I actually do have a serious question

S

smwhorn

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My 13 year old son is going into 8th grade. Getting him to read anything other than a sports book is like making him eat raw liver.

Anyone have any suggestions or advice on books for a teenage boy? I suppose I shouldn't complain about the sports books. At least he is reading something. According to his teachers, though, he needs to broaden his vocabulary and crap like that for upcoming standardized testing (another topic I don't feel like arguing about at this point anyway).

Any help would be appreciated.
 
I have three teenage boys (17/15/15), and you're correct. As long as he is reading (at least at his age/grade level), it doesn't really matter a whole lot WHAT he is reading. One of my twins has always had difficulty with his reading skills, and recently discovered the Darwin Award books. He's reading all of them, like nobody's business. Would I prefer he read something else? Sure. But, at least HE'S READING. And to be able to say that a teenage boy is reading for pleasure, is a rare and very good thing. If he likes sports related books, maybe you can take him to Half Price Books, and let him pick another books that is a little more challenging (in terms of reading difficulty). I'll say it one more time...HE'S READING. Be thankful.
 
I read a couple of my assigned books in 8th grade and then basically didn't read anything again until sometime mid-college. (I have the grades to prove it.) However, I did read every sports section I could get my hand on as well as Sports Illustrated from cover-to-cover (it was a LONG time ago).

If I tried to read something for school:

1) Each page took about 5 minutes, because I was a "word, word, word, word, word" reader, but...

2) I usually was asleep within 10 minutes of starting to read. It was a great cure for insomnia, but as far as making someone read... it never worked for me. I had to have an incentive and cash wasn't offered at my house.

Suerte. You're going to need it.

hookem.gif
 
has he read the Harvey Penick books? Maybe some sports biographies (Tom Landry, etc.) Get him used to reading a "book" so it doesn't seem foreign. Then , try something like Louis L'amour, real easy westerns just to get him some practice. Eventually, he'll be reading Kurt Vonnegut.
 
At that age, I was really interested in civilian/military covert ops sort of stuff because I was a boy and, let's be honest, that **** is just interesting. If you don't have a problem with him reading a relatively violent, but interesting and well written book, hand him tom clancy's "without remorse". That's about the age I read it for the first time and I've read it a few times since then. Great book. Also, you could get him hooked on McMurtry with "lonesome dove" but it is slower and I admit I didn't read that until I was 16 or so.

Again, if you don't mind the content, "without remorse" will have him asking you for a new book in no time.
 
I'm convinced that getting kids to read books is all about convincing them that reading is fun... Many kids haven't read a book they think is interesting, hence reading = boring.

Another thing I've figured out is that (believe it or not) a lot of kids don't know to skip the forwards and author's notes and stuff in the beginning of books. You might try noticing if he's turning right to chapter one or if he's getting stuck behind those things.

Encourage him to read, even if the books are below is grade level. As long as he is reading, he'll pick up the more "important" books later.

Great interesting kid's books:
Crash (kinda about a jock-ish kid)
Freak the Mighty
Holes
the Perseus and the Olympians series-- Starts w/ the Lightening Thief, continues with Sea of Monsters.... there's several in this series
Harry Potter (I know, redundant... but they're great)
Maniac MacGee
Hatchet
The river
The outsiders
Heat (about Baseball)

Ya know-- I'd recommend anyone read the books above. I enjoyed all of them.

I was that kid that wouldn't read-- and I come from a family of big readers. I got to the 5th grade and the only books my mother had managed to get me to read and enjoy were Garfield comics.

I learned to read by reading stuff like Dean Kootz and John Saul, even Stephen King. My older sister was into reading that stuff, and I just picked one up one day and read it. I liked the scary books because they held my attention, and there was the added bonus of the occasional sexy-part that made me feel like I was doing something a little "naughty".

You have to learn to enjoy reading before reading will do you any good. Find something he likes and buy him as many of these books as you can!
 
I really liked to read when I was that age, but that may have been because my parents would let me read their Stephen King books.

I'm still a fan to this day, but reading Pet Semetary at 14 scared the living crap out of me...
 
bow.gif
7 Iron

It depends on the 13 year old boy.

Tell the guy at your bookstore. Or bookstores. You know what you read. You may recall what your friends were reading.

Today's 13 year olds are reading different ****. Strange ****.
 
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