# Please recommend nonfiction that a teenager would enjoy **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 22, 2003, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-nonfiction-that-a-teenager-would-enjoy/190208 "2003-07-22T19:01:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Merejane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@Merejane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merejane)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2003, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-nonfiction-that-a-teenager-would-enjoy/190208/1 "2003-07-22T19:01:10Z")
I’m looking for recommendations for nonfiction written for adults but that a teenager might enjoy. My 13-year-old son, who loves to read, recently picked up and started to read **Guns, Germs and Steel** , by Jared Diamond, a book that my husband was reading. (My son, an SDMB fan – in fact, he’s the one who first got me interested in SDMB – said the book caught his eye because it was favorably reviewed here.) He is enjoying **Guns, Germs and Steel** , so I decided to try to think of other books not written specifically for teenagers, but that he might enjoy. The first one I thought of is **Seabiscuit** , by Laura Hillenbrand. So far, he loves it. I’m thinking maybe he should try either **Eiger Dreams** or **Into the Wild** by Jon Krakauer. Any other suggestions? TIA, Merejane ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2003, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-nonfiction-that-a-teenager-would-enjoy/190208/2 "2003-07-22T19:37:08Z")
I really enjoyed [this book](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0679740384/qid=1058902046/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/103-5190003-2491000?v=glance&s=books) which give a lot of information about where various Christmas customs come from and what they mean. And also [this one](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0195098315/qid=1058902793/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/103-5190003-2491000?v=glance&s=books) about Paul Revere and his famous ride. You really learn a lot about the events leading up that famous night as well as what really happened. Plus it is a very dramatic telling of the events. ---
**Author:** ![Zenster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/cdc98d/32.png) [@Zenster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zenster)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2003, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-nonfiction-that-a-teenager-would-enjoy/190208/3 "2003-07-22T19:39:18Z")
**The Wilderness World of John Muir** Edited by: Edwin Way Teale A biographical account of America’s most famous naturalist and founder of the Sierra Club. Covering his entire life this story was dictated by Muir during his final years. **The Making of the Atomic Bomb** Author: Richard Rhodes A highly readable account of America’s development of atomic weapons and entrance into the nuclear age. **Rascal** Author: Sterling North A coming of age tale from World War I told by the author. North’s life is changed by the appearance of a raccoon pup that becomes his companion. This award winning book is a must read for children of all ages. **Food in History** Author: Reay Tannahill A superb retrospective on the role of food and cooking in regard to the history of mankind. Filled with interesting insight and facts this is a fun read for teenagers or adults. **Ring of Bright Water** Author: Gavin Maxwell A heartwarming story of a naturalist’s encounter with one of nature’s supreme amphibious clowns. Set in the West Highland seaboard of Scotland this is an endearing and educational tale about animals and their lives. **On Food and Cooking** Author: Harold M[sup]c[/sup]Gee A somewhat technical but always entertaining treatise on the biochemical processes by which food is preserved and prepared. **Seal Morning** Author: Edith Nesbitt A child’s stay with her aunt is upended by the adoption of a baby seal. An excellent story for young children eager to learn about marine mammals. ---
**Author:** ![artemis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/91b2a8/32.png) [@artemis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/artemis)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2003, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-nonfiction-that-a-teenager-would-enjoy/190208/4 "2003-07-22T19:40:26Z")
Both **Eiger Dreams** and **Into the Wild** are good, but **Into Thin Air** is better; I’d start with that one first, if he hasn’t already read it. Other suggestions: **Volcano Cowboys** by Dick Thompson - about the vulcanologists who worked with the US Geological Survey monitoring Mount St. helens and Mount Pinatubo. **The Hungry Ocean** by Linda Greenlaw - life on a swordfishing boat. **Song for the Blue Ocean** by Carl Safina - a marine ecologist looking at the current state of the world’s oceans and the harm we are doing to them. **The Language Instinct** by Steven Pinker - how the mind works to create language. **An Intimate Look at the Night Sky** and **365 Starry Nights** by Chet Raymo - two books on naked-eye astronomy that are almost as beautiful as the heavens they describe. **Learning to Fly: A Season with the Peregrine Falcon** by P. H. Liotta - an Air Force officer oversees the release of falcon chicks into the wild, and reflects on flight and the risks we take in life. (This one’s out of print, but is worth tracking down.) I’m sure some other folks will have more good suggestions, but this ought to get you started! ---
