Books for Josh
I found my way to Josh’s site, COMPULSIVE SODAHOLIC-KINDA EXTRA-ORDINARY? SEE FOR YOURSELF!, this morning and was pleased to see a twelve year old reader.
He loves watching the shows Buffy and Veronica Mars. He also reads a lot of books including Harry Potter and Hardy Boys
That said he couldn’t get into Agatha Christie. That is no big surprise, her works have become very dated. Here are a few of my recommendations:
Enders Game by Orson Scott Card: This is the story set sometime in future, I always get the feeling of at least a century past present. Young kids are monitored from birth to assess their potential for military careers in the IF to defend earth against a third invasion by an alien race known as the Buggers.
Tithe, Valiant, and Ironside by Holly Black: For people who like Buffy or Harry Potter’s world in which the supernatural is real and in plain sight whether you recognize it for what it is or not, Holly paints a similar view of the world for the page in the three novels.
More closed contemporary fantasy world where humans simply ignore the supernatural can be found in the likes of Charles de Lint’s works, especially those involving the fictional town of Newford. There are a number of books in this series that are especially written for YA audiences, though I enjoyed them as an adult and fan of the series. Blue Girl and Little Grrl are are among my favorites of the YA books.
Open contemporary fantasy novels, where humans know the supernatural exists, are available too. Patricia Brigg’s Mercy Thompson series is the the only one that isn’t really filled with sex. The sex filled novels of Anita Blake’s Merry Gentry are really good, but probably not appropriate for everyone.
Other really good teen reads include
1632 by Eric Flint: The whole series revolves around a small West Virginia town that gets thrown back in time to the early 1630’s and shifted to Germany. The whole series is great and there is an good opportunity for writing officially sanctioned fan fiction.
Honor Harrington by David Weber: This is one of the best series I have ever read period. If you like stories about space, war or the military in general this is going to rock your world. Including the short story anthologies written by some big names in fiction this series is now well over a dozen books.
Cross Time series by Harry Turtledove: Is a great series alternate history stories written for teens, but because Harry is as imaginative as always a good read for anyone who likes to ask “what if?”
Oceans on the Sea of Time by S.M. Stirling: follows the adventures of the Nantucket Islanders thrown back in time to 1500 BC.
Dies The Fire by S.M. Stirling: This is really the same series as Oceans on the Sea of Time, but follows the world, namely the Pacific Northwest, after the event that through Nantucket back in time. Guns, cars, electric appliances and basically anything that requires high compression or electricity stops working.
If anyone can think of more please feel free to add them to the list
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When I was a kid, my favorite books/writers were Edgar R. Burrough’s Tarzan, “The Count of Monte Cristo”,Austen, Bronte, HP Lovecraft, Dracula, Frankenstein, E. Waugh,LOTR, Flaubert, “The Magnificent Ambersons”, “American Tragedy”. I was/am a square peg in a round hole, I never read the latest books, probably because I had to use the library and the latest ones were always out and I really love a certain era and style.
Great post. :O)
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The Aborshen series by Garth Nix and also Shade’s Children by Garth Nix. I still enjoy these and I’m a little bit past my teens (*oops*)
jess (fushmush)’s last blog post..Half a World Away – Days / Nights
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@jess (fushmush) – The great thing about good books is how enjoyable they are no matter what age you read them at.
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Great for kids of all ages, but my girls will love it. Thank you for sharing Enders Game, I missed that one somehow.
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Ender’s Game is one that get’s missed a lot despite the number of people who read it. Since writing this list I have read Ender’s Shadow and the three that follow it. These four books cover Bean’s story and to a lesser extent Peter Wiggins and what happens to some of the other battle School kids after the war.
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I want to buy a couple of them. Which ones do you think are the best to start out with?
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@Ophelia Chong -
I am thankful that my local libraries get really good community support and seem to have the latest books even if they don’t always get a lot of copies. What excites me most though is the amount of DVD’s they get, especially foreign language films.
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