Recommendations for a teen boy (not YA)

[Anonymous]

I have an almost-14 year old boy who loves to read, but he doesn’t go for the typical YA books aimed at this age. Books he’s liked recently include the Dune series, The Revenant, All Quiet on the Western Front, For Whom the Bell Tolls.

He has Cormac McCarthy’s The Road on his Christmas list—I’ve never read it, is that ok for a young teen? I’m generally not inclined to censor, but he’s been dealing with some mental health issues and I don’t want to give him anything that might take him to a dark place.

Any other recommendations for a kid like this?

[Anonymous]

What about some old school spy novels, like John Le Carre?

My son has been enjoying John Grisham (The Testaments is set in D.C.), Robert Ludlum Bourne Identity series, and I am getting him the first Jack Reacher books.

[Anonymous]

The Road is dark — a father and son wandering a near-lifeless post-apocalyptic landscape as the father is slowly dying, trying to protect his son — and if I recall there is at least one murder, more bleak than graphic.

It’s extremely bleak, though there’s a tiny spot of hope, and a bit of a reframe, near the very end.

Station Eleven is a post-apocalyptic book that’s really beautifully written, and manages to hold simultaneously both humanity’s bleakness and its aspirations.

What about a book like Curious Incident that manages to be both very well written and centers on a teenager? Too YA?

George Saunders is great — clever and a great writer and also able to empathize with humanity even as he sees its flaws. His short story collection December 10 (?) is very smart and might appeal. A Swim in the Pond in the Rain gets pitched as a writing book, but it’s actually a collection of some incredible Russian short stories with saunders analysis about why they work. The short stories are GREAT too (Master and Man! So gripping!).

And on that subject what about Dostoevsky? Crime and Punishment is a great read, and though it is about an act of murder, it is ultimately about the psychology of redemption. Brothers Karamazov wrestles with questions of humanity and goodness in a flawed world, and it’s quite funny.

Franny and Zooey wrestles with a lot of the questions in a way that resonated for me as a teen and also as an adult. It’s been a while since I read it though, so perhaps look at some reviews.

Einstein’s Dreams by Alan Lightman is an amazing little read — it’s essentially a series of thought experiments imagining different universes in which time operates differently than it does in ours. It’s beautifully written and explores not only time but also human responses to the world we are given. I love this book.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The Road is dark — a father and son wandering a near-lifeless post-apocalyptic landscape as the father is slowly dying, trying to protect his son — and if I recall there is at least one murder, more bleak than graphic.

It’s extremely bleak, though there’s a tiny spot of hope, and a bit of a reframe, near the very end.

Station Eleven is a post-apocalyptic book that’s really beautifully written, and manages to hold simultaneously both humanity’s bleakness and its aspirations.

What about a book like Curious Incident that manages to be both very well written and centers on a teenager? Too YA?

George Saunders is great — clever and a great writer and also able to empathize with humanity even as he sees its flaws. His short story collection December 10 (?) is very smart and might appeal. A Swim in the Pond in the Rain gets pitched as a writing book, but it’s actually a collection of some incredible Russian short stories with saunders analysis about why they work. The short stories are GREAT too (Master and Man! So gripping!).

And on that subject what about Dostoevsky? Crime and Punishment is a great read, and though it is about an act of murder, it is ultimately about the psychology of redemption. Brothers Karamazov wrestles with questions of humanity and goodness in a flawed world, and it’s quite funny.

Franny and Zooey wrestles with a lot of the questions in a way that resonated for me as a teen and also as an adult. It’s been a while since I read it though, so perhaps look at some reviews.

Einstein’s Dreams by Alan Lightman is an amazing little read — it’s essentially a series of thought experiments imagining different universes in which time operates differently than it does in ours. It’s beautifully written and explores not only time but also human responses to the world we are given. I love this book.

Not OP, but thank you, these are incredibly thoughtful recommendations!

The Road is definitely very dark. There are a few things that are very disturbing, not to give away the plot.

[Anonymous]

The Splendid and the Vile by Erik Larsen. Non fiction history about the first year of WW2 in Britain. He really brings alive the gravity of the situation, the mood of the people, the key characters like Churchill.

Another WW2 history my teen liked is Doublecross by Ben MacIntyre. About the British double agents who helped D-Day succeed

[Anonymous]

Do not get The Road if you are concerned about dark themes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The Road is dark — a father and son wandering a near-lifeless post-apocalyptic landscape as the father is slowly dying, trying to protect his son — and if I recall there is at least one murder, more bleak than graphic.

It’s extremely bleak, though there’s a tiny spot of hope, and a bit of a reframe, near the very end.

Station Eleven is a post-apocalyptic book that’s really beautifully written, and manages to hold simultaneously both humanity’s bleakness and its aspirations.

