Anything by Frances Hardinge. She’s an extremely good writer and although she’s classified as “Young Adult”, she deserves a far wider audience. She writes fantasy and is a superb world builder with a lovely sense of humor and an amazing ability to subvert your expectations. No sex at all.
When a new title come out, my daughter and I fight over who gets to read it first. We’ve been doing this since she was 10 and she’s now 22.
I had a similar experience at age 10. I was reading jaws…and had some questions about terminology I didnt understand. Parents and family laughed, I didn’t get an answer.
But…I was allowed to read whatever I wanted, as much as I wanted. There were no restrictions. And I think that’s good. Anything far too inappropriate wouldn’t have been of interest to me.
Yeah, I’m with you. Just not entirely sure how much. I’m okay with her reading some sexual content now, I’d just like it to be moderarely less creepy.
I think one huge difference between when we were kids and having such questions and kids today is that “answers” to those questions are far more readily found on the interwebz . . . and there’s no guarantee just what “answers” they’re going to get when they try to look for it.
In our day, if it wasn’t in a book we could find, we had to rely on people to provide those answers . . . and those answers were generally far less damaging in their consequences.
My kid finished this. It is a mess of interwoven fairytales, riddles, espionage, books-within-books, possible time travel?
I asked my kid if she had any questions, and she was like, “how did the girl have a baby?”
So it’s probably time to have the talk. lol.
Just finished Scythe by Neal; the first book of his Arc of the Scythe trilogy. Just like Unwind, it’s futuristic. The premise here is that the “aging gene” is essentially figured out, so people can “turn” and become a younger version of themselves–so death is not a “thing”.
Furthermore, there is an AI being called The Thunderhead (in fact, that’s covered more in the second book; but think going from “the cloud” to a “thunderhead” meteorologically) that basically controls things.
While there are some “gaps” in the overall set up reading it from an older adult perspective, the scenario and plot are very engaging with the teen perspective and provides a ton of references to discuss what’s going on in the story and how to process the “real world”.
The curious incident of the dog in the night time.
Book of eathsea, which is more kids, but lends itself to other leguin.
Pratchett (I got my kid wee free men, but I dont know what teens would start with)
Vonnegut-- ??
Mayyybe zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance for a borderline real philosophy book.
Mayyyybe a very light poetry anthology, like Pinsky’s “Americans’ favorite poems” or some Mary Oliver.
Not necessarily advanced, but what are the kids reading these days? I need some YA suggestions for the Little Free Library. I need middle school as well as high school. Diversity is a plus. Books I can get from thrift books also a plus.
Sorry, kid is still not in middle school. I would say the books we all enjoyed are fine. Ie. Enders game, the Golden Compass, Harry Potter, Dune, etc.
I know there are many newer books featuring teens with powers thrown into situations and vampire lovers and so on, but I don’t think they are better or more appealing.
If you want to add some spice, I’d look for good manga and graphic novels. Maybe a dungeons and dragons book.
I just finished 1984 for the first time, actually.
I’d definitely recommend it for… perhaps around 9th grade and up? There is a brief passage about being motivated to rape someone that makes sense in the context of hatred and perversion/control of sexuality, but I would struggle to adequately explain it to a 5th-grader.
It’s still not my favorite section of the book, but it felt like an understandable, extreme backlash to the suppression/criminalization of sexual urges by somebody who was never taught proper morals or empathy. It struck me as barbaric at first and made me hate the main character, until I thought more about how rape is really an act of power/control, and this character was immensely powerless under incredible mental abuse. Not justifiable, but a human character, not meant to be perfect.
Under our current government, there is a lot to unpack. A lot of the themes tie to, among many other topics, the expansion of the surveillance state under Dubya, remote drone strikes under Obama. The futility of torture. The use of mass media to feed comforting lies. Etc. And of course, a lot relates directly to Trump.
The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.
Orwell, 1949
Just remember: What you’re seeing and what you’re reading is not what’s happening
Trump, 2022
There’s a nice graphic novel version of that too, by the way.
I would recommend it less for the graphics, which are predictably drab and depressing, and more because it is slightly less long-winded.
Either way, I agree 1984 is really dense with interesting ideas.
I refuse to begin or continue a political debate here, but the Political topic of MO tracking pregnant women who might get an abortion again made me think of 1984.
Sex is your duty to the party, it’s to be performed for the procreation of children and without enjoyment by the woman. One day, we will abolish the orgasm.
I don’t think we will. I think 1984 is a bit too oppressive. Maybe I’m blindly optimistic here, but I think in general, the bastards in control just want wealth and power for themselves, and will happily give the people what they want, as long as what the people want is cheap. Pills, phones, cheeseburgers, orgasms, etc.
Also, unrelated, I just read Animal Farm for the first time. My wife bought it for my kid, but frankly I find it too depressing. I don’t want to thrust my kid into a hopeless nightmare, yet.
Anyway, it is also a good (teen) book. Basically just a play-by-play of Stalin’s takeover, using cute talking animals!
The thing that is very Trump is how the bad guy blatantly lies to everyone’s faces over and over again, and folks just go along with it, because they are stupid and/or afraid.
It does not have the complex sci-fi/philosophy of 1984 though. It’s just a bad guy taking over.
Oh, I was just quoting the book on abolition. I’m avoiding getting further into political debate here. Not out of distaste for you, but it’s not the place.
I agree that Trump rings throughout the book though. We’ve always been at war with Ukraine.
Personally our family reads from Actuarial Mathematics every night. It’s great family fun!
Before or after your family readings from a religious text?
We consider it one and the same!
More summer reading:
Piranesi (Susannah Clark)
The Graveyard Book --Neil Gaiman’s kid book.
The Riddle-Master of Hed – gentle fantasy.
A snake falls to earth
Some slightly too old for my pre-teen…
Adventures of Kavalier and Clay (at one point the main character is raped, but it’s a tiny bit in a long book…)
Nettle and Bone (non-graphic, but the main character’s sisters are abused…)
Cyteen – was my wife’s favorite sci-fi in Middle School. A lot of neat ideas about trying to control nature and nurture using clones and futuristic psychology/sociology. But a little boring and morally shaky?
