Posted on 07/23/2005 4:32:43 PM PDT by notpoliticallycorewrecked
My son lives on the computer these long summer days. As his mother I would like to see him do more productive things, like read. So I am going to make him read a chapter or two in a good classic book for the rest of his summer. I am looking for recommendations as to what to have him read.Thanks
BTW I plan on reading right along with him so we can talk about the book.
What are his interests..and how old is he?
Depends - what does he like to read??
The book of 'Proverbs' as found in the Bible!
He is 15 and I am trying to expand his interest. He is only interested in the computer. I signed him up to work at our local library. They put him to work in the computer lab. He laughed all the way home his first day. He is holding an A in English and he wants to be a writer/ computer programmer.
Practical applications of the hp-15C.
Have the teenager a date too,......great movie date!
If he masters the HP-15c, he will be able to buy a library later, because he will understand the six basic functions of a dollar and will start to understand how money is made and lost.
Boys tend to be mathmatical anyway, so why not with something that will benefit his whole life?
uhhh, mom, the computer is just loaded with words.
Seriously, try the Potter books if he is in the low teens. My nephew liked to read The Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan in his late teens (and still does)
Post 4 beat me to it. Proverbs are a MUST. When I was his age, I had to do a Proverbs study on rebelliousness that I've never forgotten, thank God.
Had to hand-write every verse on the subject and then discuss them with DAD.
Why force him?
If he's got an A in English, and is doing constructive things with the computer (programming, not just playing games) then let him be. It's summer. Sounds like he has good skills to be a tech writer or programmer.
I am a mom. So I am the lady of the house. The movie that every husband and wife should see is The Notebook.
Teenage boy doesn't date yet. He is the opposite of his older very social brother. He considers girls to be friends right now which is just fine with Mom. My son is very cute in teenage girl standards. At our last BSA Court of Honor one of the sisters of another scout was checking out my son, but did not notice that my mother was observing the whole thing.
The Last Jihad and The Ezekiel Option by Joel Rosenberg are excellent political thrillers based on Bible prophecy. No swear words. No sex scenes. Just great suspense.
My suggestion is to not restrict him to what you consider to be classic books. There are many fine books out there that are not "classics", but are still entertaining and fun to read. Find books that will fit his interests. Better yet, take him on a trip to a bookstore. Not one, but several. Used books bookstores as well as new books bookstores. Let him pick out, within reason, which books he would want to read over the summer.
Issac Asimov. Start him with the Multivac stories and Robot series. These will pique his interet since he is a computer lover. With over 450 published stories in every major category of the Dewey Decimal Systen he can read Asimov from A-Z!!
Thank you several of those should interest both of us.
Atlas Shrugged.
Kidnapped.
Soft Pretzels With Mustard by David Brenner
It's out of print, but you can buy used copies very cheaply online.
Martin Chuzzlewit - Not so popular Dickens but in addition to being an excellent and humorous look at human nature, an insightful criticism of 19th century American consumerism & shucksterism for which Dickens later wrote an eloquent apology.
Pillars of the Earth - dare you to say it's not a favorite after reading
The Stand - my favorite Stephen King
Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee - probably the best opportunity for establishing an interest in American Indians and history of the West.
Let's see. I'm not a big fan of classics as in Dickens, Bronte, Austin, etc. I tend to prefer non-fiction actually. Jon Krakauer (sp?) books are good. Depends on what kind of reading you want him to get. If you want him to read classics give him Pride and Prejudice (ick), Tale of Two Cities, David Copperfield, etc.
What about science fiction? Roger Zelazny was my favorite writer when I was that age; many of his later books (from the early 90's :-) involve computers. Try your library!
Sorry, I'll quit now. :-)
Harry Potter? I've heard they are very well written and all, but as far as educational value or things they will teach him they are very limited. Unless you believe in magic.
Lord of the Flies
Call of the Wild
Huckleberry Finn
Incredible Victory-Walter Lord
The Big E - Edwin P. Stamford
The Jungle Book
I would have to agree. Tokein, Krakauer, Herriot, Savage, Sowell, Solzhenitsyn, Hildenbrand, etc.
A Christmas Carrol is excellent.
Good list. There are a few on there I keep meaning to read.
Never read. I'll have to get it from the library.
The Heinlein Juvenilles:
Time for the Stars
The Rolling Stones
Have Space Suit -- Will Travel
Citizen of the Galaxy
The Star Beast
Starman Jones
and a bunch more.
IMHO Ray Bradbury is tops in Sci-Fi, but that's just me.
Just a couple of suggestions...though not "classics" they are good books. Good luck.
To each his own.
'Guns of the South' by Harry Turtledove.
Forcing him to read "good literature" or "classic books" will not make him love the stuff. In fact, he may learn to hate it.
If he is just playing games on the computer all day, then maybe he could better spend his time taking a programming/computer science course at a local college, high school, computer training center, or online.
Culled from the 9-volume Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln, this book assembles the best of Lincoln's writings on himself and the issues of his day, creating in effect an engrossing autobiography of our greatest president. Skillful editing shapes this volume comprised of letters, speeches, and documents into an intimate self-portrait of Lincoln, from his early years in Springfield to the day before he died. A fine addition to any American history library.
Ooh, double-ditto that!
Unngh. I wasn't a fan of the Muppets version. I saw some obscure movie version in English class and it was great. Most of the dialogue was word-for-word from the book, and the acting was also good.
the two books of William Manchester's biography of Winston Churchill "The Last Lion"
Steven Pressfield's Gates of Fire (the 300 Spartans at Thermopylae)
two collaborations by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle Footfall and Lucifer's Hammer (see below for a third)
Ben Hur by Lew Wallace (then find a biography of Lew Wallce... he's as fascinating as the novel he wrote)
The two books written so far of Edmund Morris' biography of Theodore Roosevelt, The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt and Theodore Rex
And then may I recommend some Free ebook downloads from www.baen.com - perfect for a computer type:
Gust Front by John Ringo
1632 and 1633 by Eric Flint
Wizard's Bane and Wizardry Compiled by Rick Cook (written by and for computer geeks)
Fallen Angels by Niven and Pournelle
The Declaration of Independence
The Constitution of The United States.
Actually, Bradbury is the only Sci-fi I've read. I read "The Time Machine" a while ago, but didn't like it.
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