{"id":6225,"date":"2017-07-20T16:18:17","date_gmt":"2017-07-20T06:18:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/allisontait.com\/?p=6225"},"modified":"2020-07-20T12:10:00","modified_gmt":"2020-07-20T02:10:00","slug":"24-books-for-tween-boys-with-nothing-to-read","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/allisontait.com\/2017\/07\/24-books-for-tween-boys-with-nothing-to-read\/","title":{"rendered":"24 books for tween boys with ‘nothing to read’"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"24Over the past (almost) 12 months, the Your Kid’s Next Read Facebook group<\/a> has blossomed into a wonderful community of nearly 2000 members. Time and again, I’ve seen call-outs from desperate parents, looking for books for readers of all levels, ages and interests, answered so swiftly and fulsomely that you just know there are kids across the country staggering around under teetering new TBR piles.<\/p>\n

Today’s discussion was no different, and I’m going to share the recommendations here because I KNOW how commonplace a problem this one is. Firstly, the question.<\/p>\n

I have an 11-year-old son who used to be a prolific reader. He’s in Year 6 but since Year 4, his reading has slowed considerably. He says most books bore him. He is not interested in fantasy or sci-fi, which a lot of boys’ books involve. He loved ‘Wonder’, ‘The London Eye Mystery’, ‘The Bubble Boy’, the YR version of ‘Ugly’. Books with real life themes seem to interest him most. I have asked the library and our local independent bookstore but both agree, there is little around for pre-teen boys without interest in the above. Can anyone here help us? Thanks so much in advance.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

And now, a list of 24(+) recommendations, garnered from the collective wisdom of the YKNR FB group (made up of parents, teachers, librarians, authors, booksellers) and offered in no particular order.<\/p>\n

Pax<\/a> by Sara Pennypacker (kid review<\/a>)<\/p>\n

Counting by 7s<\/a> by Holly Goldberg Sloan (kid review<\/a>)<\/p>\n

Thirst<\/a> by Lizzie Wilcock (kid review<\/a>)<\/p>\n

The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas<\/a> by John Boyne<\/p>\n

Once<\/a> series by Morris Gleitzman<\/p>\n

The Book Thief<\/a> by Markus Zusak (kid review<\/a>)<\/p>\n

I survived <\/a>(series) by Lauren Tarshis<\/p>\n

Lion (A long way home)<\/a> (young readers edition) by Saroo Brierley<\/p>\n

Aliens, Ghosts and Vanishings: Strange and possibly true Australian stories<\/a> by Stella Tarakson (ill. Richard Morden)<\/p>\n

Every Falling Star: The true story of how I survived and escaped North Korea<\/a> by Sungju Lee and Susan McClelland<\/p>\n

The Boy Who Harnessed The Wind<\/a> by William Kamkwamba and Bryan Mealer<\/p>\n

Elon Musk and the quest for a fantastic future <\/a>(young readers edition) by Ashlee Vance<\/p>\n

Ghost<\/a> (Track #1) by Jason Reynolds<\/p>\n

Mao’s Last Dancer <\/a>(young readers edition) by Li Cunxin<\/p>\n

War Horse <\/a>by Michael Morpurgo<\/p>\n

Beetle Boy<\/a> by M.G. Leonard<\/p>\n

Blueback<\/a> by Tim Winton<\/p>\n

The\u00a0Call Of The Wild<\/a> by Jack London<\/p>\n

White Fang<\/a> by Jack London<\/p>\n

300 minutes of Danger<\/a> by Jack Heath<\/p>\n

The Martian by Andy Weir<\/a> (YA edition)<\/p>\n

Two Wolves<\/a> by Tristan Bancks<\/p>\n

The Fall<\/a> by Tristan Bancks<\/p>\n

Escape From Mr Lemoncello’s Library<\/a> by Chris Grabenstein (kid review<\/a>)<\/p>\n

What book would you add to the list? Put it in the comments below!\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

You’ll find more details about the YKNR group (and more great lists of book recommendations for boys and girls in this age group) here<\/a>. For info about my epic fantasy\/adventure midde-grade series The Mapmaker Chronicles<\/em>, go here<\/a>, and The Ateban Cipher<\/em>, go here<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Over the past (almost) 12 months, the Your Kid’s Next Read Facebook group has blossomed into a wonderful community of nearly 2000 members. Time and again, I’ve seen call-outs from desperate parents, looking for books for readers of all levels, ages and interests, answered so swiftly and fulsomely that you just know there are kids […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6226,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[14,734],"tags":[721,708,703,720],"class_list":["post-6225","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-reading","category-your-kids-next-read","tag-australian-author","tag-books-for-boys","tag-parenting","tag-your-kids-next-read"],"yoast_head":"\n24 books for tween boys with 'nothing to read': recommended books<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Books for tween boys: Great book recommendations from teachers, parents, and librarians for tween boys. 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