If he has the slightest interest in architecture, I would recommend How Buildings Learn: What Happens After They’re Built, by Stewart Brand.
Guns, Germs and Steel and Omnivore’s Dilemma both have “sequels”.
There’s also Poundstone’s “Secrets” series, the “Imponderables” series and of course the Straight Dope series.
Fast Food Nation
Freakanomics
anything by Jon Krakauer, especially Banner of Heaven
The Tipping Point (though it’s not as good as Blink)
Friday Night Lights-this was the very first non-fiction I ever read!
Devil in the White City-sorry to keep editing to add but I just thought of this one because I think you’re a Chicago doper, right?
Garlic & Sapphires-Ruth Reichl.
Assasination Vacation by Sarah Vowell
There is an anthology published every year of “Best American ___ Writing of [insert year to date]”. I highly recommend the Travel and Science anthologies-those are the 2 I buy every year. This year’s travel anthology was edited by Anthony Bourdain. They’re rather like interesting short stories on different parts of the world.
I’m not a natural non-fiction reader (my taste runs more to British Lit) so rest assured that all of these have the plotting of a novel 
There’s also Joel Achenbach’s Why Things Are series.
Another good one about disease is Survival of the Sickest, which is an explanation of why disease is a GOOD thing for the survival of the human race! Very interesting.
Slightly different from most of the books suggested, but he might enjoy Memoirs of a Sword Swallower, the somewhat fictionalized autobiography of Dan Mannix, who joined a carnival sideshow by accident and learnt how to swallow swords, eat fire, and pick locks. I guess if the kid liked Guns, Germs and Steel, he might find this too light, but might find some of the details about why sword swallowing is physiologically possible interesting.
Heh. Actually, he’d probably love this for reasons you don’t know. Among our circle of friends is one sword swallower, one lock picker (professional locksmith, actually) and more people who eat, blow and spin fire than you can shake a stick at. He himself spun fire when he was younger, and then got bored with it, if you can believe that! We’re not technically a carnival sideshow, but we probably should be!
Thanks again to everyone. I’ve got 8 books ordered, and assuming I get the standard Amazon giftcards I usually do for Christmas, I’ll order some more for him for his birthday in January. Y’all have saved Christmas, really.
Awww. The Dopers who Saved Christmas.
In that case, I recommend a novel: Spangle, by Gary Jennings (about an American circus touring Europe in the 1860s and '70s).
Whadja git, whadja git?? Please tell!
I know it’s probably too late (8 books! Can I come live with you?) but I just wanted to add:
***Rats: Observations on the History and Habitat of the City’s Most Unwanted Inhabitants ***
I enjoyed the entire book, but found the chapter detailing the connection between anti-Chinese sentiment and the spread of bubonic plague in the United States particularly fascinating. There are also passages detailing the role of rats in the struggle for civil rights and unionization of sanitation workers. When I read that your son enjoys reading about the connections between seemingly unconnected things, I immediately thought of this book.
Anyway, you’ve already got a whole bunch of books and probably don’t need another recommendation, but you may want to add it to the list for a later date. Personally, I’m bookmarking this thread, as the books described within all seem like perfect gifts for my brother-in-law (and great ones for me to borrow after he’s done).
Vaccine: The Controversial Story of Medicine’s Greatest Lifesaver by Arthur Allen is a very good read. Allen is the Slate science editor. He manages equal parts awe and snark with chapters like People Who Prefer Whooping Cough.
Well, I wasn’t sure if I should say, because then the ones that didn’t get picked might feel rejected… But I know in threads like this I want to know too. I really do appreciate *all *the suggestions, and I sent them all to my mother for gift giving ideas, as well.
After taking into account his taste, reading level and my current income, I chose:
Freakonomics
Salt: A World History
Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed
Outliers: The Story of Success
Why Buildings Fall Down: How Structures Fail
Everything Bad is Good for You
Flushed: How the Plumber Saved Civilization
As well as two DVD’s:
George Carlin - You Are All Diseased
George Carlin - Complaints and Grievances
Throw in a new hat and gloves and a few stocking stuffers from the dollar store and he’s done.
Ooh ooh ooh, I’ve got another one, about cholera! It’s lovely and disgusting. The Ghost Map: The Story of London’s Most Terrifying Epidemic–and How It Changed Science, Cities, and the Modern World, by Steven Johnson. Put it on your “future” list!
Ah, then he’d maybe find it kinda dull - it’s not hugely detailed, and I guess if you know the real thing in person, you’re not going to find the book as impressive as I did growing up in a small town, with no sword swallowers in the vicinity
I know it is too late to the party … but maybe for next time, A History of Warfare by Keegan is good for the military - wanna know how it works - kinda kid.
Oh, that does look good! And yeah, I notice I missed the military stuff. Perhaps this will head the birthday list.