# Best S. King Novel To Inspire Non-reader Teen? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 9, 2009, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-s-king-novel-to-inspire-non-reader-teen/516932 "2009-11-09T19:45:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Cat\_Fight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/90ced4/32.png) [@Cat\_Fight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Fight)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2009, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-s-king-novel-to-inspire-non-reader-teen/516932/21 "2009-11-10T04:22:05Z")
> [@filling\_pages](#): > > Also, I’d suggest Different Seasons. It contains 4 novellas, three of which were made into movies. None of it is horror, exactly, but well worth it anyway. You’ve got “Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption”, “The Body” (filmed as **Stand By Me** ), “Apt Pupil”, and “The Breathing Method.” I definitely recommend starting him off on ‘The Body.’ It’s fun, funny, crude and short. Not sure what’s so girlie about _Carrie_ except that it involves a female main character and several female supporting characters. The period blood? The killing? Anyway, it was required reading one year at my school and everyone seemed to really like it. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2009, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-s-king-novel-to-inspire-non-reader-teen/516932/22 "2009-11-10T04:50:27Z")
_The Eyes of the Dragon_ is more of a fantasy novel, not very gory at all, and absolutely fantastic. It’s been quite a few years since I read it, but I seem to recall that the sexual mentions in the book are that the king needs a potion to inspire his lust, which he does not only to get heirs, but because he loves his wife and he recognizes that women have sexual feelings and needs, too. I think that this is one of King’s best, not that I’ve read all of King’s works, but King’s strength is that he’s a storyteller, and this is a wonderful story. I also recommend it to any adults who haven’t read it yet. And yeah, give him a Pratchett or two. Especially _Good Omens_, which might be listed under the co-auther, Neil Gaiman. I think that Gaiman by himself is just a little too adult for most teens, but GO is one of the funniest, if not THE funniest, books in the English language. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2009, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-s-king-novel-to-inspire-non-reader-teen/516932/23 "2009-11-10T04:55:08Z")
> [@Cat\_Fight](#): > > Not sure what’s so girlie about _Carrie_ except that it involves a female main character and several female supporting characters. The period blood? The killing? Anyway, it was required reading one year at my school and everyone seemed to really like it. I started on Carrie myself, actually. I didn’t exactly love it the way I would love his other books, but I very much enjoyed it. And it worked to turn me into quite the King fan. To be fair, I wasn’t a reluctant reader and am generally more willing to give an author a second try. It’s definitely an above average read–very different from your average book. And I agree. Other than the fact that it’s about a girl, it’s not girly. It’s not like if it had a pink cover on it, you’d confuse it for a Sarah Dessen or Helen Fielding novel. ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2009, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-s-king-novel-to-inspire-non-reader-teen/516932/24 "2009-11-10T04:57:55Z")
I’d give him Bentley Little, not King. _The Ignored,_ _The Store_ and - especially _The Collection_ (short stories) - this is amazing stuff. King himself is a fan of Little’s work. Bentley Little has a more accessible writing style that’s more efficient and moves along faster than King’s style. I was always bored to death by King’s writing and still am. I think he has some of the most amazing _ideas_ of any writer ever - incredible creativity - but I think he’s not the best at putting those ideas on paper and making them a story. His narrative can really drag on and get tedious. Just my opinion. ---
**Author:** ![ToeJam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dfb087/32.png) [@ToeJam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ToeJam)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2009, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-s-king-novel-to-inspire-non-reader-teen/516932/25 "2009-11-10T06:37:57Z")
> [@Cat\_Fight](#): > > I definitely recommend starting him off on ‘The Body.’ It’s fun, funny, crude and short. > > Not sure what’s so girlie about _Carrie_ except that it involves a female main character and several female supporting characters. The period blood? The killing? Anyway, it was required reading one year at my school and everyone seemed to really like it. Meh- I was like 10 or so, and just kinda squicked out by the whole thing. I never really had “the talk” from my parents- and health class came a while later- so learning about the whole girls bleeding thing… just weird stuff there. The only other female leads I really had was the Babysitter’s Club books or the Boxcar children series, or the evil cheerleaders from Fear Street. Carrie… was a whole 'nother mess of worms. And then in high school I just felt bad for the poor girl. It seemed so cruel and blah. Like Hostel for Highschoolers or something. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2009, 8:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-s-king-novel-to-inspire-non-reader-teen/516932/26 "2009-11-10T08:49:47Z")
“The Shining” literally (no pun) made my neck hairs stand on end, which made me aware of my heart pounding, while I was reclining on my couch in a nice quiet brightly lit room on a beautiful sunny afternoon… followed a few minutes later by my jumping half out of my skin because wife strolled past the open doorway. Nothing I’ve read before or since has ever scared me that way. I was genuinely surprised to learn that the printed word could actually work like that. Don’t know if that makes this more or less appropriate for your mission, but that’s my 2¢. . ---
