Books for a 14 year old boy

[CoolChick]

My nephew likes to read and asked for an interesting book for his birthday. He's read all the Rick Riordan books and the Harry Potter books. He is a bright kid and probably reads above his age level. Any suggestions?

[VDubby18]

All of these are series.

Hunger Games

Inheritance Cycle

Artemis Fowl

Witch & Wizard


I have read the first three. Not sure about the fourth. However, James Patterson did write the Witch & Wizard books... and I love Patterson.

[evosky]

ender's game - classic sci-fi that really opened my eyes during my YA days



also, i'd recommend the whole Redwall series by Brian Jacques - it's in the same vein as LOTR and Harry Potter

[evosky]

and i might as well also suggest the Deathstalker series by Simon R Green, which is a bit more serious

[FlashRedGLS1.8T]

ender's game - classic sci-fi that really opened my eyes during my YA days

My 11 year old read that and hated it. I've read it twice and enjoyed it both times.

[EK20]

Terry Goodkind's Sword Of Truth series

Robin Hobb's Farseer and Tawney Man Trilogies

Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn Trilogy

Brandon Sanderson's The Way Of Kings

[CoolChick]

Great! I'll check with my sister to see if he's read any of these.

[Ryan D]

The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings if he hasn't read those yet.

[smittyATL]

Good suggestions so far.

"The Dark Elf Trilogy" was great when I was 14.

[daynarankin]

Philip Pullman’s The Dark Materials, Artemis Fowl, Catcher in the Rye, To Kill a Mockingbird

[gotta_jet]

Jurassic Park.

[pdoel]

Witch & Wizard

I don't recommend Witch & Wizard. It was an obvious attempt to try and cash in on the popularity of Harry Potter like books, but just felt slapped together. Not a good read at all.

I highly recommend the Alchemyst series by Michael Scott:

The Alchemyst
The Magician
The Sorceress
The Necromancer

[CoolChick]

So turns out he has read most of the suggestions. He's read Hunger Games, Artemis Fowl, the Michael Scott series, To Kill a Mockingbird. I wound up getting him The Maze Runner and Variant which he seemed to think looked good. For Christmas I got him Jurassic Park as his extra gift.

[Village Idiot™]

The Jumper books. They're completely different from the movie and actually good.

Neil Gaiman's young adult stuff. The Graveyard book, and several others. His "adult" fiction is amazing too but there's tits and stuff in there.

The Percy Jackson series.

Terry Prachett's Disc World novels. They're goofy and full of light humorous stuff.

And H.P. Lovecraft.

[nasty_VW_habit]

I know my 14yo boy has read many Stephen King books

I know he's blown thru other more age appropriate stuff but he's not here to ask.

[O_G]

The beginning and end of the Earthsea trilogy (A Wizard of Earthsea and The Farthest Shore) — Le Guin
The Overcoat — Gogol
The Lathe of Heaven — Le Guin
Nineteen Eighty-Four — Orwell
Huckleberry Finn — Twain
A Christmas Carol — Dickens (watching films does not substitute)
As I Lay Dying — Faulkner
The Collected Poems of Wallace Stevens

[Rlyeezz2]

you could set him up with the wheel of time series by robert jordan. they are longer books and will def help him out with expanding his vocabulary.

[EK20]

you could set him up with the wheel of time series by robert jordan. they are longer books and will def help him out with expanding his vocabulary.

That's a good idea.

Also, Terry Brooks.

[hrama803]

Hatchet

[EK20]

Hatchet

Excellent suggestion.

[Rlyeezz2]

Hatchet

If he likes it he could do the whole series
the hatchet
the river
brians winter
brians return
brians hunt

[Elbows]

When I was 14, I hadn't been reading nearly as much as I had at younger ages...then I discovered Michael Crichton's Jurassic Park.

I went on to read all of his books over the course of a year or two. I know you don't think Michael Crichton at 14...but it was simply excellent. Sure I didn't understand all of it, but damn if I didn't enjoy it.

