Pretty much what the title says. My 14YO used to love reading, he pretty much memorized all of the Diary of a Wimpy kid and similars, also read the whole teen fiction staples (Harry Potter, Percy Jackson and other Riordan series), loved Ready Player 1, and some Brazilian fiction authors such as Felipe Castilho, Thiago Lee and Jim Anotsu. The last book I got him to read was The Perks of Being a Wallflower and he liked it until the very end, where he lost interest (dropped at 93% on kindle and won’t read more).
I tried showing him Neil Gaiman, Terry Pratchett, Philip Pulman, I’ve also tried more historical books as he’s shown interest in politics, he’s read The Communist Manifesto in school and wanted to know more, but I haven’t found the correct path to lead him back to reading as pleasure.
He really loves manga and reads them often and quickly, it’s his favorite media by far. But I feel it isn’t enough to keep “reading” a habit, am I wrong? He is also open to reading on his phone, kindle and physical copies, English and Portuguese.
Suggestions?
by UnionBusterSteve
19 Comments
Get him copies of Project Hail Mary, then The Martian right away!
They are my 14yo FAVORITE books and he reads them over and over. He has the same taste you listed above!
here is a free copy of a semi graphic novel half graphic novel half novel. Has complex words with great pictures to keep interest
Maybe it will help the kindle version is free
https://www.amazon.com/Atean-Fantasy-Tale-Dragons-Magic-ebook/dp/B0CJVTQXST/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1696380153&sr=8-1
“Demon Copperhead” please check this out
“Catch 22” deals in politics and is a very humorous and enlightening read.
A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik is perfect for a fan of Harry Potter and the Communist Mannifesto
I wouldn’t push excessively out of his manga habit, you don’t want to create a negative association around reading and he will likely move on, if not from manga exactly, then at least into other non-manga material. (Source: 25+ years as an anime fan, worked in the industry, etc.)
That said, if he WANTS to read other stuff, you could look into some translated light novels. These are Japanese novels that are what they sound like – lightweight in length and usually content. They generally also have occasional illustrations in them. Many current manga and anime series are based on light novels. Just be mindful of age ratings as some of them do contain adult content even if the prose itself isn’t particularly adult.
What manga specifically is he reading? I could try to make a few recommendations, but manga and comics are a medium, not a genre, so I’ll need some titles to go off of. 🙂
Enders Game,
City of Thieves by David Benioff,
Has he read the Inkheart trilogy by Cornelia Funke? I found it pretty enjoyable back in my early teens.
Sabriel – Garth Nix
So before I get into suggestions, I do think you are wrong about manga not being enough to keep up a reading habit. Some of the best storytelling I’ve ever been exposed to has been from a manga.
If he’s looking for some good new manga, I recommend Hunter X Hunter, Hajime No Ippo, and Vinland Saga.
I would have recommended Berserk as well but he’s definitely too young for that.
For books, going off of his tastes I recommend:
Beyond the Deepwoods
Artemis Fowl
Ranger’s Apprentice
The Red Wolf Conspiracy
Tales of the Ketty Jay
The New Heroes
The Enemy
Secrets of the Fearless
Space Wolves Omnibus
Gotrek and Felix
Game of Thrones
Stormlight Archive
Mistborn
Dune
Ender’s Game & Speaker for the Dead
The Name of the Wind
The Skulduggery Pleasant series.
It’s About a young woman and a living skeleton fighting evil and dark magic in Dublin Ireland. The series starts off simple and fun with a murder mystery, but just gets better and better from there. Fireball-throwing skeleton detectives, men made of paper and smoke, ancient gods that tear reality apart, and lots of cool action and characters with unique power. It manages to be dark and spooky without ever going too far for a younger audience. It’s easy to read, but wildly entertaining and action packed.
This series was my FAVORITE as a kid. Please check it out, he’ll definitely thank you for it.
Lesser known book series **The Unwanted’s** a quote that on nearly every copy of the book is “Harry Potter meets Hunger Games”. It’s about a world in which art is seen as weakness and every person is organized in 3 categories Wanted’s, Necessary’s, and Unwanted’s. The Unwanted’s are children who show an inclination towards arts and are “killed”, well spoiler alert they aren’t actually killed but instead sent to a magical world where they learn about art and learn to do magic (which revolves around art). Story follows an Unwanted boy and his Wanted twin brother as they both rise to power, and their struggles along the way with growing up and having to take charge at young ages.
If he hasn’t read the hunger games yet I think he’d like them especially if he’s into politics and stuff.
As a librarian, my professional opinion is that any reading is worthwhile reading—manga and graphic novels are GREAT because they engage readers in a very different way than traditional novels, and a lot of times that keeps some people (often kids, often boys) interested in reading when traditional novels can’t keep their attention. Pictures aren’t just for small kids. They’re important storytelling devices and can provide a lot of depth to a story.
Now, for books.
An obvious choice would be the Rick Riordan Presents imprint. Some of them are middle grade fiction and some are YA, but they’re all similar narrative styles and concepts to Rick Riordan’s books.
The Bartimaeus Trilogy by Jonathan Stroud is fun.
Last Gate of the Emperor is a middle grade book (first in a series) but it’s great. A sci-fi, Afrofuturistic book.
The Amulet series is a graphic novel series. Super popular with kids who like those same books.
Shades of Magic series by VE Schwab is an adult series that is pretty fantastic. It’s kind of gory, so that’s a judgement call for you.
Sherman Alexie’s Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian
If you haven’t tried the LotR books those might be good.
Ender’s Game
Shadow and Bone series (it’s a show on Netflix now, so you could see if he’s seen it and is interested in reading the books)
I don’t read a ton of manga and graphic novels, but there are some truly fantastic ones out there. Your local librarian could probably talk you through some recommendations for him if that’s something you were willing to try with him. So much YA content is geared towards girls specifically, and sometimes that can keep boys from picking up books they might otherwise love. And I think manga does a good job of branding itself as for anyone and easy to pick up. It’s not “I’m gonna sit down and read this novel” it’s “hey I’m going to sit and read for a while” and then that while becomes a whole series. Maybe you could find a series you’re both interested in and read it together?
The Farseer trilogy by Robin Hobb would be a great fit. Also she is great at ending chapters with a type of cliffhanger that means you want to keep reading, similar to Harry Potter. I love Philip Pullman and Terry Prachett but they don’t do chapter endings like Robin Hobb
The king killer chronicles. Unfortunately we may never get to see the ending GoT book style
Animal farm
The Legend of Drizzt series by R.A Salvatore. It’s a long 43 book series but each book is on the shorter side. It’s an amazing story of a group of friends and has an incredible MC. Salvatore said his main purpose of the books was to use the story to teach his sons what kind of man they should strive to be
The ‘Escape from Furnace’ series, It’s a little more intense but still YA
Your kid and mine have the same taste. I’ll echo others with Enders game, Dune, The Martian, and Project Hail Mary.
Something I haven’t seen recommended is The Scythe trilogy.
They may have outgrown this, but worth a mention is Mysterious Benedict Society. Still a good read if they want to take it easy.