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Meredith
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Hi friends, it's been a really LONG time since I've popped in here. So good to see so many great discussions going on. I hope to be more present as I am in a quandry over finding books for my middle boys, now 15 and 11, gasp.....okay, I'm back now.
So, I am need of some suggestions for great reads for my oldest especially. He's our techy, music and all-things-comupter lover. He spends ALOT of time doing stuff on his computer, albeit educational and worthwhile, I would like to turn him on to some great literature for his age group, without all the trash. Is there such a thing besides the heavier classics and vampire garbage that's out there???
Anyone with wisdom in this area, please advise :)
For my 11yo, he still loves to listen to RA's, but I need some good stuff for him that is not overly gruesome or violent (he's very sensitive). Also, I'm kind of looking for quicker reads. He got through almost all of book one in the Lord of the Rings series over the summer, but he got bogged down towards the end, so I let him know it was O.K. to take a break and come back to it.
Any suggestions and help is mostly graciously accepted and know that I miss being here and hope that you are all enjoying a lovely Autumn in your homeschools!
God Bless You and thanks for still being here :)
Meredith
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Meredith
Mom of 4 Sweeties
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Erin
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Meredith
How lovely to see you back 
By can't believe myself they are 15 and 11!!
Just a quick question and I'll be back more with suggestions.
Are you happy with fantasy for ds15? Is Ds 11 interested in mysteries, adventure etc? Well for that matter ds15 too?
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Erin
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Meredith
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Hi Erin, thank you 
I think 15yo could handle fantasy, he's done all the LOTR, Star Wars, Hunger Games, Mysterious Benedict. Right now he's reading the Steve Jobs Bio, and we watched the movie, but he really needs something he can sink his teeth into, kwim 
11yo, probably action and he's read alot of mystery in the form of Encylopedia brown, but those got too repetitious too fast. He's a very sophisticated reader, just on the "innocent" side...think good Catholic boy He loves Saints stories and nature related books. He's just finishing Vision's John Bosco...and he's read most of the Visions at this point, so any others would be good...
Thanks again, so much
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Meredith
Mom of 4 Sweeties
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Kristie 4
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My almost 11yo really loved the Swallows and Amazons books. Some others off the top of my head: Five Children and It, The Prydian cycle, The Hobbit, Narnia books.
For a 15yo boy:
Howard Pyle: Robin Hood, King Arthur
Farenheit 451
Animal Farm
The Iliad
The Giver
Watership Down
These might not fit- my dd and ds at that age also loved Dickens and epic poetry, so everyone is so different.
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anitamarie
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Has the 15yo read C.S. Lewis' Space Trilogy? My 15 yo loved them.
Redwall series for the 11yo if he hasn't read it.
Anita
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guitarnan
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15 year old suggestions:
October Sky (pre-read to see if you are okay with some of the teen dating/crush parts; some parents would save this book for later)
Fahrenheit 451
My Side of the Mountain and sequels
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
The Count of Monte Cristo and other Dumas books
The Tripods series by John Christopher
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Nancy in MD. Mom of ds (24) & dd (18); 31-year Navy wife, move coordinator and keeper of home fires. Writer and dance mom.
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Meredith
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Kristie 4 wrote:
My almost 11yo really loved the Swallows and Amazons books. Some others off the top of my head: Five Children and It, The Prydian cycle, The Hobbit, Narnia books.
For a 15yo boy:
Howard Pyle: Robin Hood, King Arthur
Farenheit 451
Animal Farm
The Iliad
The Giver
Watership Down
These might not fit- my dd and ds at that age also loved Dickens and epic poetry, so everyone is so different.
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Yep, done the Swallows and Amazons, All of Narnia, He's Reading Railway Children right now, and I think the Prydian are too "out there" for this child.
I will mention some of the titles to 15yo, although am thinking he will balk at most of them, VERY picky LOL...is 451 okay in terms of innocence etc, can't remember this one myself 
Love all the suggestions, thank you!
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Meredith
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JodieLyn
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Hitting this in bits and pieces and out of order
Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH
Sherlock Holmes
Father Brown mysteries
The Ranger's apprentice
The Screwtape Letters
Jack London (Call of the Wild, Short story - To Build a Fire)
Jim Kjelgaard (Big Red and sequels)
Percy Jackson and the Olympians
Mark Twain
Lewis Carroll
Jules Verne
The wizard of Oz books might suit the younger one?
