# Recommend books for 10th grade boys who don't like to read **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 28, 2004, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-books-for-10th-grade-boys-who-dont-like-to-read/242416 "2004-04-28T02:39:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Largo62](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/45deac/32.png) [@Largo62](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Largo62)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2004, 8:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-books-for-10th-grade-boys-who-dont-like-to-read/242416/61 "2004-04-30T08:02:37Z")
Second _The Old Man And The Sea_, short and exciting enough to keep me up late to finish it in one sitting. I’m a slow reader to this day (although I read books constantly), but this book was not boring at all. A classic novel, _Captain Blood_, by Rafael Sabatini, is full of swashbuckling adventure, and it’s way better than the movie (as novels tend to be). I read both of the above when I was about 15. If somebody already mentioned \*Tom Sawyer \* I must have missed it. This is as good a “boy” book as you will find. \*The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn \* seemed a little tougher to me, but wonderful reading nevertheless. I know the point is to reach boys who don’t like reading, but if they can’t relate to Tom Sawyer I don’t see how they can be helped. ---
**Author:** ![Catsmeow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Catsmeow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Catsmeow)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2004, 8:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-books-for-10th-grade-boys-who-dont-like-to-read/242416/62 "2004-04-30T08:12:48Z")
> [@Excalibre](#): > > And no, Harry Potter and Lemony Snicket are not going to teach these kids anything. Really? Huh. I thought the OP wanted to teach them the love of reading for pleasure rather than just reading because you want to get a good grade or because “my teacher is making me read this.” Lemony Snicket and JK Rowling are two great examples of books that have gotten kids to enjoy reading rather than trudging through oh say Ayn Rand or something like that. But…that’s just how _I_ read the OP. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2004, 11:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-books-for-10th-grade-boys-who-dont-like-to-read/242416/63 "2004-04-30T11:34:57Z")
> [@Catsmeow](#): > > Really? Huh. I thought the OP wanted to teach them the love of reading for pleasure rather than just reading because you want to get a good grade or because “my teacher is making me read this.” Lemony Snicket and JK Rowling are two great examples of books that have gotten kids to enjoy reading rather than trudging through oh say Ayn Rand or something like that. > > But…that’s just how _I_ read the OP. 😃 Yep, just gotta get 'em to read. Anything! They’ll be discussing the books just like in any other literature class. Even though I love to read, I hated literature class. The books were always so freaking boring. After forcing my way through these snoozers, I then had to ananlyze them. It’s like trying to explain comedy. Once you do, it’s not funny anymore. ---
**Author:** ![kitarak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/898d66/32.png) [@kitarak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kitarak)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2004, 11:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-books-for-10th-grade-boys-who-dont-like-to-read/242416/64 "2004-04-30T11:38:19Z")
Ironically, I was just debating (informally) with some people about teaching 15 year olds last night. My opponents in the debate were rather idealistic. Mat and I… less so. Anyway, I’ll second two existing nominations - Discworld books, and Holes. For the Discworld books, I’d reccomend the guards series. They start light, and get more serious and deep, but remain fun and engaging. Beyond all this though, Pratchett has one amazing feature that makes his books impossible to put down: He doesn’t have chapters. This makes it amazingly easy to get into the flow of things, and very hard to put down because you can’t break up your reading by saying “I’ll just read to the end of the chapter”. Note that I’m not saying breaking a book up into chapters is an inherently bad thing, but he uses the chapterless style to amazing effect. I can’t really see them being too controversial. The only main problem I can see for a church school is the fact that the discworld is most definitely polytheistic. This is however mostly in passing, and hardly even noticable in much of the guards series. Can you tell I like Pratchett? Holes, on the other hand, is even less controversial. It’s well written, interesting, and fun. It’s not too long, so they won’t have time to get bored. The characters are good, and the plot is amusing (in a good way) as well as reasonably insightful. Also, the book has an extremely good movie adaption (both in terms of faithfullness to the book and quality of the movie), so the kids can compare the two. One interesting idea would be to get them to choose a book from a list for their own reading, and read that in their own time. It gives them the ability to choose what they like (subject to restrictions). Give them a list of light reading which isn’t quite as light as to be fluff, and let them take a look at the blurbs on the back, etc. and pick a book. A good example of the type of thing I’m talking about is Iain M Banks’ Culture novels. Very light and fun, but certianly not just trashy novels. (I have a sci-fi bias though, so others can probably give you better examples - scifi may have