Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Recommended Resources book recommendation

My son needed to read "Gregor the Overlander" for his book club. We couldn't find the book at the library, but we did borrow the audiobook. So I got to listen as well, and I want to tell you that it is a great story! It does start rather slowly, but once things start happening, it is quite enthralling. I liken it to a modern day Narnia book, but without the religious overtone. I love Narnia, BTW, but wanted to make it clear that this is not a Christian story. As we didn't have the print copy, I can't really say what level it is bets for, but I am sure there will be some indication if you look it up on amazon.

Anyone else have a good book to recommend?

Renaissance Learning puts it at a 4.8 reading level, middle grades interest level. I'll see if it's available at our library.

GS8 just recommended 'The Phantom Tollbooth'. He started 'The Chronicles of Narnia' last fall, but I think the small print was very tiresome on his eyes. He's started to pick it up again.

The Phantom Tollbooth is amazing
A Wrinkle in Time series
Anne of Green Gables series (my personal favorites - I own everything the author ever wrote)
The Westing Game (really good figuring out a puzzle type of book)
Bridge to Teribithia
Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew series

You probably know all of these, but they are all such fantastic books I just had to mention them. Actually I could just go on and on - I love to read!

Ghost has been in love lately with this series:
http://www.amazon.com/Uglies-Boxed-...mp;s=books&qid=1203279146&sr=8-6
He has just finished book number 4 (Perfect). Half of the girls from his school are borrowing his books to read, as there is a huge waiting list at the school library. I thought this to be more of a girly book, but he has thorougly enjoyed it.

While writing about books, I have a question. What do you think about Lord of the Flies? Is a 13 year old (almost :-) too young?

My kids have read all of these and enjoyed them, with the exception of The Westing Game, which ds tried but didn't care for, Ann of Green Gables, and the Uglies. Thanks for the recommendation for the Uglies- I am intrigued by the premise. I'd seen it at the library but thought it was about high school cliques.

dd 7 has read our poor Narnia books to pieces. I'll have to by a new set for my youngest. We're all looking forward to seeing the next Narnia movie this year!

Lorel - Not care for The Westing Game???? What??? LOL! I loved it as a kid but my DS and I read it together and discussed it as we went or I don't think he would have enjoyed it as much either. I enjoyed re-reading it as an adult because there are so many nuances that you miss as a kid (well at least I did).

I haven't read Lord of the Flies so I don't know what age is appropriate for that. But I am sure someone else can help you there.

The GT program at school is currently reading The White Mountain. I haven't read that either but the kids really seem to like it and the premise is intriguing.

I enjoyed "The Giver" and "City of Ember" and the "Gregor" books which DS also did in 4th grade. Now, in 7th grade, they are studing "The Giver" and I'm curious to see if, in the end, he'll admit to learning anything from the experience, or enjoying the group discussion.

Smiles,
Grinity

CFK-

My son is 11, and his reading level is adult and has been for years. Like me though, he will read a good story at any level, and will frequently read his little sister's picture books! I like that. My 7 yo dd also reads at an adult level. But good books are good books, and we're not fussy about what level they are.

Now for a digression about me:

When I was in 3rd grade, I tried to take out a book rated for grade six from the school library. The librarian said that I wasn't allowed to read above my grade level! My mom went to bat for me and I was then officially permitted to read any book in the library. That was fine, until I tried to take out a book of fairy tales rated BELOW my grade level. Heaven forbid! The cranky librarian embarrassed me into giving up, and my poor inner child still carries that sense of shame!

I think it is good to challenge ourselves and our children some of the time, but not necessarily all of the time.

Lord of the Flies, The Giver, those dystopian books are not too tough in terms of vocab, but they may cause emotional turmoil for an especially sensitive kid. My son read The Giver this year and I think he was ready for it in a way he wasn't a year ago. His reading ability hasn't changed dramatically, but he has grown more mature and I think he appreciated the message much more.

My dd is less sensitive than my son this way, but I don't think I will prompt her to read these books until she is nine or ten.

I'm a big believer in the "let 'em try it, but put it down" school of thought when it comes to books. I still use that philosophy when I'm reading. Life is too short to read a book that bores/troubles/annoys you, and there are too many books out there to read. (I think you are of this school of thought, too, Lorel, no? I think I remember that from a past thread.) I've started "War and Peace" three times, but I never get very far into it. I think I've finally come to the conclusion that the book simply isn't my cup of tea, and it's one classic that this recovering lit major will never read. C'est la vie!

Anyway, I think having things like "Lord of the Flies" available is a good idea, as long as it's accepted family practice for the child to walk away from the book if it's not working for him/her.

