Good books to bolster future Critical Reading scores?

<p>Which Dave Barry would be a good one to try first? I am going to get him Ender's Game too. That is probably all I will be able to do this summer (since he has to read The Old Man and the Sea and Great Expectations for summer reading for school). Good to hear that short stories could also be of benefit. The only reading he does voluntarily is on his games. He won't go near a newspaper because he has always had an aversion to the smell. I appreciate all the posts. I am printing out this thread so that we have the other suggestions for future use. He really does want to improve his reading skills. He wants to remain a top student and has realized that reading and writing are his weaknesses. Hopefully he can hone up before "it counts".</p>

<p>I am not sure of his reading speed. He seemed to get through The Grapes of Wrath very quickely (only picked it because it was worth 50 points in his eighth grade class and he needed to read 100 points a quarter). My son, the original short cut kid. I don't know what he got out of the book though. I had never read it so I couldn't discuss it with him.</p>

<p>Our S. is resigned to his reading speed, but still reads a lot nonetheless.</p>

<p>If your S. likes Call of Duty, he may like something with a military feel -- Steven Pressfield's Gates of Fire is still S1's favorite and definitely inspired his love of history. He also liked The Killer Angels (Civil War).</p>

<p>If he liked the Harry Potter books, he might also try The Once and Future King by TH White. It's a long book, but the first part -- The Sword in the Stone (the early life and training of Wart/King Arthur) -- is worth reading on it's own, even if you decide to go no further. Don't let the fact that it was the inspiration for a Disney movie scare him off! It's wonderful.</p>

<p>The Longest Day (planning the D-Day invasion) is another good one.</p>

<p>Books my son couldn't put down (and he sounds similar to your son).</p>

<p><em>Ender's Game</em> Required summer reading as a rising ninth grader. Read the entire Ender's series and the Shadow series also.</p>

<p>Harry Potter series obviously, but also loved <em>Eragon</em> and continued with that series.</p>

<p><em>Dune</em></p>

<p><em>Starship Troopers</em> </p>

<p>Either a book captivates my s or it just doesn't, and if it doesn't, well, he DOESN'T finish it. Oh, he'll say he's still reading it or he plans to finish it, but ...</p>

<p>Graphic novels - previously mentioned - are a good choice.</p>

<p>S also loved <em>Red Harvest</em> by Dashiell Hammett, I believe. It was assigned in 10th grade and he couldn't put it down. It has something in common with the movie <em>Last Man Standing</em> and Clint Eastwood's spaghetti westerns, because he wanted to watch those movies when he finished.</p>

<p><em>The Once and Future King</em>. (Assigned summer reading that he enjoyed - first part as suggested above.)</p>

<p>Suggestion for assigned books that might not appeal - audiotapes of the book, usually available from the library for books like <em>Great Expectations</em>. House rule: "You have to use the book and tape together. Follow along with the reader." Using the book and tape together kept his attention from wandering and the book from being tossed aside for a bit. When my son used audiotapes with books, he found he finished the books quicker, as he would usually make it to the end of the tape rather than quit in the middle and sometimes if the tape ended in an awkward part, he'd continue. He heard words pronounced correctly that he possibly might have screwed up and "hearing" the story just made it more palatable. Also he would relisten to the tapes at night when going to bed the week or so before the test to review and refresh. Really worked (and my non reader son made a 720 CR score first SAT and a 650 CR score second SAT).</p>

<p>Son recommends Dave Barry's Greatest Hits.</p>

<p>Take your son to the bookstore and have him pick something out of every genre (avoiding the obvious ones that won't help...cookbooks, self-help, etc.). Then, while still in the store, have him read the first page or so of each book. Odds are he'll find something that really grabs his interest. Go back to that section and have him pick a few books.</p>

<p>Most kids who don't like to read (in my experience) just haven't found the genre they like.</p>

<p>If he were younger I would have suggested the Horrible Histories. For those with younger kids, especially boys, I'd definitely suggest them. (I've always been an unusual reader, in that boy's adventure books always appealed to me at least as much if not more than "girls' books." Still do. Give me Patrick O'Brian every time, and keep the Anita Shreve away from me! <g></g></p>

<p>To me, as a dedicated bookworm, instilling a love of reading is the most important goal.</p>

<p>I agree with HGFM. That's basically what we did with our S. He had an unerring eye for math and science books! Wanting to know scientific facts forced him to master difficult words. Sometimes, he would ask the meaning of specific words, and I might make a vocabulary lesson out of it (kilometer, kilogram, centimeter, centigram; thermometer, thermal underwear, and so on). But often, he guessed the meaning from the context. He also enjoyed sci-fi and fantasy fiction, Terry Pratchett was a favorite, Douglas Adams, Philp K.Dick. He also read books of humor (though not Dave Barry, for some reason). But the point is, that he chose the books himself and we did not insist that he read "serious" literature or edifying books or books that would boost his SAT.</p>

<p>We picked up a bunch of them in 2000 when we were in London. Those were my son's (the one who won't read, and reads Dave Barry) favorites. </p>

<p>I agree with HGFM, except for one thing.... go to the LIBRARY and do the same thing. Bring home a pile of FREE books that he isn't under any obligation to finish. That takes a lot of the pressure off. It's a great way to try new authors.</p>

<p>The main thing is to keep encouraging him to find something that HE likes to read. It's hard, but keep trying. I've bought piles of Dave Barry books for DS. At least he was reading SOMETHING, even though I still (not so secretly) wanted him to read "real" books. (apologies to DB)
:-)</p>