There are a couple which deal with real adult situations (Disclosure, Rising Sun etc.). But Jurassic Park, Congo, Sphere etc. All excellent reads, even at 14.

[smittyATL]

you could set him up with the wheel of time series by robert jordan. they are longer books and will def help him out with expanding his vocabulary.

God, I started reading those ("Dragon Reborn") when I was 13 during a family roadtrip. I bought book three at a grocery store because it was huge and had the word "dragon" in it.

Almost 20 years and 9 thousand-page books later and I'm still waiting for the stupid thing to finish!

This Fall it's on...

[GreenandChrome]

When I was 14, I hadn't been reading nearly as much as I had at younger ages...then I discovered Michael Crichton's Jurassic Park.

I went on to read all of his books over the course of a year or two. I know you don't think Michael Crichton at 14...but it was simply excellent. Sure I didn't understand all of it, but damn if I didn't enjoy it.

There are a couple which deal with real adult situations (Disclosure, Rising Sun etc.). But Jurassic Park, Congo, Sphere etc. All excellent reads, even at 14.

ditto.

Also look into Grisham's early books, they were a fun read. Steinbeck is a good read, too. Books based on the Halo video games are fun, too, if he plays video games & like Halo.

[JERSEY_WABBIT]

[CoolChick]

ditto.

Also look into Grisham's early books, they were a fun read.

I was going through books with my mom and my sister (my nephew's mother) seeing who had read what and who wanted to read what as we all three trade books and then I donate them after we are all through with them and I pulled out a Grisham book that I had read and my nephew piped up and asked if he could read it.

[Bustov]

Some of my favorite fantasy books are by Dennis McKeirnan, specifically

The Iron Tower (Omnibus edition 2000)
The Dark Tide (1984)
Shadows of Doom (1984)
The Darkest Day (1984)
The Silver Call (Omnibus edition 2001)
Trek to Kraggen-Cor (1986)
The Brega Path (1986)

They mirror Lord of the Rings trilogy in some ways but give a more intriguing take on the little people, martially competent Warrows vs. Hobbits. I great story filled with Dwarfs, Elvs, Humans and Warrows fighting the dark forces, typical formula but with well fleshed characters, very good battles. Definitely a good read for mid teens.

[robr2]

The Ranger's Apprentice series by John Flanagan is great for 13-15 year olds.

Heck, I've read them.

[firefighterjunkie]

Hatchet

Came here to post this. I read some of the author's other stuff too and enjoyed it in junior high.

[Village Idiot™]

I just finished reading Enders Game and Xenocide (a sequel in the Enders series). They were pretty entertaining and and would probably do for a good YA read.

[EK20]

I just finished reading Enders Game and Xenocide (a sequel in the Enders series). They were pretty entertaining and and would probably do for a good YA read.

Good call. I loved the Ender books.

[Village Idiot™]

Started reading the Gregor the Overlander series. I'm only on like page 10 of book 1, but it was written by Suzanne Collins who also did Hunger Games. I randomly DL books that get good review or have interesting ideas behind them. Lately a lot of them seem to by YA fantasy/sci-fi though for some reason. After this I'll have to find some grown up books.

I read the Hunger Games trilogy last month.

I want to get back into Raymond E. Fiest. He has a pretty large library of fantasy and everyone I've read has been reads that keep me glued to the pages. His stories are epic and usually span across several books with the history and characters throughout his entire Krondor collection. You go from seeing a young boy become king and eventually an old man throughout the course of reading his novels. It kind of reminds me of the Wheel of Time series, but with much less slow parts. I started reading these back when I was just in high school.

[Harvey357]

smart kid you got there..
been reading book since I was 12, try Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew good reading materials.

[vee'snuts]

Terry brooks

[GeoffD]

At age 14, I was reading anything and everything.

Science Fiction classics:
Asamov: Foundation trilogy, I-Robot series
Dune trilogy
Hitch Hikers Guide trilogy
Ringworld
The list is endless...

All of the Sherlock Holmes short stories