# Book Suggestion? pre-teen, non-fiction **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 28, 2013, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-suggestion-pre-teen-non-fiction/667452 "2013-08-28T23:40:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![C3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/c3/32/3108_2.png) [@C3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C3)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2013, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-suggestion-pre-teen-non-fiction/667452/1 "2013-08-28T23:40:04Z")
I need book suggestions for: [ul] [li]A 10 year old boy[/li][li]Non-fiction[/li][li]Centered around a kid who has struggled with circumstances in his life (big things, like poverty, war, etc.)[/li][/ul] My son has been struggling lately with appreciating what he has and, after a long talk, he’s agreed to read a book about someone who has had a rough road. [this is one way we’re approaching the issue, but not the only one] He reads above grade level [for example, he read and understood The Hunger Games]. We watch & discuss the news and he’s been involved with social action work through our UU Fellowship, so he’s not sheltered from world events. But, he’s still a 10 year old boy. Any suggestions for something he could read? I thought about _Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl_, but I think all the girl stuff (especially the puberty-related things) might turn him off. But something along those lines. Any suggestions? ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2013, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-suggestion-pre-teen-non-fiction/667452/2 "2013-08-28T23:41:27Z")
Maybe “The Giver”? ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2013, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-suggestion-pre-teen-non-fiction/667452/3 "2013-08-28T23:44:29Z")
Biographies are good places to start for that age, because they can read up on someone they admire before the biographies turn into the “the person you admire was really a monster” type that adults tend to read. > [@nearwildheaven](#): > > Maybe “The Giver”? That’s non-fiction now? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2013, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-suggestion-pre-teen-non-fiction/667452/4 "2013-08-28T23:45:09Z")
There’s a very good YA biography of Robert H. Goddard, dating from maybe the late 1960s. I found it very inspiring and intriguing in the day. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2013, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-suggestion-pre-teen-non-fiction/667452/5 "2013-08-28T23:53:42Z")
Sorry! I just saw that he’d read “The Hunger Games”. For a while, my niece was reading anything she could get her hands on about Elizabeth Blackwell, the first American licensed woman physician. Marie Curie was quite a pioneer in her time too. ---
**Author:** ![C3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/c3/32/3108_2.png) [@C3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C3)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2013, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-suggestion-pre-teen-non-fiction/667452/6 "2013-08-29T00:05:20Z")
I think I need less “inspiring” and more “see how rough these kids have it? your don’t get to say you have it worse than anyone because you can’t use the ipad right now.” The Hunger Games was actually pretty good, because we were able to discuss kids in poverty vs. the people in the Capital. We talked about how the author may have been commenting on what was going on in our culture and world. I think something with similar themes, but non-fiction, would be ideal. I think they’re going to have to read “The Giver” in school this year. ---
**Author:** ![C3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/c3/32/3108_2.png) [@C3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C3)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2013, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-suggestion-pre-teen-non-fiction/667452/7 "2013-08-29T00:28:03Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > There’s a very good YA biography of Robert H. Goddard, dating from maybe the late 1960s. I found it very inspiring and intriguing in the day. Do you mean “Rocket Man”? That looks good - I’m going to put that on my wish list for him. ---
**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2013, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-suggestion-pre-teen-non-fiction/667452/8 "2013-08-29T00:39:32Z")
> [@C3](#): > > Any suggestions for something he could read? I thought about _Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl_, but I think all the girl stuff (especially the puberty-related things) might turn him off. But something along those lines. > > Any suggestions? [Friedrich](http://www.amazon.com/Friedrich-Puffin-Books-Peter-Richter/dp/0140322051/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1377736350&sr=8-2&keywords=friedrich) is the first thing that comes to mind. It is actually historical fiction, but it is essentially the equivalent of Anne Frank for boys, targets the right age group, and hits the points that you’re trying to make. Our teacher read it to my 6th grade class, and it has stayed with me ever since. ---
**Author:** ![Hello\_Again](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hello\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Again)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2013, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-suggestion-pre-teen-non-fiction/667452/9 "2013-08-29T01:17:35Z")
For sheer misery you can’t beat [Angela’s Ashes](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angela's_Ashes) but not really an age appropriate choice. [Soldier’s Heart](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soldier's_Heart_(Gary_Paulsen_novel)) is not strictly a biography but its largely based on real events and real people. Has some violent parts but no more so than “The Hunger Games.” ---
**Author:** ![tellyworth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/977dab/32.png) [@tellyworth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tellyworth)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2013, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-suggestion-pre-teen-non-fiction/667452/10 "2013-08-29T01:23:27Z")
_Boy_ by Roald Dahl, the autobiography of his early life. His struggles aren’t as big as war (that comes in his adult biography) but there’s poverty, tragedy, and a rather brutal school. ---