<p>Would he enjoy books on the history of favorite sports, the architecture of some of the sports colloseums or creation of the Sports Halls of Fame around the country (Cooperstown, NY).</p>

<p>or Yogi Berra's book of humor? That guy was so funny.</p>

<p>I've been told before that active kids don't like to read biographies of sports notables.</p>

<p>With the Olympics coming, is anybody writing any intelligent magazine articles about side-stories? I just saw something investigative (but on TV) about how athletes are trained and then discarded in China. Sports is hard news this summer, including all the politics around it, so I guess that's some critical thinking in written form.</p>

<p>For a math/science kid you might want to have Bill Bryson's A Short History of Nearly Everything on your shelf. It doesn't need to be read cover to cover. </p>

<p>The UVA common reading experience for engineering students also has a list that is designed to be a hit with math/science types. My son has worked his way through much of it and hasn't found a dud yet. While aiming for college freshmen, the books are specifically supposed to be fun and I think easily read by most high school students. For example, it included Ender's Game one year. It has classics like Kidder's The Soul of the New Machine and Lansing's Endurance as well as books like Hacker Cracker and Airframe.</p>

<p>"The 2008 Common Reading Experience selection is America, 1908: The Dawn of Flight, the Race to the Pole, the Invention of the Model T and the Making of a Modern Nation” by Jim Rasenberger. This book looks a hundred years into the past at a relatively short timespan where remarkable technological inventions emerged and began to shape our lives."</p>

<p>SEAS</a> >> Current Students >> Common Reading Experience</p>

<p>Your library probably has many on the list, so if bringing a pile of books home this may be a place to start.</p>

<p>(This is our older son who has read these not the high school one and he does like to read so can't say for sure if these would appeal to a nonreader.)</p>

<p>mathmom, there a lots of articles in the New Yorker which may interest a teen. The latest on line issue includes an essay about the NY Yankees, teen sport sensation Lance Stephenson, a review of Hancock, a short article about rock and roller Chip Taylor(penned Wild Thing), global warming, fiction essay "Thirteen thousand rats", an article about high tech electronic jackets, Beijing Olympic architecture, hs frog disection(humor essay) and many other reviews, short stories and news essays.</p>

<p>And perhaps the best feature of reading The New Yorker is that its articles mimic reading exerpts featured in the SAT. The fact that the articles are typically well written and cover a broad range of topics adds to its value.</p>

<p>And yes the cartoons are classic.</p>

<p>As a teacher, I wish I could make all kids see the value of reading, and not just for scores on the SAT. My oldest son has always been my reader, and he reads just about anything. Before the end of the school year, he put together a list of what he wanted to read this summer. Some of Thomas Friedman's books were on it (he loved The World is Flat). He loves Kurt Vonnegut -- his AP English teacher introduced him to Vonnegut this past year. His list also include The Bible.</p>

<p>My youngest son is not a big reader, but he is my biography kid. During the past school year, he read a half dozen or so biographies. He also loves Mike Lupica's sports books, along with James Paterson's Maximum Ride series. He made a keen observation after going to a friend's home. When he returned to our house, he told my husband that he noticed that his friend had no books in the house. Lots of video/computer games but no books. My husband explained that while we allowed him to have video/computer games, we always felt that books and magazines were so important and should be readily available.</p>

<p>Do you know what the youngest son said?</p>

<p>He liked our house better.</p>

<p>Guess we did something right.</p>

<p>seiclan, if his objection to the newspaper is the smell, he can read it online. He can sign up to have headlines sent to him daily, and delve into articles that catch his interest from there. I get the NYT and the Washington Post that way, for example.</p>

<p>I find it hard to imagine life without The New Yorker, I admit. :)</p>

<p>Okay, maybe the New Yorker has pepped up since the last time I had a subscription. Though I confess there's only one article of all those you mentioned that Mathson would read. </p>

<p>I'm an architect and one time I took my younger son to help me measure a client's house. When we left he said, "Mom, those people have no books." It was true. The had a three year old and had three books in the house. Goodnight Moon, Pat the Bunny and one cookbook. But there were TVs in nearly every room. It was scary.</p>

<p>
[quote]
I just saw something investigative (but on TV) about how athletes are trained and then discarded in China.

[/quote]
And I just read an article about how athletes who want to retire and do something else are forced to be coaches.</p>

<p>My S loved to read books about math and science, such as A History of Pi, In Code (about a female math prodigy), The Code Book, Flatland. A math/science loving teenager might find some of those interesting.</p>

<p>It is probably not a great idea to encourage a non-reading child to try out books in areas where an interest has already developed. It will be boring to the child. The exhilarating thing about reading is the joy of discovering something totally unexpected. Bringing the child to a bookstore frequently is actually the better idea. There is a world of difference between owning a book versus checking one out from the library. Besides having the touch and smell of a new book, a serious reader will always want to reread. </p>

<p>Some books that may be suitable:</p>

<p>Rachel Carson: Silent Spring
Alfred Lansing: Endurance
Jack Weatherford:Genghis Khan and the making of the modern world.
David Sobel: Longitude
Bernard Cornwell: the four books in the Saxon Chronicles.</p>

<p>If interested in biology/medical at all: any of Oliver Sacks, "The Family That Couldn't Sleep" (about prions- whole family read it- hard to put down), "Stiff" (about post-mortem).</p>

<p>No one in our family is particularly interested in economics, but we all enjoyed Freakonomics. * Both kids have also enjoyed Jered Diamond's books - *Collapse *and *Guns, Germs and Steel - a biologist's view of history.</p>