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Jodie, wife to Dave
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All men who have turned out worth anything have had the chief hand in their own education.
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Meredith
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anitamarie wrote:
Has the 15yo read C.S. Lewis' Space Trilogy? My 15 yo loved them.
Redwall series for the 11yo if he hasn't read it.
Anita |
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Yes and Yes!! These were faves for both of them age wise!!
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Meredith
Mom of 4 Sweeties
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Meredith
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guitarnan wrote:
15 year old suggestions:
October Sky (pre-read to see if you are okay with some of the teen dating/crush parts; some parents would save this book for later)
Fahrenheit 451
My Side of the Mountain and sequels
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
The Count of Monte Cristo and other Dumas books
The Tripods series by John Christopher |
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Haven't heard of the Tripods or the Hitchiker's guide, thank you... I will also check with my 17yo dd to see if she has read any of these. WE did My Side years ago, and all the Gary Paulsen books, loved those (15yo) but we need MORE, kwim!!!
Thanks so much, this is great 
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Meredith
Mom of 4 Sweeties
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Meredith
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JodieLyn wrote:
Hitting this in bits and pieces and out of order
Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH
Sherlock Holmes
Father Brown mysteries
The Ranger's apprentice
The Screwtape Letters
Jack London (Call of the Wild, Short story - To Build a Fire)
Jim Kjelgaard (Big Red and sequels)
Percy Jackson and the Olympians
Mark Twain
Lewis Carroll
Jules Verne
The wizard of Oz books might suit the younger one?
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Hi Jodie, the older LOVED the Percy J's and we were sad to hear recently that the newest is going to reveal a gay character  Oldest enjoyed the Jules Vernes, and Mark Twains....
Forgot about Mrs. Frisby, for sure the 11yo...and will look into the Ranger's series. He's done most of the Father Browns, although can't seem to get anyone interested in Sherlock, go figure 
Okay am loving all these ladies, you're the best!!!
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Meredith
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guitarnan
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For your younger son:
If you can find them, John D. Fitzgerald's Great Brain series is fun - Catholic family in late 1800's Utah, and the middle son is great at thinking...and swindling his friends...but does learn his lesson as the series progresses.
Edward Eager wrote several wonderful books for children - all involve magic, but in a positive way - starting with Half Magic.
The Egypt Game
From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler
A View from Saturday
No More Dead Dogs (hilarious!!!!)
the 39 Clues series (improbable, but fun)
The Penderwicks
The Mitchells series by Hilda van Stockum
The Winged Watchman (same author, WWII in the Netherlands)
Snow Treasure (another WWII story)
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Nancy in MD. Mom of ds (24) & dd (18); 31-year Navy wife, move coordinator and keeper of home fires. Writer and dance mom.
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Meredith
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guitarnan wrote:
For your younger son:
If you can find them, John D. Fitzgerald's Great Brain series is fun - Catholic family in late 1800's Utah, and the middle son is great at thinking...and swindling his friends...but does learn his lesson as the series progresses.
Edward Eager wrote several wonderful books for children - all involve magic, but in a positive way - starting with Half Magic.
The Egypt Game
From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler
A View from Saturday
No More Dead Dogs (hilarious!!!!)
the 39 Clues series (improbable, but fun)
The Penderwicks
The Mitchells series by Hilda van Stockum
The Winged Watchman (same author, WWII in the Netherlands)
Snow Treasure (another WWII story)
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WE had the Great Brain from the library over the summer, but had to return it before he had a chance to read it. He's just starting Brave Buffalow Fighter by the same author for historical fiction right now, so I'll recheck the Great Brain...Have done all the Penderwicks, Sonw Treasuer, and Winged Watchman, but am intrigued by the 39 clues and no more dead dogs, loved the Edgar Eager series and am looking forward to reading those with the youngest soon
Again, thanks for all the great ideas and offerings ladies!! So good to be back
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Meredith
Mom of 4 Sweeties
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Erin
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'Tis a great list
adding, Fantasy for boys (more info here Apologies if some already mentioned.
