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margot helene
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My 13 year old, soon to be 14 year old (who just learned, to his dismay, that he will NOT be going to high school where my husband teaches but taking another year at home) is looking for a summer reading. He says he'd like a "series" that is not necessarily serious, but NOT fluff (his exact words). He has already read Tolkein, Potter, Swallows and Amazons.
Any Suggestions??? Even for individual books. Has anyone had their children read the Horatio Hornblower series? Any reviews on that? Age appropriate?
Thanks
Margot
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Elizabeth
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Has he read the Redwall series? The Chronicles of Narnia? Does he like historical fiction?
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Elizabeth Foss is no longer a member of this forum. Discussions now reflect the current management & are not necessarily expressions of her book, *Real Learning*, her current work, or her philosophy. (posted by E. Foss, Jan 2011)
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MaryM
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margot helene wrote:
| Has anyone had their children read the Horatio Hornblower series? Any reviews on that? Age appropriate? |
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My oldest read them at about that age. He liked them a lot as he was a big "Age of Sail" guy. He also read and liked the Stephen Meader books about the high seas that were reprinted by Bethlehem Books.
Also, I would second Redwall.
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Mary M. in Denver
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Mary G
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Yep, I'd think Redwall would keep him busy for a while!
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MaryG
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margot helene
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Elizabeth wrote:
| Has he read the Redwall series? The Chronicles of Narnia? Does he like historical fiction? |
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Yes he has read Redwall and Narnia. We are great Redwall fans here, so they all have read them right down the line getting the new ones as they come out. He does like historical fiction and fantasy.
Anyone else have their kids read the Starman series pubished by Arx Publishing? (On the web page, you have to scroll down to see Quest for the Light heading.)
Thanks
Margot
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Elizabeth
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How about the Midshipman Quinn Collection or Howard Pyle's "The Story of..." books?
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Elizabeth Foss is no longer a member of this forum. Discussions now reflect the current management & are not necessarily expressions of her book, *Real Learning*, her current work, or her philosophy. (posted by E. Foss, Jan 2011)
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lapazfarm
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How about the "Wrinkle in Time" series by L'Engle? My dd (16) and I were just discussing last night how much she loves those books.
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Kelly
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We enjoyed the Horatio Hornblower series a great deal. There is some mention of suicide in the first one, I think, where things are so bad for Horatio that he wonders if he's better off dead and so on, but he moves on and deals with it positively. My dd was about the age of your ds when she started the series. "Midshipman Quinn" is good fun, as is "Cleared for Action"---Stephen Meader is a great "action" writer for boys!
My ds liked "Maneaters of Kumaon" by Jim Burnett (I think) when he was about that age---about maneating tigers in India There's another one I just finished reading along the same lines, "Maneaters of Tsavo"-different author. A bit gruesome, but ok for the situation and age, I think---these are both old books (1950's and 20's, respectively).
How do you feel about "To Kill a Mockingbird"? Definitely not fluff, and a great read---my kids have all loved this book.
On a different tangent, has he read the Dumas books, "The Three Musketeers" and "Man in the Iron Mask"? If he likes those, he might also like "Count of Monte Cristo". Highly enjoyable classics.
He also might like going on a James Fenimore Cooper rampage: "Last of the Mohicans" and the "Deerslayer" come to mind, but Cooper wrote many books than those, all very adventure-y and boy-appealing.
OK, on a more modern, less classic, note, my ds really, really liked "Jurassic Park" and "The Lost World" by Michael Crighton. I think I made him read the original "Lost World" by, was it Sir Arthur Conan Doyle?-and compare them, too. There is some bad language in those Crighton books, make no mistake, but they're really exciting reads. Much more cerebral than the movies! He also loved "Sphere" and "Timeline" (more off-color language, but a great story).
Last but not least, don't laugh, but I ADORED the Tarzan series when I was 13---the Edgar Rice Burroughs originals are very literate and entertaining, great vocabulary---and there are about 25 of them, or more. The first four or five are the best (OK, so I was madly in love with "Son of Tarzan", Jack Greystoke, I freely admit it!!  ) But they're guy books, truly, and Burroughs develops a whole language for the apes, somewhat similar to the Elvish language "package" that Tolkein created.
Just a few thoughts, happy reading!
Kelly in FL
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margot helene
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| Posted: May 13 2006 at 10:55pm | IP Logged
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Great suggestions - thank you ladies!
Blessings
Margot
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4Real Forums : Living Literature
Topic: Summer reading suggestions