**Author:** ![Bruce\_Daddy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/85f322/32.png) [@Bruce\_Daddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bruce_Daddy)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2003, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-nonfiction-that-a-teenager-would-enjoy/190208/5 "2003-07-22T19:46:32Z")
**A Walk in the Woods** by Bill Bryson. [Amazon link.](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0767902521/qid=1058903571/sr=2-1/ref=sr_2_1/104-6094497-2344729) Some dude: > [@](#): > > I picked up “A Walk In The Woods” simply because I’d heard it was funny and I was looking for a light summer read. I was not disappointed. The book takes the reader on a journey with author Bill Bryson and several hilarious companions along over 800 miles of the Appalachian Trail (AT). I was quickly drawn into the book and felt almost an immediate kinship with the author. His adventures are not dangerous or exciting by any standard but his descriptions of them are witty and thoughtful. The book is very funny on regular occassions but at times can be quite serious for long passages. > > Bryson’s hiking tales are interspersed with frequent segments about the history about the AT, environmental concerns and forestry management, all of which were quite informative. Having never hiked further than a few miles, I found myself learning a great deal. However, “A Walk In the Woods” should not be considered a “How To” book by any means. If anything, Bryson’s adventures provide perfect examples of how not to prepare for the trail. Just the same, you may well find that this book motivates you to give hiking a try. ---
**Author:** ![toadspittle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c0e974/32.png) [@toadspittle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toadspittle)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2003, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-nonfiction-that-a-teenager-would-enjoy/190208/6 "2003-07-22T20:43:42Z")
Well, there’s my book, _Gray Highway: An American UFO Journey_, which is out of print but still available used from Amazon et al: [http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0966604407](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0966604407) one avail. for $9.99 … and another for $190.38? (What the heck? Who the hell would pay that? Don’t buy that one.) ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2003, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-nonfiction-that-a-teenager-would-enjoy/190208/7 "2003-07-22T21:45:40Z")
How about books about the Civil War, Indian Campaigns and Westward expansion. There are several books about the Donner Party that are pretty cool, and it might spark an interest in American History. Have fun! * * * Never kiss an animal that can lick its own butt. ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2003, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-nonfiction-that-a-teenager-would-enjoy/190208/8 "2003-07-22T22:00:11Z")
Richard Preston’s _The Hot Zone_, a true story about an outbreak of a strain of the ebola virus in Virginia. ---
**Author:** ![Zenster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/cdc98d/32.png) [@Zenster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zenster)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2003, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-nonfiction-that-a-teenager-would-enjoy/190208/9 "2003-07-22T23:35:38Z")
**Fledgling Days - Memoirs of a Falconer** Author: Emma Ford This outstanding story details the world famous falconer, Emma Ford, and her childhood introduction to the world of raptors. A fine book for teenagers or adults. **Born Free** **Living Free** **Forever Free** **Queen of Shaba - Story of an African Leopard** Author: Joy Adamson The author and her husband were among some of the first naturalists to make a genuine study of releasing human raised animals back into the wild. Based upon her husband’s diaries, Adamson weaves a moving tale of Elsa the lioness and her brood. The last book, **Queen of Shaba** , represented her final effort to prove that even the most dangerous big cat of them all could be handled and reintroduced into its natural setting. Adamson was murdered before she could conclude this successful experiment. Her legacy lives on to this day in Kenya’s game parks. ---
**Author:** ![rockle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/73ab20/32.png) [@rockle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rockle)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2003, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-nonfiction-that-a-teenager-would-enjoy/190208/10 "2003-07-22T23:36:18Z")
I highly recommend **Last Chance To See** by Douglas Adams & Mark Carwardine - yes, _that_ Douglas Adams - about endangered species and their equally endangered habitats. This book is sometimes hard to get your hands on but worth special ordering if necessary. I love Douglas Adams and I think some of his very best writing is in this book. ---
**Author:** ![Merejane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@Merejane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merejane)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2003, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-nonfiction-that-a-teenager-would-enjoy/190208/11 "2003-07-23T01:09:46Z")
Thanks, everyone, for your suggestions – this is _great_! With the posts just since 3:30 this afternoon, we have a reading list for at least the next several months. I think we’ll start with the most recent suggestion, **Last Chance to See** , by Douglas Adams. **The Hitchhiker’s Guide** (another SMDB recommendation!) is one of my son’s all-time favorite books, and **Last Chance** is actually at our local library. (The library has an online catalog, so I have already confirmed this.) All the books sound great. I think my husband and I will have to read them, too – it’ll be a family project! Thanks again. ~Merejane ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2003, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-nonfiction-that-a-teenager-would-enjoy/190208/12 "2003-07-23T01:13:04Z")
I never pass up an opportunity to politicize someone. The following are nonfiction but as with all nonfiction reflect the perspective and experience of the author. REALITY POLICE, Anthony Brandt JUDGE JURY AND EXECUTIONER, Huey Freeman ON OUR OWN, Judi Chamberlin THE LOONY BIN TRIP, Kate Millett … Then there are these which are works of theory or about theory. Theory is nonfiction but rather than descriptions of historical fact they are attempts to make sense out of the facts we already have, or in some cases descriptions of how we engage in that process: PROMISCUITIES, Naomi Wolff MAN’S WORLD WOMAN’S PLACE, Elizabeth Janeway HOW CHILDREN FAIL, John Holt A CHOICE OF HEROES, Mark Gerzon THE CHEESE AND THE WORMS, Carlo Ginzburg THE EVERYDAY WORLD AS PROBLEMATIC, Dorothy Smith ---