What about a book like Curious Incident that manages to be both very well written and centers on a teenager? Too YA?

George Saunders is great — clever and a great writer and also able to empathize with humanity even as he sees its flaws. His short story collection December 10 (?) is very smart and might appeal. A Swim in the Pond in the Rain gets pitched as a writing book, but it’s actually a collection of some incredible Russian short stories with saunders analysis about why they work. The short stories are GREAT too (Master and Man! So gripping!).

And on that subject what about Dostoevsky? Crime and Punishment is a great read, and though it is about an act of murder, it is ultimately about the psychology of redemption. Brothers Karamazov wrestles with questions of humanity and goodness in a flawed world, and it’s quite funny.

Franny and Zooey wrestles with a lot of the questions in a way that resonated for me as a teen and also as an adult. It’s been a while since I read it though, so perhaps look at some reviews.

Einstein’s Dreams by Alan Lightman is an amazing little read — it’s essentially a series of thought experiments imagining different universes in which time operates differently than it does in ours. It’s beautifully written and explores not only time but also human responses to the world we are given. I love this book.

NP here. Regardless of the intelligence level or reading ability of a 14-year-old, Dostoyevsky and the like– these heavy intellectual themes around morality and psychology, are over the head of kids that age. I'm sure someone will say they read war and peace and could grasp it at that age, but young teens are just developmentally not capable of making sense of those themes. Maybe 17, 18, for a kid who has gone through some real stuff, but not most kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The Road is dark — a father and son wandering a near-lifeless post-apocalyptic landscape as the father is slowly dying, trying to protect his son — and if I recall there is at least one murder, more bleak than graphic.

It’s extremely bleak, though there’s a tiny spot of hope, and a bit of a reframe, near the very end.

Station Eleven is a post-apocalyptic book that’s really beautifully written, and manages to hold simultaneously both humanity’s bleakness and its aspirations.

What about a book like Curious Incident that manages to be both very well written and centers on a teenager? Too YA?

George Saunders is great — clever and a great writer and also able to empathize with humanity even as he sees its flaws. His short story collection December 10 (?) is very smart and might appeal. A Swim in the Pond in the Rain gets pitched as a writing book, but it’s actually a collection of some incredible Russian short stories with saunders analysis about why they work. The short stories are GREAT too (Master and Man! So gripping!).

And on that subject what about Dostoevsky? Crime and Punishment is a great read, and though it is about an act of murder, it is ultimately about the psychology of redemption. Brothers Karamazov wrestles with questions of humanity and goodness in a flawed world, and it’s quite funny.

Franny and Zooey wrestles with a lot of the questions in a way that resonated for me as a teen and also as an adult. It’s been a while since I read it though, so perhaps look at some reviews.

Einstein’s Dreams by Alan Lightman is an amazing little read — it’s essentially a series of thought experiments imagining different universes in which time operates differently than it does in ours. It’s beautifully written and explores not only time but also human responses to the world we are given. I love this book.

OP here, thank you! This is really helpful!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What about some old school spy novels, like John Le Carre?

My son has been enjoying John Grisham (The Testaments is set in D.C.), Robert Ludlum Bourne Identity series, and I am getting him the first Jack Reacher books.

Great ideas, thank you?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What about some old school spy novels, like John Le Carre?

My son has been enjoying John Grisham (The Testaments is set in D.C.), Robert Ludlum Bourne Identity series, and I am getting him the first Jack Reacher books.

Great ideas, thank you?

Ha, I meant thank you!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The Splendid and the Vile by Erik Larsen. Non fiction history about the first year of WW2 in Britain. He really brings alive the gravity of the situation, the mood of the people, the key characters like Churchill.

Another WW2 history my teen liked is Doublecross by Ben MacIntyre. About the British double agents who helped D-Day succeed

Thank you, I’m going to check these out!

[Anonymous]

He might like the Herman Wouk series that starts with Winds for War.

Maybe Ender's Game? Jurassic Park? Andromeda Strain? Congo?

[Anonymous]

Anthony Horowitz. Not his Alex Rider books, but his adult books, Magpie Murders, M is for Murder etc.

They are extremely well written page turners, often very funny and clever.

[Anonymous]

My 14 year old enjoyed the what If books, especially What If 2.

What If? 2: Additional Serious Scientific Answers To Absurd Hypothetical Questions by Randall Munroe

They are a nice mental health break, and the interest and creativity in the questions and the answers was great for my teen. Not serious questions but serious answers, entertaining for kids and adults.

[Anonymous]

If he has any interest in science fiction, my teen liked the old school early books in this genre like A Canticle for Liebowitz, Lucifer’s Hammer, and Earth Abides.