Mrs. Susan Richman recently wrote an article for evaluators in the summer 2013 edition of Excelsior Magazine. She makes the point that teens often react very differently to the literature assigned for their reading in high school English courses. “Why the difference? Seems to me,” she writes, “that a main one is … some of the teens are guys, and some are girls. They often just don’t care for the same types of books. Couple this with the fact that, generally, if a homeschooler is taking either an online English class or a local homeschool co-op class or working at home with a parent, the teacher is 90% of the time going to be … a woman … who usually likes the types of books that the girls like.”
She goes on to describe how boys are more likely to crave a book with action, vigorous adventure, something larger than life, and about heroes who actually did something remarkable or scary or daring. Jane Austen’s novels just don’t fit that criteria very well.
How about Huckleberry Finn, or Tom Sawyer, or Captains Courageous?
She goes on to suggest a list of recommended books for boys 9-15 at the Art of Manliness website http://www.artofmanliness.com/2009/11/15/50-best-books-for-boys-and-young-men/
I haven’t read many of those books, and some Christians might want to be careful with themes and language included in some of the books.
Another source of good character building books is Lamp Lighters. Here’s their list of recommended titles for teens: http://store.lamplighter.net/best-for-boys-and-girls-ages-9-14-c154.aspx
Are you familiar with the G A Henty adventure books? http://www.graceandtruthbooks.com/category/henty-books
I know the teen boys in our school love anything written by Wayne Batson
http://www.amazon.com/Wayne-Thomas-Batson/e/B001JRVV9C/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1374076407&sr=8-1
I think EVERY teen should read “Do Hard Things” (read my review)
What other books have YOUR boys enjoyed?