<p>Cangel-
My kids went into mourning when the read that Dave Barry was no longer going to write a column for the Sunday paper.</p>
<p>If you don't mind a little profanity, I'd suggest George Carlin. Very funny, plus he makes you think. My S adores his books.</p>
<p>Did anyone say Huck Finn? One of his favorites. He read it on the one "fancy" vacation we ever took: floating down the Mississippi on a barge turned into hotel.</p>
<p>athlon and cangel's daughter,</p>
<p>Just what do you mean by BS-ing your way through an essay? Is that just shorthand for the assumption that all intepretation is bogus because there is no objective standard against which to measure it? Or are your referring to something more specific in your writing, like using fancy terms or fluid style to cover up vague thinking? People use this term a lot, but I'm never quite sure what they mean by it.</p>
<p>Spoonyj, when I say I BS an essay it means, to me, I put meaning and significance where there was none. I read a poem and see nothing but somehow manage to turn it into a great essay. That is BSing, to me. I am quite good at it.</p>
<p>My son loves Jonathan Franzen (who also happens to be an alum of Swarthmore). His novel 'The Corrections' is the story of an family whose dynamics is a little neurotic and dysfunctional in some ways. And my son says it reminds him of his extended family here and in India.</p>
<p>He also says Jonathan Franzen's essays 'How to be alone' are worth looking at.</p>
<p>I love essays
The best american series as well as EB White- Susan Sontag, Joan Didion, Fran Lebowitz, James Thurber just for a few, also travel writing is often very good I really like Pico Iyer and many climbers are great writers as well, David Roberts is a favorite.</p>
<p>Glad you brought up Pico Iyer. Funny name but I love his essays. I've been reading them since the late 80s. Do you remember when his house burned down in Santa Barbara in a fire? And the guy actually took his mom to Syria on a vacation so that she, an octogenarian, could see the greater world and develop an understanding of what it is to be a citizen of a larger community for herself.</p>
<p>If they're interested in sci fi, they might enjoy real physics too, like Brian Greene.</p>
<p>Up to age 13</p>
<p>Artemis Fowl series by Eion Colfer
Skellig by David Almond
Great Brain Series by Fitzgerald
Beyond the Western Sea I/II by Avi
Under the Blood Red Sun by Salisbury
Wee Free Men by Terry Pratchett
Samurai's Tale and Boy and His Samurai by EC Haugaard
Playmaker by JB Cheaney</p>
<p>14 and above</p>
<p>Empire of the Ants (can't understand why this isn't a series)
Band of Brothers Stephen Ambrose
The Runner by Christopher Reich
4000 Days My Life and Survival in a Bangkok Prison by Fellows
Stars and Stripes Forever by Harry Harrison
The Foundation Series by Asimov
Angela's Ashes and Tis by Frank McCourt
To Kill a Mockingbird
The toughest Indian in the World by Alexie
Catcher in the Rye
Run by D Winter
Protect and Defend by R Patterson
The Skull Mantra by Elliot Patterson
Yeager by Chuck Yeager
Sick Puppy by Carl Hiasson
Fever Pitch by Nick Hornby
Curious Incident of the Dog at Midnight</p>
<p>Fast read authors yet unmentioned:
Scott Turow
Michael Connelly
David Baldacci</p>
<p>The New York Public Library publishes an annual "Books for the Teen Age." There are usually about 100 books on the list; about 20% or so are changed each year. It's broken down into categories--if you've got a kid interested in sports, for example, you can check out new sports books, both fiction and non-fiction. The book is based in part on requests to Young Adult librarians in NYC public libraries; in other words, the recommendations are based in part on what kids are asking for. It's free for to any teen who asks at a public library. Adults can buy it for a small amount or purchase it from the library by mail. A list and description of some of the new books included this year is at <a href="http://teenlink.nypl.org/lists/index2.cfm?ListID=174%5B/url%5D">http://teenlink.nypl.org/lists/index2.cfm?ListID=174</a></p>
<p>If you live in NYC, all of the books are kept in a special section at the Donnelly library.</p>
<p>For kids interested in math: Flatland, Sphereland, and Flatterland. Flatland is the original (and the best). It's a story about a square who lives in a 2-D world, and is visited by a three dimensional circle. Really well done.</p>