.

 

[skuttle]

I thought about The Stand and It, but they are so long. Of course, he's read all of the Harry Potter books and most of those are far from short. Maybe I need to rethink the short requirement!

 

[The Mystery Machine]

My 13yodd is reading the Dark Towers series as her intro to SK. She just finished Book V, Wolves of the Calla.

She is borrowing them from her uncle who has all of SK books. He suggested this series to her as it was his favorite. Plus he said he wished he could have read that first and then read the related books.

Right now she took one of my Anne Rice books and is reading "The Vampire Lestat". She already read "Interview with a Vampire".

 

[skuttle]

After going through all of this, I think that I want to finish the Dark Tower series. LOL! I may put those on my christmas list! Then I can give them to the nephew as I'm done!

My MIL actually bought me the Anne Rice series when I was in high school. I loved them as well.

 

[Straitlover]

Too bad you don't live in NC. I've got a whole box of SK in my back seat I'm trying to get rid of! I'm going to list them on Craigslist, but I doubt they'll sale. I'll probably end up donating to the Library Book Sale.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Too bad you don't live in NC. I've got a whole box of SK in my back seat I'm trying to get rid of! I'm going to list them on Craigslist, but I doubt they'll sale. I'll probably end up donating to the Library Book Sale.

A very nice donation, however they would probably sell on CL.

I WISH we had a half priced bookstore here!!!! I miss them when we were in TX.