**Author:** ![C3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/c3/32/3108_2.png) [@C3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C3)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2013, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-suggestion-pre-teen-non-fiction/667452/11 "2013-08-29T01:35:37Z")
These are all great suggestions. > [@Hello\_Again](#): > > [Soldier’s Heart](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soldier's_Heart_(Gary_Paulsen_novel)) is not strictly a biography but its largely based on real events and real people. Has some violent parts but no more so than “The Hunger Games.” This one, especially, looks good. My son has read \*Hatchet \*and _Brian’s Winter_ and loved both. A Gary Paulsen book will spark his interest. ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2013, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-suggestion-pre-teen-non-fiction/667452/12 "2013-08-29T14:57:56Z")
_The Endless Steppe_ by Esther Hautzig is about a pre-teen Jewish girl from Poland who is exiled to Siberia with her family in the late 1930’s. It’s a true story, and well worth reading. ---
**Author:** ![Reno\_Nevada](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Reno\_Nevada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reno_Nevada)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2013, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-suggestion-pre-teen-non-fiction/667452/13 "2013-08-29T15:27:09Z")
> [@C3](#): > > I think I need less “inspiring” and more “see how rough these kids have it? your don’t get to say you have it worse than anyone because you can’t use the ipad right now.” > > . OK, not what you expected, but what about **Farmer Boy** , by Laura Ingalls Wilder, based on the boyhood of her husband? This might be interesting because Almanzo knows that he has it pretty good, but you can compare what “pretty good” meant then and means now. The actual non-fictiveness is a separate discussion, though. ---
**Author:** ![Hello\_Again](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hello\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Again)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2013, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-suggestion-pre-teen-non-fiction/667452/14 "2013-08-29T17:10:23Z")
Farmer Boy is a good selection that makes the point without being depressing. His family was considered well off but he’s expected to pull his weight for real. In one scene Alonzo is training calfs to plow. At some point you realize he’s only 7 or 8. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2013, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-suggestion-pre-teen-non-fiction/667452/15 "2013-08-29T17:30:36Z")
> [@C3](#): > > Do you mean “Rocket Man”? That looks good - I’m going to put that on my wish list for him. I think that’s a newer one than I meant but I can’t find a certain title and link to mine - I think it was just “Robert H. Goddard” and there are several early-1960s bios that could be the one I read. Try “Rocket Man.” The interesting thing is that there is a shortage of adult biographies of Goddard - at least, I never found one in years of looking. Something might have been published in the last ten years or so. > [@Hello\_Again](#): > > For sheer misery you can’t beat [Angela’s Ashes](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angela's_Ashes) but not really an age appropriate choice. I don’t know what age is appropriate for that book. My wife went crazy over it and bought about six copies for people including me (her copy was on her Kindle). After about the fifth time the father lost everything the family had to booze and dragged them down another notch, I gave up and practically had to call the suicide hotline. Yes, it’s fabulous writing. But it’s _so_ _bloody_ _awful_. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2013, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-suggestion-pre-teen-non-fiction/667452/16 "2013-08-29T17:39:45Z")
> [@Reno\_Nevada](#): > > OK, not what you expected, but what about **Farmer Boy** , by Laura Ingalls Wilder, based on the boyhood of her husband? I was actually tempted to suggest this. Wilder’s “Little House” books in general are good for demonstrating how people lived back in the days before modern conveniences, but the others are girl-centered enough to possibly dissuade boys from reading them. ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2013, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-suggestion-pre-teen-non-fiction/667452/17 "2013-08-29T18:34:02Z")
> [@C3](#): > > I thought about _Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl_, but I think all the girl stuff (especially the puberty-related things) might turn him off. _Night_ by Elie Wiesel comes to mind, but ten years old may be too young to read it. Whether it should be classified as a fictionalized memoir or a semi-autobiographical novel is a matter of debate. ---
**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:** [August 29, 2013, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-suggestion-pre-teen-non-fiction/667452/18 "2013-08-29T19:30:32Z")
> [@Hello\_Again](#): > > Farmer Boy is a good selection that makes the point without being depressing. His family was considered well off but he’s expected to pull his weight for real. In one scene Alonzo is training calfs to plow. At some point you realize he’s only 7 or 8. I believe that he celebrates his ninth birthday in the book. He gets to stay home from school without doing any work other than his normal chores. His material present is a sled so that he can haul things like wood and nuts. There’s also a part where Manny asks his father for a nickel so that he can buy lemonade at the fair. His father gives him a talk about what a nickel and half dollar actually represent, which is the amount of work that was needed to earn that money. This might be an excellent talking point, as well as a way to point out how prices go up. I think that all of the Little House books are good about showing how the homesteaders and farmers had to live back then. ---
**Author:** ![StusBlues](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@StusBlues](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StusBlues)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2013, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-suggestion-pre-teen-non-fiction/667452/19 "2013-08-29T20:06:06Z")
_Number the Stars_ is fiction, but it’s very historically grounded. It’s not nearly as girly as _Anne Frank_, and it might be what you’re looking for. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2013, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-suggestion-pre-teen-non-fiction/667452/20 "2013-08-29T20:19:44Z")
[My Name is America](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Name_Is_America). A series of books written in the form of a young boy’s diary about historical American events. Absolutely wonderful, even for adults (I just bought five of the companion series The Royal Diaries from our library). [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-suggestion-pre-teen-non-fiction/667452.md?page=2)