too much of a ‘geek’ association for all of them to really get in to it). Someone mentioned ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’. I think it’s a good suggestion, but I’d be a little cautious. I absolutely loved that book, but it seems to me to be a book that could very easily be killed by doing it in an english class. I found this to be the case with several others - e.g. Lord of the Flies. (On the other hand, some books done in english classes are beyond saving. Never speak to me about ‘Tess of the d’Urbevilles’) Not that I’d presume to tell someone how to teach (ok, yes I would, but only because I’m arrogant), but that brings up a good point. It’s important not to over-teach. It’s important that enjoying the book comes before the actual analysis and disection. There’s nothing more dull than having to discuss and pick to pieces a book which you didn’t like. I’ll stop ranting now. Hope some of this helped. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2004, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-books-for-10th-grade-boys-who-dont-like-to-read/242416/65 "2004-04-30T12:28:31Z")
[Donbas: A True Story of Escape Across Russia](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0595150438/qid=1083327797/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i1_xgl14/102-9599692-7575352?v=glance&s=books&n=507846) I highly, highly recommend this book. The opening Paragraph: \*I was arrested in Brasov on my way to school. It was just beginning to get light, and the cold gray streets were almost empty. At a corner near the school grounds I saw several armed Russian Soldiers and a Romanian civilian interpreter shoving somebody into a police truck. They saw me and the interpreter shouted: “Where are you going?” "to School. “Come, we havej to take you somewhere, then afterwards you can go to school.” \* He was taken by the russians to Siberia,where he worked in a slave labor camp. Riveting and suspenseful. Great read. ---
**Author:** ![Excalibre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@Excalibre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Excalibre)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2004, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-books-for-10th-grade-boys-who-dont-like-to-read/242416/66 "2004-04-30T15:46:51Z")
> [@Catsmeow](#): > > Really? Huh. I thought the OP wanted to teach them the love of reading for pleasure rather than just reading because you want to get a good grade or because “my teacher is making me read this.” Lemony Snicket and JK Rowling are two great examples of books that have gotten kids to enjoy reading rather than trudging through oh say Ayn Rand or something like that. > > But…that’s just how _I_ read the OP. 😃 These are not young children. They’re 15 or 16. While I agree that Harry Potter is a joy to read at any age, I wonder if the kids are gonna feel patronized when their teacher asks them to read a book written for ten-year-olds. Besides, there are books _for adults_ that are fun to read. There are marvelously entertaining, fascinating, thoughtful books out there that are part of the “canon”. Is there any evidence, anyway, for the oft-heard claim that “J.K. Rowling is turning children on to literature!”? Does anyone have proof that a lot of children who never read for pleasure before are doing so now? And do her readers then move on to other types of books? It’s not a victory if you get a 15 year old to read Harry Potter for pleasure but they never move on to more challenging books. Besides, an English class should be teaching, even at that age, the rudiments of literary analysis. They should be reading books that are complex enough to be subject to that kind of examination. And that can be taught in a very enjoyable, interesting way, as my 12th grade English teacher did. Virtually all the books above - Gary Paulsen, _Summer of the Monkeys_, etc, are middle school or lower. Half of them, I read in english in middle school. Even if it’s easy for the kids to do, giving them a completely unchallenging, “fun” English curriculum is not doing them any favors in the long run, especially if any of them are college-bound. ---
**Author:** ![Syntropy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/65b543/32.png) [@Syntropy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Syntropy)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2004, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-books-for-10th-grade-boys-who-dont-like-to-read/242416/67 "2004-04-30T16:23:30Z")
> [@Excalibre](#): > > Besides, an English class should be teaching, even at that age, the rudiments of literary analysis. Yeeeeeeeesssssss…and if that’s what the OP wanted, he would have asked for "literary works that my wife’s students will be able to analyze and disseminate. Instead of books for: “_15-16-yr-old boys who aren’t exactly keen on the idea of reading, but have to take the class._” What _you_ think they should be able to do at this point as far as literary analysis, and what you feel **Mrs. Blue Sky** should include in her lesson plan really doesn’t come into play, here. You’re not the teacher. What he asked for was books that were fairly modern and easy for teenagers to get into. > [@Excalibre](#): > > Even if it’s easy for the kids to do, giving them a completely unchallenging, “fun” English curriculum is not doing them any favors in the long run, especially if any of them are college-bound. Hard to get them bound for college if they have an inherent dislike of reading. What she’s trying to do is turn that around. Hopefully, that can happen as the term progresses. Just because something worked for YOU doesn’t mean it works for everyone. Lighten up. As the OP said: > [@Mr. Blue Sky](#): > > Yep, just gotta get 'em to read. Anything! Which leads me to think his wife is going to start off with something fun, get them hooked on the _idea_ of reading, and actually thinking about the books they read, as opposed to buying Cliffs Notes and spitting out what they think the teacher wants to hear, and then move on from that. ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2004, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-books-for-10th-grade-boys-who-dont-like-to-read/242416/68 "2004-04-30T16:30:41Z")
