At that age my boys inhaled anything by Rick Riordan. He has several series Percy Jackson and adjacent.
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Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand. Or Seabiscuit, by the same author.
I second The Boys In The Boat, and Into Thin Air as well.
Also Operation Mincemeat by Ben Mcintyre. This one might be marginally more advanced.
All of these books are nonfiction suspenseful page turners.
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At that age my favorites were all of the SE Hinton books, and slightly older Catcher in the Rye, Slaughter House Five, and Lord of The Flies. I think they stand the test of time as my kids loved them.
Depends on the kid obviously but hope these are of interest.
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Heh, I was forced to read Catcher in the Rye in 8th grade and loathed it. Still do. As a middle schoolers my boys liked long books (they’d both read LOTR in elementary school), but they didn’t always really enjoy the books in the adult section, though they read plenty, especially sci fi and fantasy. Another author I think is really fantastic, but because he’s British isn’t always in American libraries is Peter Dickinsen. He’s married to Robin McKinley whose second book The Blue Sword felt just like my childhood in Somalia except with magic. It’s followup (prequel really) The Hero and the Crown is also very good. The Mageworlds books by Debra Doyle are very good.
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I would hope we could still get along. You apparently were a math oriented female while I was a humanities directed male. Not to extrapolate but perhaps relevant or just different tastes😀
For a tongue in cheek response I will quote Holden…
“I’m quite illiterate, but I read a lot.”
I would also suggest John Knowles “A Separate Peace”
I loved A Separate Peace. 
I was equally entranced by math and history in high school. Ended up in architecture, but have gotten involved in some local history projects recently. I still read tons of fantasy and sci-fi, but have been making an effort to read more literary fiction.
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So the problem is clear you have idiosyncratic and inconsistent taste😀
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I’ll also recommend the Harry Potter books and Percy Jackson books. My son has read the Harry Potter series multiple times.
And my son also loved the Alex Rider books. These are on the younger side, but are exciting and quick reads.
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Does he have a hobby? Plants book and origins, dinosaurs and types, etc.
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My teen daughter read Harry Potter series so many times that we suggested branding out to something different. For her 15th birthday she requested Harry Potter in Spanish… we decided that would be ok.
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When my S was that age, a book we (aloud) and he read repeatedly, Lost in Place, Growing up in Suburbia by Mark Salzman. It was gut splittingly funny and poignant, if perhaps a period piece now. The writer was known for his book about China, Iron and Silk, later made into a movie.
I’d also get a kid that age into biography, of whomever he might admire.
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Longitude by Dava Sobel
My kids liked the Edge Chronicles series though they may have been a little younger when they read first them. Doesn’t matter I think they reread them several times through their teen years. They were fun.
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Thanks! I’ll check that out.
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