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Books my teen reads - 10/23/2009 11:20:31 AM
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kelltech
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From: MO
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Hello,
My daughter is 14 and she is into futuristic alternate reality stuff like the Matrix. I have introduced her to Ted Dekkers books and she likes them, but her favorites are by an author named Scott Westerfeld and her favorite trilogy is the Uglies, the Pretties & the Specials. Trouble is I can't find any Christian based reviews on this author or any of his books. Can anyone steer me in the right direction?
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RE: Books my teen reads - 11/2/2009 2:06:34 PM
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AbidingJoy
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Wow... no one has offered any advice. I'm surprised. There are so many great people here. I was a teacher for 10 years and I still do some home school consulting. Unfortunately the book publishers don't provide much in the way of wholesome material for teens. You can still find good literature for little kids and adults, but adolescents have been pretty much ignored.
Has she read the Nancy Drew series? I grew up on them. But... you have to be very careful. The newer books are not the Nancy Drew we grew up with. Now they have her breaking the law and saying things such as "bite me". **sigh** However, the yellow hardback series are as clean as they get and Nancy always does the right thing. In many of the books you'll notice that Nancy still attends church.
A good author for young people is Kate DiCamillo who wrote Because of Winn-Dixie, The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane, and The Tale of Despereaux. There is also a wonderful book called Each Little Bird That Sings (It's my favorite middle-school read).
I hesitate to recommend one other book, but only because there is some use of mild profanity in it. The profanity is used by one of the central characters who is a juvenile delinquent that the parents are trying to help change his ways. But if you think you can introduce this book to your daughter with a talk first about how the profanity is used (remember it's pretty mild, not filthy) this is a book that shouldn't be missed. It's called The Watson's Go To Birmingham - 1963, by Christopher Paul Curtis. It's a tear jerker, but the morals are concrete and good. No compromise on right and wrong. It was dedicated to the four little girls who lost their lives in the Birmingham Church Bombing in 1963. I read it to third graders after I obtained their parents permission and almost every parent came to tell me what a wonderful book it was and that they would recommend everyone read it. The kids loved it and it's hilarious at times. You might want to get it from the library first, read it yourself and then make a decision based on your own opinion.
Some other good authors for young people are Sharon Creech and Andrew Clements.
Let me know if I can help in any other way.
In His Grace,
AbidingJoy
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RE: Books my teen reads - 11/2/2009 6:24:33 PM
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SteveSund
Posts: 211
Joined: 11/8/2005
From: Michigan
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quote:
ORIGINAL: kelltech
Hello,
My daughter is 14 and she is into futuristic alternate reality stuff like the Matrix. I have introduced her to Ted Dekkers books and she likes them, but her favorites are by an author named Scott Westerfeld and her favorite trilogy is the Uglies, the Pretties & the Specials. Trouble is I can't find any Christian based reviews on this author or any of his books. Can anyone steer me in the right direction?
Have you read any of the Westerfeld books? They aren't very long. I have read some of his adult stuff and really liked it, but don't have anything good to add on his juv. stuff.
I'll second The Watsons go to Birmingham. It is an excellent book.
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RE: Books my teen reads - 11/2/2009 8:21:50 PM
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Krislynx
Posts: 847
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Has she checked out steampunk? It is a mix of futuristic and Victorian (or other early/old tech) eras. I am just starting to get into it personally so I don't have any specifics. But it is pretty neat stuff. I believe Stevesund's author writes steampunk, but I'm not sure.
Kris
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RE: Books my teen reads - 11/2/2009 8:46:13 PM
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jhuperetes
Posts: 1948
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I found something that might be helpful:
http://teenlitreview.blogspot.com/2009/03/uglies-uglies-series-book-1.html
According to the site:
quote:
Our mission is to provide Christian-oriented reviews on pre-teen and teen books from all genres in order to aid parents in choosing the most appropriate books for their children. The reviews are centered around the books' content and are rated for suitability.
I have talked it over my daughter who is planning to read it, we will discuss it when she is done with it.
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RE: Books my teen reads - 11/2/2009 9:59:38 PM
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aprilshowers12
Posts: 932
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OP, my dd is also 14 and struggling to find good reading material. She recently expressed an interest in the Uglies series. I checked into it at Barnes and Noble because I could not find much about it. The lady there told me that if I had allowed her to read Twilight it was probally ok. I did not buy it, yet. DD decided on her own to wait.
