Any book recommendations for a 14yo boy who thinks reading is decidedly uncool? It’s breaking my heart
@shhhimtryingtor Project Hail Mary! Read the first couple of chapters aloud then say you'll read the rest another day and leave the book near him...
@shhhimtryingtor I was chatting to a librarian who works at a boys school and she said the series that grabs the boys (even reluctant readers) is the Cherub series by Robert Muchamore - about kids working as intelligence agents and getting to places adults wouldn’t be able too.
@shhhimtryingtor @ScotlandYardCSI I Survived series by Lauren Tarshis is checked out routinely at our library 📚
@shhhimtryingtor What interests or hobbies does he currently have? I’d try the Chocolate War by Cormier. Does it have to be book? Graphic novels like the Dark Knight Returns & The Long Halloween are good too.
@shhhimtryingtor Anything comic book! Manga!! The boys always thinking reading is uncool! It’s a phase he will come around!
@shhhimtryingtor Not really, not knowing your boy. But don't take it too badly. Mine was the same, but ten years later he was walking around with a volume of Seneca in his pocket.
@shhhimtryingtor Percy Jackson? I've heard that's a real winner (I got them for a Christmas gifting thing) Also some manga?
@shhhimtryingtor My recommendation would be one of the popular mangas. JKK, Chainsaw Man, Tokyo Ghoul. Just be warned they are pretty full on. That or some books around their movie/gaming interests. For me it was the start wars books but there are Cyberpunk 2077, Warhammer books etc
@shhhimtryingtor My 12 year old likes Percy Jackson.
@shhhimtryingtor Lots of Manga out there. It's really a big thing now. It might help him navigate his way to reading novels. Neil Gaiman. Anything by him. Percy Jackson books maybe? Has he read Harry Potter?
@shhhimtryingtor The Last Berserker by Angus Donald
@shhhimtryingtor I know the Alex Ryder books are very popular.
@shhhimtryingtor The Chronicles of Ancient Darkness series by Michelle Paver!
@shhhimtryingtor The Final Year by Matt Goodfellow . It is coolness in book form.
@shhhimtryingtor The Upper World by Femi Fadugba is brilliant
@shhhimtryingtor My son recommends Noughts & Crosses
@shhhimtryingtor “The Graveyard Book” By Neil Gaiman. It also comes in a graphic novel format
@shhhimtryingtor @Gemloukay - anything Will or Jake liked? Or that you’ve seen in @ImaginedThings ?
@shhhimtryingtor Try some graphic novels! Squire might be a good one? Alternatively, these readers are sometimes swayed by a good sci-fi. I loved The Martian, but it might be a bit too adult, so maybe a YA version of something similar?
@shhhimtryingtor My teens used to read until they discovered gaming. That was that. Now they rarely read. It is heart-breaking. I think also school has put them off. My 14yo hates English lessons. Yet he is bright, clever... but not engaging with English at all.
@shhhimtryingtor Also have a game-head boy but he’s only allowed games Fri-Sun. Recently finished & enjoyed War of the Worlds which was a school free-reading choice.
@shhhimtryingtor Maybe manga - that’s seen as pretty cool, and some great storytelling. Graphic novels too!
@shhhimtryingtor @CrystalLorons Futuristic Violence and Fancy Suits It’s not the mindless blood bath you might think and it’s a really good story
@shhhimtryingtor The Martian by Andy Weir. It has the F word on the first page, which makes it seems deliciously dangerous, and then it’s suspenseful and funny and thought-provoking — all with the bonus that it’s not “for kids.”
@shhhimtryingtor Don’t pressure them into reading - they’ll double down on thinking reading is uncool. And also don’t discourage what sort of books they choose to read. Graphic novels, kids’ books, books that are more pictures than words - it all counts as reading.
@shhhimtryingtor Try graphic novels. Mous is a great one for a teen
@shhhimtryingtor How to Invent Everything: A Survival Guide for the Stranded Time Traveler
@shhhimtryingtor Well at least let us know what he watches/listens to!