**Author:** ![norinew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb9ed0/32.png) [@norinew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/norinew)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2009, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-s-king-novel-to-inspire-non-reader-teen/516932/27 "2009-11-10T13:58:06Z")
I’d definitely recommend starting him on King’s shorter works if he’s a non-reader. Which book had _The House on Maple Street_? It was either _Night Shift_ or _Skeleton Crew_. I read that one to my two older girls, out loud, when they were about 13. They are now 22 and 18, respectively. The oldest one isn’t much of a reader, but will read specific King short stories I recommend to her, but the 18YO has turned into a voracious reader, who will read all things King, plus Christopher Moore, and a bunch of other stuff (in fact, it was _she_ who introduced _me_ to the genius of Moore!) Anyway, a number of his shorter works, _The House on Maple Street_, _The Body_, _Rage_, _The Long Walk_, _The Raft_ focus on teenage boys, so he may be able to identify with some of them better. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2009, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-s-king-novel-to-inspire-non-reader-teen/516932/28 "2009-11-10T14:11:58Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > I have to agree with his short story collections - something there for everyone (and Stephen King is a master of short stories). I think the first novel of his I read was “Salem’s Lot” - that might be a good novel to start a non-reading teen on. > > As an aside, I’m just now reading the “Dark Tower” series - just finished Book IV. That’s some good shit, man. I started on a book of his short stories, i really like night shift. Second book I read was the Shining. Go for short stories first. ---
**Author:** ![Snickers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Snickers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snickers)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2009, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-s-king-novel-to-inspire-non-reader-teen/516932/29 "2009-11-10T14:13:05Z")
Being contrarian, I’d avoid _Salem’s Lot_. I loves me some King, but that’s one book that I could never get into. I dunno - I think the style’s wrong, somehow. IMO, it’s one of his earliest, and it shows - it just doesn’t seem mature to me, more a mishmash of Stoker and Wollstonecraft Shelley. I’ll admit, it’s one of my least favorite, and I haven’t read it in years, but I remember it as not really being in King’s voice. I think **Lynn** ’s got it dead on - depending on his interests, give him _The Eyes of the Dragon_. If he likes fantasy at all, he’ll like this book. I love it; it’s one of my favorites. ---
**Author:** ![norinew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb9ed0/32.png) [@norinew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/norinew)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2009, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-s-king-novel-to-inspire-non-reader-teen/516932/30 "2009-11-10T14:45:06Z")
> [@Snickers](#): > > Being contrarian, I’d avoid _Salem’s Lot_. I loves me some King, but that’s one book that I could never get into. I dunno - I think the style’s wrong, somehow. IMO, it’s one of his earliest, and it shows - it just doesn’t seem mature to me, more a mishmash of Stoker and Wollstonecraft Shelley. I’ll admit, it’s one of my least favorite, and I haven’t read it in years, but I remember it as not really being in King’s voice. > > I think **Lynn** ’s got it dead on - depending on his interests, give him _The Eyes of the Dragon_. If he likes fantasy at all, he’ll like this book. I love it; it’s one of my favorites. You know, I’d disagree with _'Salem’s Lot_ as well. It was my first King book, and it got me hooked, but I was already a dedicated reader. I was 15, my father (who never steered me wrong on a book!) handed it to me and said “Don’t read this at night” and didn’t say any more. Well, it seemed like the first _half_ of the book was background, set-up, etc. So, (you can see this coming, right?) of course I started reading it at night. It wasn’t scary at all! Obviously, by the time it _got_ scary, I was well into it and couldn’t put it down! I think I slept with a cross under my pillow for about two weeks. No kidding! But yeah, I think his early _novels_ start way too slow for a non-reader. The first King novel I remember starting off with a bang was _It_. In his short work, of course, he doesn’t have time to pussyfoot around and such. He _has_ to get right into the “meat” of the story! ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2009, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-s-king-novel-to-inspire-non-reader-teen/516932/31 "2009-11-10T14:46:14Z")
> [@wonderlust](#): > > I’ve ordered a used copy of The Bachman Books. Yay! I think he’ll love them. ---
**Author:** ![norinew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb9ed0/32.png) [@norinew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/norinew)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2009, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-s-king-novel-to-inspire-non-reader-teen/516932/32 "2009-11-10T15:25:40Z")
> [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > Yay! I think he’ll love them. I don’t know about anyone else here, but I couldn’t really bring myself to feel any love for _Roadwork_. Hmmmm. For sheer action/thrill/forecast-about-the-future-so-accurate-it’s-scary, I’ll take _The Running Man_. For psych-out, it’s _The Long Walk_, and for an all-around gripping read and peek-into-the-mind-of-a-teenaged-King, it’s _Rage_, which he started writing at the tender age of 17. I’m also fascinated by the father/son dynamic in that story. (“My father has hated me for as long as I can remember. . .but if really pressed, he’d probably say, at most, that he was hating me for my own good”; yowza; strong stuff). ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2009, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-s-king-novel-to-inspire-non-reader-teen/516932/33 "2009-11-10T15:28:07Z")