Has your daughter read the Eragon series? They were popular a few years ago. DD and DS liked them.
They also found a series called Warriors. It is not sci-fi but both kids liked it; it is about a clan of cats. They are both into animals, so if your daughter likes animals it might interest her. They got into these about 2 yrs ago, so the reading level won't be a challenge but like I said the topic might be of interest.
My dd is really into Ted Dekker's stuff, I have read 80% of it but have gotten busy and not read the last few. I do have a good friend that is reading them and she has promised to alert me if she thinks I would want DD to stop reading. The content does get a bit gorey in some parts, dd says she skims those parts.
I think when you have a child that is an advanced reader it is hard in this age range to find wholesome material. You just have to read ahead of them to find good series. We are fortunate to have a few good friends that are readers and are always letting me know when they find something that they think is ok for dd to read.
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RE: Books my teen reads - 11/2/2009 10:12:29 PM
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Sideways
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What about some classic stuff like Asimov's Robot series? Heinlen is dicey. Jules Verne can be interesting, but he's "dated" as my husband puts it.
dH recommends "Ringworld" by Larry Niven. Ender's Game is a great story, but there is death involved. It's not for little kids.
< Message edited by Sideways -- 11/2/2009 10:21:31 PM >
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RE: Books my teen reads - 11/2/2009 10:43:00 PM
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Mrs.Wifey
Posts: 2672
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From: The Gorgeous plains of Colorado
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quote:
Has your daughter read the Eragon series? They were popular a few years ago. DD and DS liked them.
That's what I was going to recommend. Also, my brother's really like Eoin Colfer's books, especially the Artemis Fowl series.
Neal Stephenson is a good author as well(Snow Crash, Cryptonomicon) and would probably be right up her alley. They do cover some "older" topics, for example Snow Crash covers the differences in the ideologies of capitalism, libertarianism, etc... But unless she is already interested in politics she probably wouldn't "get" that and would just enjoy the story.
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RE: Books my teen reads - 11/2/2009 10:57:49 PM
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Krislynx
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I agree Ender's Game is great and that it is not for little kids. The whole saga is very good but as it continues it gets a bit deep. Personally I would allow a 14 year old to read them but I would read (or reread in my case) at least some of them and discuss it. Not as much with Ender's Game as the latter books. Just a heads up - if she gets into Orson Scott Card (who I think is a great writer) one of his series (Homecoming Saga) has a lot of Mormon overtone and worldview. Not a stopping point for me, but once again something I would like to discuss with my kids if and when they read that series. They probably won't get a choice on Ender's Game - I think it is going to be required reading in our home school. His Tales of Alvin Maker series is also good. It is an alternative history of the US where the US as we know it never forms. New England is very British and Puritan, the Southern states are French etc. Basically the Revolutionary War never happens (or we lose) and the LA purchase doesn't take place. Setting up a very different country to write stories in but still include references to people like Ben Franklin, John Adams etc. It is also a world where magic is real and used throughout the books and I know that can be a problem for some people.
Kris
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RE: Books my teen reads - 11/3/2009 11:20:57 AM
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stateofgrace
Posts: 1306
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If she likes Ted Dekker, she may like Bryan Davis and Donita Paul. They're more straight fantasy (both authors have dragons in their series). Paul has been moved from Christian fiction into regular SF&F at Barnes and Noble; I have gotten books by Davis in the past at Walmart but most recently we've had to order them from Amazon.
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RE: Books my teen reads - 11/3/2009 12:27:32 PM
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garsyt
Posts: 1934
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quote:
My kids read so much that they are each now writting their own books, just for fun. They edit earch other, too. DD is in a creative writting club and has to write 15,000 words for FUN! She was so excited, she told a peer this and they looked at her like she had two heads.
They should do National novel writers month! They have a youth version that my older two are doing!
Blessings,
Garsy
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My Blog: www.moredayslikethisplease.wordpress.com
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RE: Books my teen reads - 11/3/2009 11:40:07 PM
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garsyt
Posts: 1934
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No problem!
My husband doing the adult NaNoWriMo.
Me? Just scrapbooking with a goal of 21 layouts this month and surviving theatre season for my eldest!
Now back to your OP - sorry for the little detour.
Blessings,
Garsy
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"And I usually agree with Garsy, so I'll be quiet now." Stellaluna - July 2010
My Blog: www.moredayslikethisplease.wordpress.com
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