Book recommendations for 14 year old boy - Page 2

[Gooseberry]

None of the suggestions I'll make here are things I've read, but they were all highly recommended by classmates in a Young Adult Literature course that I took last year.

Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi (recommended upthread)

Ashfall by Mike Mullin

Books by Nancy Farmer such as The Ear, the Eye and the Arm or The House of the Scorpion

[grethel]

The extra information you gave upthread about his reading level definitely helps us know what he might be interested in. There's such a range at that age. I was a lot like your son - voraciously reading more adult material at his age. So I do understand.

Totally echo others' recommendations that you take him with you to the library if you can. I'd never want to pick out books for my 14 yo without having her along to thumb through and nix them -- way too much schlepping!

If he liked Ender's Game, it's a series. He might also like Dune (I think I mentioned that above), Heinlein novels like "Have Spacesuit, Will Travel," (one of my favorites at his age!). If he likes things that are a bit deeper, another classic is "The Stars My Destination" by Alfred Bester. I also loved "The Stand" and the Dark Tower series by Stephen King (they're different than his straight horror books).

Other favorites from my teens that I can think of off the top of my head:

"Brave New World," Aldous Huxley

"The Handmaid's Tale," M. Atwood (I also loved Oryx & Crake, but not sure if it's a little adult in places. I don't remember it being too sexy. Handmaid's Tale does include a lot of adult themes, but as others have said above, if he's entering into the realm of adult books, that's going to be part of most of the good ones.)

"Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" Philip K Dick (basis for the movie "Blade Runner")

Has he read "Life of Pi" by Yann Martel? It's very much an adventure novel (though the adventure doesn't start for about 1/3 of the book, so encourage him to keep reading until it gets "good").

[leafylady]

Get him online to search out book recommendations on Goodreads. If he's mature enough to read Clan of the Cave Bear and the other books you've mentioned, it sounds like he's mature enough to pick his own books. Even if he does get some inappropriate content, he is mature enough to accept it for what it is and not start to emulate it.

My son read a non-fiction book called American Shaolin that we all enjoyed. It's not a child's book. It's non-fiction but reads with the energy of a novel.

Still, I say it's time to let him research and choose his own books. It's a great next step for him. Goodreads is a great place to start for reviews by real readers.

[Evan&Anna's_Mom]

NPR just published a list of "favorite teen books".  They also have a list of 100 favorite sci fi/fantasy.  Here are links:

http://www.npr.org/2012/08/07/157795366/your-favorites-100-best-ever-teen-novels

http://www.npr.org/2011/08/11/139085843/your-picks-top-100-science-fiction-fantasy-books

The list had a few books I read and liked but had forgotten about, especially Lucifer's Hammer, Mote in God's Eye, anything by Anne McCaffrey, anything by David Eddings, the Thomas Covenant series,

I am also a major Mercedes Lackey fan.  The Joust series might be more appealing than her Valdemar series since Valdemar's first set has a female main character.  He could also start with the Foundation series since that is centered around a teen boy.

And our family all enjoyed The Chronicles of Ancient Darkness series (first book is "Wolf Brother"), though my 12 YO started it, so it might seem a little young for your son.
 

[liberal_chick]

The Escape from Furnace series by Smith is big with the boys at our library right now.  The first is Lockdown.  Also Ashes by Ilsa Bick.  Feed by M.T. Anderson.  Does he do zombies?  I really like Rot & Ruin (first of 2 currently with 2 more to come, I think) by Marberry.  Finnikin of the Rock by Marchetta.  The Maze Runner by Dashner is the first thing I send kids who are coming off The Hunger Games to.

Take him to the library and tell the Teen Librarian or whoever works with teens what he likes.  When teens come to me, I usually ask what the last several books they really liked were and recommend based off of that.

[Evan&Anna's_Mom]

Originally Posted by Mama Soltera 

Can you tell me which book comes first in the series? My daughter (11 1/2) has read all the same books as my son (except Vampire Diaries!) and she is so into the dragon novels these days. She would love this series, I'm sure. Thanks. :)

There are several good places to enter this series -- they weren't written in chronological order so sometimes they seem a bit scattered.  A good place for teens/tween is the Harper Hall trilogy -- Dragon Song, Dragon Singer, Dragon Drums.   I read these with my son at about age 10 or 11 (we read aloud at night and I am always looking for good options we will both like). 

A couple of thinks that some parents might want to be aware of:

*  The primary character (a teen girl) gets beaten by her father (as a child who was on the receiving end of a belt whipping more times than I can count that was hard for me to read).

*  The culture depicted is male-dominated but the main character is an incredibly strong girl who bucks it all and succeeds.

* The second and third books to refer to dragon mating with a clear indication that the people who are bonded with those dragons also have sex.  Nothing graphic though.

I must say that these have been some of my favorite books over many years.

[Mama Soltera]

Evan and Anna's Mom, thanks for making me aware of those aspects of the story. I really appreciate it.

I know I'm going to be coming back to this thread over and over again for quite a while!

[pattimomma]

I second the Ender's Game series! If he is into vampires has he tried Anne Rice? I read Interview with a Vampire at 15 and got hooked on that series.