I thought the main character in the Rage was kind of whiny and annoying and that the whole thing had kind of a Breakfast Club meets Columbine feel to it. And I _was_ a teen. I think I failed at adolescence. 😃 But for teen books, I really liked both Christine, and as was mentioned. Carrie’s a great book to show just how nasty teen girls can be. Not that we didn’t already know that but Carrie came out eons before something like Mean Girls and is even more vicious. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2009, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-s-king-novel-to-inspire-non-reader-teen/516932/34 "2009-11-10T16:02:01Z")
Yes, start him on _Night Shift_. Short stories are a less daunting way to check out an author’s work than diving into a big novel, and Mistah King, he likes to write loooooooong novels. Also another vote for _'Salem’s Lot_. The first King I ever read, and still one of my two favorite vampire novels (the other being G.R.R. Martin’s _Fevre Dream_). For a non-supernatural King book, I highly recommend _Misery_. I read it 20-some years ago, not long after it first came out, and some scenes have still stuck with me. Let him work his way up to _The Stand_. He’s in for a treat. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2009, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-s-king-novel-to-inspire-non-reader-teen/516932/35 "2009-11-10T16:14:39Z")
Kids adore _The Eyes of the Dragon_. That would be my pick. (Also it’s an easy read.) ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2009, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-s-king-novel-to-inspire-non-reader-teen/516932/36 "2009-11-10T17:31:47Z")
Some of King’s older stuff may come across as dated to a younger reader these days. _'Salem’s Lot_ may seem like his parents’ vampires to someone raised on _Twilight_. _Christine_ is set partly in the fifties, isn’t it? And I love _The Stand_, but it’s definitely a product of the 70s. I agree with everyone about the short story collections. _Carrie_ may be a good one because it has girls in the shower and boobs, and the horror aspects are pretty straightforward for a younger reader. The _Apt Pupil_ novella ought to work, because the protagonist is about his age, and Nazis are always good villains. The “Stand By Me” novella might be a good choice because it’s about a group of kids, although it’s a period piece. _The Green Mile_ is uncomplicated and freaky. The Shining is a masterpiece, but much of it is awfully subtle. _Shawshank Redemption_ is a great story, but it’s not horror as such (it’s about accounting fraud!). Some are just kind of dull, IMHO. _Firestarter_ drags for much of the way. _Cujo_ does feature a dog biting a guy’s junk off, but much of it just involves a person sitting in the car for ages. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2009, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-s-king-novel-to-inspire-non-reader-teen/516932/37 "2009-11-10T17:39:23Z")
> [@Tom\_Tildrum](#): > > _Christine_ is set partly in the fifties, isn’t it? Just a few flashbacks, IIRC, via stories from LeBay’s VFW “buddies”. Nowhere near as much as _It_ at any rate. > [@norinew](#): > > I don’t know about anyone else here, but I couldn’t really bring myself to feel any love for _Roadwork_. That story seemed the most realistic to me. I could see how a guy could could really lose it like that. ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2009, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-s-king-novel-to-inspire-non-reader-teen/516932/38 "2009-11-10T18:00:01Z")
> [@Tom\_Tildrum](#): > > The _Apt Pupil_ novella ought to work, because the protagonist is about his age, and Nazis are always good villains. That one is pretty good. And ironically, it’s not really the Nazi who’s the villain - it’s the teenage protagonist. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2009, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-s-king-novel-to-inspire-non-reader-teen/516932/39 "2009-11-10T18:06:45Z")
> [@Tom\_Tildrum](#): > > Some of King’s older stuff may come across as dated to a younger reader these days. _'Salem’s Lot_ may seem like his parents’ vampires to someone raised on _Twilight_. _Christine_ is set partly in the fifties, isn’t it? And I love _The Stand_, but it’s definitely a product of the 70s. > > I agree with everyone about the short story collections. _Carrie_ may be a good one because it has girls in the shower and boobs, and the horror aspects are pretty straightforward for a younger reader. The _Apt Pupil_ novella ought to work, because the protagonist is about his age, and Nazis are always good villains. The “Stand By Me” novella might be a good choice because it’s about a group of kids, although it’s a period piece. _The Green Mile_ is uncomplicated and freaky. I think you’re kind of underestimating kids. I mean, are they so narrow minded that their reaction to something written a few decades ago is, “Dude! A history lesson?!” And suggesting that a kid would like Carrie because of “Boobs and showers!” is…kinda missing the point. Unless hurling tampons and sanitary napkins at a girl who thinks she’s hemorrhaging gets you off… I mean, it was only ten years ago that I read this stuff as a teenager. Are kids today really all that different? ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2009, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-s-king-novel-to-inspire-non-reader-teen/516932/40 "2009-11-10T18:18:33Z")
Great suggestions here. I personally think The Mist would be the best place to start. Or some of the other short stories in the book and then The Mist. Survivor Type is the ultimate gross-out story and Word Processor of the Gods–well, I’m sure he’ll be able to relate to it in one way or another. I’m not sure why you all are recommending Pratchett, though. I can’t imagine that someone without a good base of having read certain types of novels and/or a certain sense of humor would like them very much. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-s-king-novel-to-inspire-non-reader-teen/516932.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-s-king-novel-to-inspire-non-reader-teen/516932.md?page=3)