Legacy of the Stone Harp - Mark Sebanc & James G Anderson (Catholic authors)
Dragons in Our Midst - Bryan Davis (Christian author)
Inheritance Cycle - Christopher Paolini
Bran Hambric- Kaleb Nation
Chronicles of Narnia - C S Lewis
Shadow Thief- Alexandra Ardonetto
Ranger's Apprentice - John Flanagan (huge family favourite )
Boy Books (more info here) Probably more for your ds11, though ds 15 could still enjoy them as a lighter read.
Battle Boys - Charlie Carter (might be too young for your 11yr old but at that age my boy was a later reader)
Encyclopedia Brown - Donald Sobol
Three Investigators- Robert Arthur Jnr
Hardy Boys - Franklin W Dixon
Biggles - Captain WE Johns
Redwall - Brian Jacques
Books of Ember- Jeanne DuPrau
Mysterious Benedict Society - Trenton Lee Stewart
Alex Rider Adventures - Anthony Horowitz
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MaryM
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Don't have time to add much right now - but just wanted to say  - SO GOOD TO SEE YOU, MEREDITH!!!
You guys are really so well read - it is going to be hard to come up with much that is new...
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Erin
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Meredith
Also have a bundle of sites for boys and books, don't know these sites well but they look promising and okay (but can't promise)
50 Best Books for Boys and Young Men
Books for Boys
Boys Rule Boys Read!
Boys Read.org
Gus Read
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stefoodie
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In addition to the above (Jodie, looks like my boys and yours have similar tastes!) ....
Dystopian sci-fi, but if you're okay with that -- the series by Evan Angler -- it's not awesome reading, but clean and lots to think about. Swipe, Sneak and Storm are the three titles. (I found Book 3 a bit on the corny side, though)
the series by Margaret Peterson Haddix, Among The Hidden, etc. (heh, same thing, government, etc. another dystopian series, but very thought provoking and pro-life, i think i got the recommendation here from another mom.
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SeaStar
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11 yo might like the Rick Brandt Science Series. They are available on Kindle (Thanks, Sally T!).
15 yo might find The Big Year interesting if he like birds at all. It's a true story of 3 men in 1998 who each set out to see the most birds in North America. Very interesting and funny (if you like birds)- loads of nature and geography. One of the men, Greg Miller, conducts birding tours in Ohio, so you can find him on line, which is kind of neat. There are a few mentions of bird mating habits, but these are very brief and mainly are talking about preferred nesting grounds.
Oh, yeah- Greg Miller was a computer guy at a nuclear power plant and worked full time there during his birding year- so there is a lot of talk about fixing the Y2K problem (remember that?).
Also- the Patrick McManus books about hunting and fishing are fun.
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CrunchyMom
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Here's another list, Literature of Honor for Boys.
What about a series like Horatio Hornblower for the older?
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Lindsay
Five Boys(6/04) (6/06) (9/08)(3/11),(7/13), and 1 girl (5/16)
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[URL=http://mysymphonygarden.blogspot.com/]Lost in the Cosmos[/UR
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CrunchyMom
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SeaStar wrote:
11 yo might like the Rick Brant Science Series. They are available on Kindle (Thanks, Sally T!).
15 yo might find The Big Year interesting if he like birds at all. It's a true story of 3 men in 1998 who each set out to see the most birds in North America. Very interesting and funny (if you like birds)- loads of nature and geography. One of the men, Greg Miller, conducts birding tours in Ohio, so you can find him on line, which is kind of neat. There are a few mentions of bird mating habits, but these are very brief and mainly are talking about preferred nesting grounds.
Oh, yeah- Greg Miller was a computer guy at a nuclear power plant and worked full time there during his birding year- so there is a lot of talk about fixing the Y2K problem (remember that?).
Also- the Patrick McManus books about hunting and fishing are fun. |
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My 9 year old LOVES Rick Brant.
I would also recommend the Ralph Moody series as one of the best boy series--hands down. SO good.
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Lindsay
Five Boys(6/04) (6/06) (9/08)(3/11),(7/13), and 1 girl (5/16)
My Symphony
[URL=http://mysymphonygarden.blogspot.com/]Lost in the Cosmos[/UR
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4Real Forums : Living Literature
Topic: Books for older boys