Not sure what “church-based” means- could be Episcopal, Catholic, Fund’ist- which means a wide difference in what would be acceptable- My suggestions- approx 15yo boys who don’t like to read would probably be a bit under-reading level, so either these books or younger-reader adaptations would be good (Classic Illustrated Editions, NOT the old comic book, have good literary adaptation of many of these)- Dracula, Frankenstein, Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde, 20000 Leagues Under the Sea or other Jules Verne works, War of the Worlds, The Time Machine, The Invisible Man, The First Man in the Moon, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Pilgrim’s Progress, the Lamb adaptations of Shakespeare’s Stories. Works they should be able to read the complete version of- most Ray Bradbury stories (my fave- I Sing The Body Electric) CS Lewis’s Chronicles of Narnia The Hobbit (if not LOTR) King Arthur books Greek-Roman & Nordic Mythology Folk Tales (Uncle Remus, Paul Bunyan, etc.) Peter Pan (tell 'em that Tinkerbell attempts murder several times) Ayn Rand’s Anthem (really- a Randian primer for kids, and the basis for Rush’s 2112 album) Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy series The Wind in the Willows and one I have not read but have seen good stuff about- by an Anglican vicar- Shadowmancer- an evil vicar tries to call up demonic forces & is battled by teens who use magic for God ---
**Author:** ![mailman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8491ac/32.png) [@mailman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mailman)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2004, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-books-for-10th-grade-boys-who-dont-like-to-read/242416/69 "2004-04-30T16:35:29Z")
This is similar to thread that I started a while back, but I think you got a lot of the same suggestions here, as well as some others I didn’t get, so I’m glad to have found this thread. Thanks. I would like to put another plug in for Shakespeare too. He’s got it all, if you’re willing to teach it. I do a play with 8th graders every year, and it always goes the same way: groans when I tell them what we’ll be doing for the next few weeks, and then as soon as you start the play, they get hooked. A few suggestions: Much Ado About Nothing–This play has a nice screenplay version by Kenneth Branagh. It’s been cut back from the original nicely, and comes with good stage directions. Then you can watch the movie. A Comedy of Errors–mistaken identity and just plain old fun. If you happen to have a set of twins available, even better, but this is a truly funny play that kids love. Midsummer Night’s Dream–More mistaken identities, love, magic potions, a fairy/woman named Titania, a cynic named Puck, and idiot named Bottom… What more do you need? One of my best class periods ever, was the time I was teaching this play and in the middle of reading a scene, one kid said, “Now wait a minute aren’t I in love with her?” At this point one kid started to explain what was going on, another asks her a question, someone else pipes in with an answer, and thus began fifteen minutes of absolute hilarity as they out-did Shakespeare himself. No staged performance of this play was ever funnier than these student’s (successful) attempt to explain what the hell was up with that scene in the woods. For darkness, since fifteen year old boys like blood, death, and revenge, think about Hamlet, which begins with a ghost on a rooftop looking for revenge, and the Prince who sees “something rotten in Denmark.” Or Julius Caesar, Or…well, there are a few more. ---
**Author:** ![flamingbananas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f4b2a3/32.png) [@flamingbananas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flamingbananas)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2004, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-books-for-10th-grade-boys-who-dont-like-to-read/242416/70 "2004-04-30T16:46:22Z")
I recommened books by Stephen King. Most of the books have everything a teen boy wants. Death. Gore. Sex scences. Oh wait…this is a church school, isn’t it. Damn. Well then I say Harry Potter. ---
**Author:** ![Catsmeow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Catsmeow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Catsmeow)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2004, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-books-for-10th-grade-boys-who-dont-like-to-read/242416/71 "2004-04-30T21:06:27Z")
> [@Excalibre](#): > > These are not young children. They’re 15 or 16. While I agree that Harry Potter is a joy to read at any age, I wonder if the kids are gonna feel patronized when their teacher asks them to read a book written for ten-year-olds. Besides, there are books _for adults_ that are fun to read. There are marvelously entertaining, fascinating, thoughtful books out there that are part of the “canon”. However, these are 15 and 16 year old boys who do not like to read. When I was a librarian I would recommend Harry Potter, Lemony Snicket and even the Adventures of Captain Underpants to any 15 or 16 year old who said “I hate to read but my teacher says I have to have something.” 