Are these books too "young" for a 12 year old boy?
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Anonymous
| DS is not a voracious reader although a perfectly competent one. I am a bit concerned because he is now reading all the things his 10 year old sister reads: Gregor the Overlander, The One and Only Ivan, The Invention of Hugo Cabret, the Rick Riordan books. Is she reading above age level and he is reading under? Or is there a period when this age group reads basically the same things? |
Anonymous
Both of these are great series' and didn't the Gregor the Overlander author write the Hunger Games books. He can do those next. My kid read these around 11-12 years old. At least he's reading! |
Anonymous
| Does he like Hunger Games and the Divergent Series? After reading those my DD is obcessing over random dragon books. I wish she had better taste in literature. |
Anonymous
| DS is actually a good reader and enjoys books. But he has a VERY hard time finding things on his own. I suspect he is reading what his sister is reading as it is the easy path. And hence may be reading below what he may be capable of in terms of complexity. Would like suggestions of what a 12 year old reads when they don't have trouble picking books - and they enjoy books. Hope the question makes sense. I might just make a couple at a higher level available in the house so both kids can look through them and decide if they want to read them. |
Anonymous
| Yes! I would like to encourage, very gently, better literature too. Just making it available in the house. Don't love the Hunger Games for a 12 year old so not bringing it into the house. If DS finds it on his own, so be it. But as I said, he doesn't look on his own! |
Anonymous
Basically the same thing. With only two years between them, there isn't going to be a huge gap in terms of popular books at this age. It's wonderful if they're both reading. Don't nitpick at something that's really not a problem. |
Anonymous
That information is what I was looking for. Thanks |
Anonymous
|
Don't sweat it. Perhaps he'll have a deeper understanding of the plot with his two extra years. My middle schooler, who could read books for adults in elementary school, enjoys everything. I just started reading aloud the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe to him and his younger siblings, and he's loving it. Even though he read it (and watched the movie) years ago. |
Anonymous
I agree with the PP above, OP. Great that they read, and don't nitpick. I would add: Talk with his school librarian for ideas about books and also for a reality check on 12-year-old boys and books. Many boys his age, when I was a regular volunteer in our school library, were only checking out the Guinness Book of World Records and "How to draw manga" types of books! So he's doing OK. (Yeah, I'm generalizing, but boys did seem to check out more how-to and nonfiction stuff while girls were more into fiction, very generally speaking, and our school librarian confirmed that she saw that trend all the time too.) The school librarian can be a great resource and believe me, they love to be asked things by parents because parents tend to forget the school librarian exists and is there to help parents too! By the way, I have read most of Rick Riordan's stuff in the past few years, all of the Artemis Fowl series, and just finished the Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children series and generally read a lot of what my DD, now going on 16, likes to read. The aforementioned series are all great fun and creative -- plus, she asks me to read things she loves and it gives us a ton to discuss. She also reads classic literature on her own as well as enjoying the serious literature they're reading in high school honors English (and still loves Artemis Fowl!). So kids can develop a very wide variety in taste in time. He'll get there. |
Anonymous
| OP you are worrying about nothing. Worry if your 12 year old DS stops reading and smokes a bong. |
Anonymous
Well its OK not to have the lowest of expectations and to aim a bit higher than the bong! |
Anonymous
When I was that age, I was obsessed with 1) Hardy Boys Case Files and 2) Lurlene McDaniel, who wrote a series of quite trashy teen novels wherein all the characters had horrible wasting diseases and died after about 200 pages of cliches. My mother would always give me a big fat eye roll and periodically copied lists of "library recommended classics for teens" which she'd leave lying around the house and I'd ignore. I grew out of it and we both look back and laugh. Your DD will grow out of it too. It's a phase, nothing more. |
Anonymous
| As long as he is reading and enjoying it I wouldn't nitpick his books. In my own personal reading I run the gamut of complex literature to chicklit. |
Anonymous
| I would not worry at all, op. I think those books are great for both ages. For some reason kids nowadays seem to want to plow through books at the earliest possible moment - like, kindergartners and first graders reading Harry Potter. I would not censor my kids from reading anything they want, but there are so many awesome books nowadays that there is no need to rush ahead. (I have always been a voracious reader, and I definitely read "adult" books at a young age because there was less choice in children's literature back then, especially for tweens.) My older son is 11 and is also a voracious reader, but just read Percy Jackson (even though most of his friends read the series several years ago) because they just didn't appeal to him until now. Like a pp suggested, my kids have trouble selecting books at the library (and with some exceptions, the librarians we encounter often do not have good suggestions). I still peruse the shelves with them, and my kids are late elementary and middle school! |
Anonymous
My 11 yr old recently read: the Theodore Boone, Kid Lawyer series; the latest Magnus Chase; Chains and Forge and the third in the series; various of Mike Lupica's sports books; Unbroken the young reader's edition; and will always gladly pick up a Calvin and Hobbes or Big Nate. |