Recommended Reading That Changed Your Life

[Brian C]

A collection of poetry and Shakespeare's collected works. 13 is a bit young for Shakespeare some kids can handle it.

Edited October 4, 2013 by heraclitus682

[betsypreston]

Ooooh, the James Herriott books were so good!

[dcwaites]

The only book that really changed my life was "Animals without Backbones" by Buchsbaum (the old, out-of-print two volume paperback edition). It lead me into Biology and later into Marine Biology.

 

Timothy Galwey's "Inner Game of Tennis" taught me how to learn any physical skill (and a few mental ones as well).

 

Arthur C Clarke's "A Fall of Moondust" made me a life-long hard-core Science Fiction reader.

 

"Animal Farm", "The Once and Future King" (especially with the fourth, final volume), Roger Zelazny's "A Rose for Ecclesiastes", Bradbury's "The Martian Chronicles" and "Fahrenheit 451" should all be on the reading list.

 

Terry Pratchett's Tiffany Aching books ("The Wee Free Men", "A Hat Full of Sky", "Wintersmith" and "I Shall Wear Midnight") have a lot to think about for young people (and grown-ups as well). In fact, start with them. I wish I had read them at that age.

[Fabienne]

I agree with the Out of the Silent Planet Series by CS Lewis (Perlandria was astounding). Also, Until We Have Faces by Lewis. The Once and Future King by TH White, and Rite of Passage by Alexi Panshin.

Edited October 4, 2013 by Fabienne

[N2theBreach]

The Once and Future King reminded me of the Merlin/King Arthur series by Mary Stewart.

 

There are five books, starting with The Crystal Cave. Although Mary Stewart is apparently known for her romance writing, this series is far from that genre. Told through the eyes of Merlin, she threads subtle commentary on religion through the story as well.

 

I was amused by one review. A newspaper assigned someone who normally reviews romance novels to review one of the books in this series (Mary Stewart = Romance, therefore, have the romance novel reviewer read it!). She did, and ended the review with, "I can't wait until she gets back to writing romances."

 

< Sigh>

Edited October 4, 2013 by N2theBreach

[The Grim Sheaffer]

Terry Pratchett - any Terry Pratchett

[carlosviet]

Most of the books mentioned above, I enjoyed tremendously although I didn't get any trascendentalism from many of them, just a good time (no less!).

However if I recommend only one book which is at the same time a wonderful read, a great story and which puts right seeds in the mind, that would be "The Power of One" by Bryce Cortenay.

 

I read it 20 years ago for the first time... I started at 4pm one day and I didn't put it down until I finished it. I didn't sleep and got myself scolded by my parents for reading at the table during mealtimes.

And when I finished it, I went to the first page and started again. And yes, this book changed much of my way of thinking and my attitude to life and people.

 

 

It has a condensed edition for young readers, but I think that a 13yo won't need it.

Edited October 4, 2013 by carlosviet

[luminesce]

His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman - fantastic trilogy

[athenian]

Demian and Steppenwolf by Hermann Hess

[doggonecarl]

John D. MacDonald Travis Magee books are short fast reads, and exciting. Little bit of nookie, I don't remember them being toooooo graphic. Never was able to decide if they are misogynist. He does end up with some woman every book, but she is always willing. And they're not twitty flighty women, and are willing participants.

 

I discovered McGee on my dad's bookshelf when I was a teen. Forty-something years later, I'm still reading them.

 

But when I was 13 I was reading Robert E. Howard's Conan the Barbarian series, by Crom.

[Paddler]

"The Noble Deeds and Sayings of Gargantua and Pantagruel" by Francois Rabelais. The Modern Library translation is the easiest to understand. After you read that one, other translations with their erudite language become even more hilarious. I probably have six different translations. I keep at least one handy for when I get the megrims.

 

The series of Lensman books by Edward E. (Doc) Smith. It is a series of shoot-'em-up "space-operas", if the kid goes for that sort of thing. The first book in the series is "Triplanetary". The last is "Children of the Lens". This is hard science fiction, written for readers in the '40s. Nothing in there that a convent full of nuns would object to.

Edited October 4, 2013 by Paddler

[CAG_1787]

Sophie's World by Jostein Gaarder - a fantastic "novel about the history of philosophy," that helped ease me into the wonderful world of philosophy and theology without intimidation.

 

Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand - maybe too dense, depending on the reader, but definitively one of the most influential books I've ever read.

 

The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis - easy to read, but very deep and insightful, even if one has to bend one's mind around the counter-intuitive perspective of the book.

[GabrielleDuVent]

Sophie's World by Jostein Gaarder - a fantastic "novel about the history of philosophy," that helped ease me into the wonderful world of philosophy and theology without intimidation.

 

Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand - maybe too dense, depending on the reader, but definitively one of the most influential books I've ever read.

 

The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis - easy to read, but very deep and insightful, even if one has to bend one's mind around the counter-intuitive perspective of the book.

 

Atlas Shrugged might be a little too intimidating. I think I read it when I was about sixteen or so... it's a HUGE book! Fountainhead might be a better choice if the boy's not used to reading books with the density of Les Mis.

 

Sophie's World seems to be more written to girls than boys, for some reason, quite possibly because the two heroines are young girls.

[Edwaroth]

My Side of the Mountain and The Sign of the Beaver.

[pen2paper]

"A Pitch In Time" Bob Lytle

[ddustinn]

Here are some suggestions:

 

-The Catcher in the Rye, other Salinger fiction

-The Perks of Being a Wallflower (Stephen Chbosky)

-To Kill A Mockingbird (Harper Lee)

-A Prayer for Owen Meany (John Irving)

-Maybe some Chuck Palahniuk? (i.e. Fight Club, Choke, etc.) Maybe too much mature content, though.

-I wasn't much older than that when I started reading Vonnegut. Welcome to the Monkey House could be a good place to start.

-You can't go wrong with Lord of the Rings and the Chronicles of Narnia.

-I have a deep love for beat literature, but I'm not sure I would start with Naked Lunch, or really anything by Burroughs. On the Road would probably be a better place to start.

-1984 (Orwell) and Brave New World (Huxley) could be fun.

-I grew up with Harry Potter. The first book came out when I was in 3rd or 4th grade, and the last book came out the summer before my freshman year of college. If he hasn't read, or at least started/tried Harry Potter, it should be required reading.

 

I could go on forever, but I feel like this is a good place to start.

[Indigo]

Because I took Latin in Jr. Hi (don't ask me why), I developed a life-long love of classical myth and ancient history.

 

Caesar's "Conquest of Gaul" and "Civil Wars" are engaging and accessible (Julius' writing may have been propaganda for the Senate, but it's also well written).

 

There are may good collections of classical myth.

 

Had your 13-year old been born 200 years ago, these would have been required reading.

[basterma]

Can't add much here except different titles from authors mentioned here:

 

Heinlein's Time for the Stars

 

Douglas Adams' The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

 

Any of James Herriot's books.

[GabrielleDuVent]

 

Douglas Adams' The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

 

 

 

Oddly enough, the ENTIRE maths team in high school (save girls, of which we had a few) had read H2G2. It was then that I realised... you can't really call yourself a sci-fi fan without reading Douglas Adams.

 

The last instalment, by Eoin Colfer, didn't disappoint. Adams died right before I had a chance to meet him (he was invited to my high school to speak), but I'd gladly accept Colfer's addition as the end of the series.

 

Another favourite amongst the maths and engineering team was Brian Greene.

[jetsam]

The Odyssey by Homer.

Greek mythology.