Suggested reading for a teenage boy

myself

[Sloth]

'Guns of the South' by Harry Turtledove.

[LibFreeOrDie]

Forcing him to read "good literature" or "classic books" will not make him love the stuff. In fact, he may learn to hate it.

If he is just playing games on the computer all day, then maybe he could better spend his time taking a programming/computer science course at a local college, high school, computer training center, or online.

[mdittmar]

The Living Lincoln:The Man,His Time,His Words

Culled from the 9-volume Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln, this book assembles the best of Lincoln's writings on himself and the issues of his day, creating in effect an engrossing autobiography of our greatest president. Skillful editing shapes this volume comprised of letters, speeches, and documents into an intimate self-portrait of Lincoln, from his early years in Springfield to the day before he died. A fine addition to any American history library.

[BibChr]

The book of 'Proverbs' as found in the Bible!

Ooh, double-ditto that!

Dan
Biblical Christianity BLOG

[csvset]

The Bounty Trilogy

Two Years Before The Mast

The Civil War

[Asphalt]

Unngh. I wasn't a fan of the Muppets version. I saw some obscure movie version in English class and it was great. Most of the dialogue was word-for-word from the book, and the acting was also good.

[Phsstpok]

Robert Heinlein - Stranger in a Strange Land

the two books of William Manchester's biography of Winston Churchill "The Last Lion"

Steven Pressfield's Gates of Fire (the 300 Spartans at Thermopylae)

two collaborations by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle Footfall and Lucifer's Hammer (see below for a third)

Ben Hur by Lew Wallace (then find a biography of Lew Wallce... he's as fascinating as the novel he wrote)

The two books written so far of Edmund Morris' biography of Theodore Roosevelt, The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt and Theodore Rex

And then may I recommend some Free ebook downloads from www.baen.com - perfect for a computer type:

Gust Front by John Ringo

1632 and 1633 by Eric Flint

Wizard's Bane and Wizardry Compiled by Rick Cook (written by and for computer geeks)

Fallen Angels by Niven and Pournelle

[papertyger]

I've got two short reads for you. Most likely they will never be required of him, so it might be a good idea for you to require them:

The Declaration of Independence

The Constitution of The United States.

[Asphalt]

Actually, Bradbury is the only Sci-fi I've read. I read "The Time Machine" a while ago, but didn't like it.

[LongElegantLegs]

Well, I'm a sucker for Muppets! I like their Treasure Island, too. Probably because there's no pretension about preserving the integrity of the story...They know they're butchering it! ;-P

[1L]

I'd have him go in this order:

Animal Farm
Of Mice and Men
Adventures of Tom Sawyer
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
To Kill a Mockingbird

If he works through these, freepmail and I will give you some more. The first two are fairly short, but interesting. The rest should be enjoyable. I confess I didn't read Huck Finn until, well, not long ago, but I read all the others in High School. So I think they can hold his interest.

[Asphalt]

Haven't seen any other than "A Christmas Carol"

[LongElegantLegs]

Come to think of it, though, the English Pygmalion and Pride and Prejudice were much better than the Hollywood versions.

[DouglasKC]

He might be a little old, but I used to love the Tarzan series by Edgar Rice Burroughs. The book Tarzan is NOT cute and cuddly. It's a great series for a teenage boy.

[Issaquahking]

Classics are outstanding. I do strongly recommend trying to find out exactly what he likes, then see about finding authors that may support where you may want his learning to heads toward. If he's bored, you'll be up against a brick wall, so this has to be good.

To the mother, I recommend "A Thomas Jefferson Education" by Oliver Van DeMille. It's a great book about how to teach using the classics. It makes a nice guide to teaching a generation of leaders for the twenty-first century.

Long Elegant Legs - I knew on top of those legs there had to be more than looks! Good choices!

[Maigret]

Tolkien's Lord of the Rings, perfect!

[ml/nj]

He is 15 and I am trying to expand his interest. He is only interested in the computer.

Buy him computer books. (but let him pick the ones he wants.)

I never read much when I was his age, and certainly not classics. Now I'm one of Amazon's biggest customers. I think the key to getting someone interested in reading is motivation. Right now the computer is his motivation. Use it.

ML/NJ

[Lil'freeper]

How about Heinlein's Starship Troopers?

It's short, easily read, and has some very potent ideas for discussion. (Nothing at all like the movie.)

[LongElegantLegs]

Aw...Thanks! /bashful
It would be alot easier to recommend books if we knew a little more about the boy.

[politicalwit]

Anthem, Atlas Shrugged, We the Living...