9 times out of 10 they came back asking for more…because they’re entertaining. It got them to realize that reading _could_ be fun even if it was a book written for a 10 year old. > [@](#): > > Is there any evidence, anyway, for the oft-heard claim that “J.K. Rowling is turning children on to literature!”? Does anyone have proof that a lot of children who never read for pleasure before are doing so now? And do her readers then move on to other types of books? It’s not a victory if you get a 15 year old to read Harry Potter for pleasure but they never move on to more challenging books. well, it’s not a scientific study but my 16 year old nephew now reads for fun after I teased him into reading Harry Potter. He’s currently reading **Stranger in a Strange Land** for his English class. And is enjoying it. He would have never given it a chance had he not been introduced to things such as HP and Lemony Snicket. > [@](#): > > Besides, an English class should be teaching, even at that age, the rudiments of literary analysis. They should be reading books that are complex enough to be subject to that kind of examination. And that can be taught in a very enjoyable, interesting way, as my 12th grade English teacher did. Really? And you think that you can’t get any of the rudiments of litterary analysis out of books like Harry Potter? What do you consider the rudiments? Stylistic Analysis? (Is it a simple vocabulary designed to attract all audiences or is it more complex? What elements of language are being utilized?) Literary Interpretation? Analysis of Humanistic Elements? You can use these “tools” to analyze pretty darn near anything and isn’t it better that they begin learning these skills using something that they enjoy rather than something they’re forced to read? ---
**Author:** ![Bites\_When\_Provoked](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bites_when_provoked/32/18073_2.png) [@Bites\_When\_Provoked](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bites_When_Provoked)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2004, 7:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-books-for-10th-grade-boys-who-dont-like-to-read/242416/72 "2004-05-04T07:24:02Z")
The thing is, not everyone is destined for college - and if these kids aren’t interested in taking advanced English in University, then all they really need is a good, solid grasp on the fundamentals rather than an in-depth analysis of (using the description VERY loosely here) ‘literary greats’. Even if they’re reading books written for 10 year olds, if the stories are well constructed the students are still likely to improve their vocabulary and hopefully pick up some ideas on how to put their own thoughts to paper. Personally, I’m all in favour of anything that makes people want to read. A friend of mine, who had always struggled with his English classes and had very poor reading/writing skills, was introduced to David Eddings’ ‘Belgariad’ series when he was in his early twenties. It’s not something I’d have thought to introduce him to, because I personally think Eddings is a hack - however, it’s exactly what my friend _needed_ to become interested in reading on a broader scale. So, 3 cheers for Eddings, huh? 😉 I can sympathise with the folks who are gnashing their teeth and wishing the kids would read something “age appropriate” but you have to bear in mind that the reading levels of these boys AREN’T ‘age appropriate’. It’s better to give them something that’s well-written (albeit aimed at a slightly younger market) and which grips their interest and makes them \*\*want \*\* to know what happens in the next chapter, than to force them to struggle through something they’re out of their depth on. If my friend is anything to go by, they’ll eventually make their way to the ‘better’ books all by themselves, if they can just be shown that reading doesn’t have to be boring or intimidating. ---
**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:** [May 4, 2004, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-books-for-10th-grade-boys-who-dont-like-to-read/242416/73 "2004-05-04T23:26:31Z")
> [@Ravenman](#): > > I vote for Hemingway, either the Sun Also Rises or Old Man and the Sea. > > The latter is good because it’s short, and talks about Joe DiMaggio at points. The former because there’s lots of good stuff about drinking and lifestyles 16 year old boys dream of, and if any student grasps the whole penis getting shot off during the war thing without actually having the author write the words “THIS GUY’S PENIS GOT SHOT OFF DURING THE WAR,” they’re smart and actually reading. Otherwise, after you explain discreetly that a character’s penis got shot off, they’ll start paying attention after that. Would 10th grade boys nowadays know who Joe DiMaggio is? Joltin’ Joe has left and gone away, hey hey hey. TSAR didn’t do much for me when I read it at age 19 or so, but of course, tastes differ. But your description of it does remind me of this bit from The Simpsons: > [@](#): > > Marge: Bart, I’d like you to read this copy of “Johnny Tremaine.” It’s a book I read as a girl. > Bart: A book!? Pfffft. > Marge: I think you might like this. It’s about a boy who goes to war. His hand is deformed in an accident. > Bart: Deformed? Why didn’t you say so! They should call this book “Johnny Deformed” _Tom Sawyer_ may be the first book I read that convinced me that Literary Classics could actually be fun and entertaining. It is entertaining, and it’s definitely a boys’ book, but nonreaders might be better off starting with something shorter and/or more modern. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-books-for-10th-grade-boys-who-dont-like-to-read/242416.md?page=3)