Books for Big Boys

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Permalink Reply by Michelle Reitemeyer on May 28, 2009 at 7:51am

A friend recommended the Ranger Apprentice series. I trust her, and it looks good.

I recently introduced the Hardy Boys to my boys, and they seemed to be hooked. I'm excited about the potential there for a whole summer of reading.

I'm also going to be sure to get some books on CD for the car. Even 10 or 15 minutes to and from the pool or the grocery store gets us through a story in not much time. We've done The Little House on the Prairie series this way, and I'm not sure they would have enjoyed actually reading these books as much as they did listening to them.

If you have an iTouch or iPhone, you can download the Kindle software for free at Amazon. I just bought The Hobbitt for $7. I'm hoping that my boys will enjoy the portable book technology and may find themselves reading in bits and pieces wherever we go. Although you have to pay for the books, they are cheaper than the actual book, there is no due date, and little siblings will not rip the pages.

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Permalink Reply by Arwen Mosher on June 16, 2009 at 3:47pm

Hornblower? My brothers were absolutely addicted to those at that age.

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Permalink Reply by joann10 on June 16, 2009 at 9:17pm

My boys (and girls) have just discovered the Percy Jackson books-

They went through these quickly!

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Permalink Reply by Tiffany on June 17, 2009 at 10:19am

The Red Keep by Allen French
he Castle in the Attic by Elizabeth Winithrop

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Permalink Reply by Carol on June 18, 2009 at 5:54am

Don't have boys this age, but I always thought that the Louis L'Amour books (mostly westerns) were great books for young boys. Lots of good manly hero stuff, including guys who have made mistakes and changed their lives; standing up for the little guys; treating women like ladies, yet the female characters are usually strong and feminine. They are shorter than the Redwall books but there are TONS of them. And they give an accurate representation of American history.

I love them and still read the occasional Louis L'Amour!

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Permalink Reply by Karen on June 19, 2009 at 6:36pm

My boys are not big fiction readers but some books dd and I have enjoyed that would appeal to that age would be the Tom Playfair books by Fr. Finn, anything by Showell Styles, especially the Midshipman Quinn books. Eagle of The Ninth and Silver Branch. Outlaws of Ravenhurst.
There are quite a few graphic history books at Amazon that are interesting and educational. Lots of battles (Guadalcanal, Gettsburg, D-Day and many more).
If your boys are into the military I can recommend a lot of non-fiction books such as Thunder Below and Arc Light One.

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Permalink Reply by Judith Gibbons Riordon on June 21, 2009 at 9:59am

The Redwall series was big with our older boys at that age, too. They also enjoyed Fr. Finn's books--Percy Winn, Tom Playfair, Harry Dee (at TAN books). Also Narnia and the Hobbit. we waited until about 13 for LoTR, but it depends on the child.

I just ordered some George MacDonald fairy tales to read aloud this summer to our family, and have only just started the first one myself (The Princess and the Goblin), but so far I am enjoying it. I second the idea of reading "girls' books' aloud--or via mp3--great idea!--to boys. Our guys really enjoyed Little House books, Rebecca of Sunnybrook farm, and some of the Lousia May Alcott books--little Men and Jo's Boys come to mind--read aloud when they might not have gotten into reading them on their own. we do the same for Saint stories. The kids enjoy listening, but don't necessarily read on their own unless I assign them.

Do they like animal stories? Beautiul Joe, Greyfriars Bobby, and the Irish Red series are excellent dog stories. Horse stories about boys and horses: Misty of Chincoteague (a little easy) and the rest of that series, The Black Stallion and Island Stallion series'.

Hilda van Stockum's stories are all good reading--The Winged Watchman is an exciting story set during WWII in Holland. Our family--boys and g irl alike--loves her Mitchell Family stories. How about North to Freedom (the book behind the I am David movie)? Also, try Swallows and Amazons--kids living on an island for the summer, sailing. One use of "stupid" that was unnecessary and annoyed me, but otherwise a wonderful read. Just encourage them to stick it out past the first chapter; the story gets much more exciting.

For your 13-year old, maybe In the Shadow of His Wings? Read it yourself first and see. You might wait a year or two.

Thanks for this topic. It's fun and helpful to see others' suggestions.

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Permalink Reply by Michele Gautsch on June 21, 2009 at 9:26pm

My nonreader son, by which I mean it was always like pulling teeth to get him to read....at that age got very into the Redwall books. Yours might already be past those, but they engaged him as they had lots of fighting and skirmishes and pleased me as they had good writing and great vocabulary. He is now 17 and still is not keen on reading...but remembers those books fondly.

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