**Author:** ![Bugnorton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19b73/32.png) [@Bugnorton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bugnorton)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2003, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-nonfiction-that-a-teenager-would-enjoy/190208/13 "2003-07-23T01:18:13Z")
**The Dragons of Eden** by Carl Sagan I was in my early twenties when this, IMO, classic was published and I found it so fun and interesting; truly accessible (although admittidly soft) science. I would have loved it at twelve or anytime thereafter. ---
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2003, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-nonfiction-that-a-teenager-would-enjoy/190208/14 "2003-07-23T01:20:48Z")
Uncle Tungsten, by Oliver Sacks. It’s sort of a biography, but focuses a lot on his education and his fascination with chemistry in his childhood and early teens. I haven’t read anything else by Sacks, though I plan to since I really enjoyed reading this book (I’ve actually read it twice now). I think a lot of people aren’t introduced to chemistry in an interesting way (myself included) and I loved being reintroduced to it through this book. Since your son is so young, I think it would be really cool if he became interested in it now, so that when it gets taught to him in school he’ll look at it as an interesting and not tedious thing. ---
**Author:** ![rjk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ed655f/32.png) [@rjk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjk)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2003, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-nonfiction-that-a-teenager-would-enjoy/190208/15 "2003-07-23T02:36:55Z")
Richard Feynman! _Surely You’re Joking, Mr. Feynman!_ and a sequel _What Do You Care What Other People Think?_ are both mainly biographical and very funny, and _The Pleasure of Finding Things Out_ has a similar tone. I haven’t read _The Meaning of It All: Thoughts of a Citizen-Scientist_, but have heard good things about it. He has quite a few more that explain physics in a very accessible way. If he likes puzzles and abstract games, look for Martin Gardner’s collections of his _Mathematical Games_ columns from Scientific American. Finally, to pick up on **Zenster** ’s food suggestions, try _Much Depends on Dinner_ by Margaret Visser, a history of a few of our basic foods. ---
**Author:** ![Trigonal\_Planar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/0ea827/32.png) [@Trigonal\_Planar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trigonal_Planar)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2003, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-nonfiction-that-a-teenager-would-enjoy/190208/16 "2003-07-23T03:11:52Z")
Depends what your son is interested in. Personally, I’d recommend any “popsci” physics books. These often delve into such fascinating worlds as quantum mechanics, science philosophy and even consciousness. I definitely agree with **rjk’s** suggestion of the Richard Feynman books. Also add _Schrodinger’s Cat_ and the sequel, _Schrodinger’s Kittens_. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2003, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-nonfiction-that-a-teenager-would-enjoy/190208/17 "2003-07-23T03:44:11Z")
_Jay’s Journal of Anomalies : Conjurers, Cheats, Hustlers, Hoaxsters, Pranksters, Jokesters, Imposters, Pretenders, Side-Show Showmen, Armless Calligraphers, Mechanical Marvels, Popular Entertainments_ by Ricky Jay _The Museum of Hoaxes: A Collection of Pranks, Stunts, Deceptions, and Other Wonderful Stories Contrived for the Public from the Middle Ages to the New Millennium_ by Alex Boese _Encyclopedia of Urban Legends_ by Jan Harold Brunvand, Jan Harold Brunwand _Alive : The Story of the Andes Survivors_ by Piers Paul Read _The Perfect Storm: A True Story of Men Against the Sea_ by Sebastian Junger _Beauty Fades/Dumb Is Forever : The Making of a Happy Woman_ by Judy Sheindlin _Way of the Peaceful Warrior_ by Dan Millman _The Casebook of Forensic Detection: How Science Solved 100 of the World’s Most Baffling Crimes_ by Colin Evans are all approved by a bright 13 year old. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mullets](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/aeb1de/32.png) [@John\_Mullets](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mullets)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2003, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-nonfiction-that-a-teenager-would-enjoy/190208/18 "2003-07-23T06:17:31Z")
[Red Dwarf: Infinity Welcomes Careful Drivers](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0451452011/qid=1058941099/sr=2-1/ref=sr_2_1/103-1327501-2036630) by Grant Naylor is an extremely funny black comedy about a man, a hologram, a robot and a highly evolved cat stranded in space, over three million years in the future. Maybe you’ve seen the TV show, maybe not. I personally think the book was stacks funnier. The second, Better that Life, is worth a look too, but it’s nowhere near as funny. [Thomas Harris](http://www.randomhouse.com/features/thomasharris/home.html) was the writer of the astounding Hannibal Lector series. Perhaps he’d enjoy them, perhaps not. I personally loved them. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mullets](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/aeb1de/32.png) [@John\_Mullets](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mullets)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2003, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-nonfiction-that-a-teenager-would-enjoy/190208/19 "2003-07-23T06:18:39Z")
Oh shit. Sorry, I thought you asked for fiction. I’m sorry. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2003, 6:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-nonfiction-that-a-teenager-would-enjoy/190208/20 "2003-07-23T06:46:50Z")
Some very good suggestions from the American Library Association: [Best Books for Young Adults](http://www.ala.org/Content/NavigationMenu/YALSA/Booklists_and_Book_Awards/Best_Books_for_Young_Adults/Best_Books_for_Young_Adults.htm) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-nonfiction-that-a-teenager-would-enjoy/190208.md?page=2)