And BTW, shame on that librarian for browbeating you out of the fairy tales, Lorel! I still love to read fairy tales! They're one of those basic, fundamental story forms that appeal to something primal in us. Check out the front covers of Cosmo and other such magazines for women--it's a rare cover that doesn't refer to a fairy tale at least in passing! I LOVED teaching fairy tales when I taught children's lit to ed majors because they apply so neatly to so many life issues:

Roommate can't stop dating guys who need "fixing"? Read the pre-Disney version of "Beauty and the Beast" to her. (I had college students jumping out of their chairs about this one!)

Grass-is-always-greener syndrome got you in it's grasp? "Cinderella," complete with the stepsisters cutting off parts of their feet to fit into the fur slippers, is the story for you. (Glass slippers was a mistranslation, BTW.)

Feeling like you're trapped and there's no reason to be nice to the people around you? Read the Russian "Baba Yaga" and see what comes to those who help others.

I think everyone should read fairy tales regularly, especially the pre-Disney, not cleaned up variety that still have all the blood and fear left in them. They're not for sissies, and they're very satisfying!

We now return to your regularly scheduled thread...

LOL Dottie! Bridge to Teribithia was my 2nd book to have a really big cry over (the first being Charlotte's Web) and I LOVED it! I can remember crying over Anne of Green Gables when a favorite character died and then finishing the book saying "that was the best book I've ever read". I guess you're right, so much depends on the child.

I would love to be in a reading group with your son, CFK. You listed some of my favorite "fun" reading!

Sherlock Holmes is good and in that same sort of line, too.

Grinity wrote

Same here. I actually do not mind him reading the book over, since it has been three years - a lifetime of experience when you are 12 years old, LOL.
But unfortuantely, the required reading for current LA class is little and far too between.
Ghost has also enjoyed tremendously The City of Ember books (there are three if I am correct). Like Lorel said about her DD, Ghost has been a mature, college level reader since a while ago, but that does not mean that he is ready for all the adult subjects. Funny, that you put The Giver and The Lord of The Flies in the same boat, Lorel. I would have thought that The Lord of the Flies is much more disturbing, but I have read it when I was about 15, and the Giver as an adult. It probably makes a huge difference:-)
Ghost still enjoyes all the books that are written for his age, enjoyes simpler books that he can read in one afternoon (Water Horse), and at the same time appreciates all the humor in the New Yorker :-) I am not in the hurry to push him towards much more complex books, all for that matter adult books, complex or not.
There are so many wonderful books around. I brought up The Lord of the Flies because I still remember the impact that book had on me. Disgusted, I loved it - it was something I have never experienced in literature before. So this book carries a lot of expectations in my case, but I will probably be in for a surprise, LOL.

One more mention - Robin Hood. Isn't it the story that we all know but a few of us have read?

Robin Hood! And if you're going there, then "Ivanhoe" is great fun, too.

I was also a big fan of the Victorian writer H. Rider Haggard, who wrote boys' adventure fiction. If you've seen one of the movie/TV adaptations of "King Solomon' Mines," then you know Haggard (even if you don't know you know him!). The other story of his I LOVE is "She," as in "She-Who-Must-Be-Obeyed," which was lifted from Haggard, too. There are some marvelous female characters in it, though it's definitely appealing to boys. It was going to be the centerpiece of my dissertation that never was.

Haggard can be a bit slow to get into, but he's a rollicking good time once he gets going! High adventure!

OK, for the eclectic gatherers of knowlege, "The Dangerous Book for Boys". Probably most appealing for the typical 8-12 year old, your mileage may vary. There is a companion book, "The Daring Book for Girls", but I haven't looked through that one.

Oh Boy lol, My son't reading is definately NOT as thoughtful. He loves anything to do with dragons and magic so we have lots of Dragonolgy, Wizardology, Harry Potter, D'Lacey, Rangers Apprentice and Garth Nix series. Goosebumps are favorites but 20 minute reads.

He just started some of the dragonlance series, and I plan on providing the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings to him soon.

His free reading is almost all fantasy related with a few sports books thrown in here and there.

He loves podcasts on real science but generally isn't interested in reading straight science. Much more interested in hands on experiments.

DS 9 recently loved the Warriors series, Artemis Fowl series, Lemony Snicket, and Pendragon series.

DS 6 recently loved Haddix's Among the Hidden, Among the Imposters, etc. series as well as Roald Dahl, and some Greek myth novels by Kate somebody called "Have a Hot Time Hades" and "Phone Home, Persephone".

LOL! My DH actually sat down and read all FOUR (the Hobbit included!) from cover to cover once. By the end, he was about as elfed out as a person can possibly be!

Peter Jackson is a much better storyteller than Tolkein, IMHO. Tolkein cuts scenes in weird places and has some of the most exciting stuff happen "off camera." It's just not told in a way that maximizes the dramatic tension and all that. Still, for creating a complete world from scratch, there's just no one like Tolkein!

But CFK, I completely know where you're coming from. There are just some books that don't work for a person, no matter how "great" they are!

Kriston-

Yes, we have talked about the book thing before. They can always put it down if it is too "anything" for them. Not that I would leave trash around for my kids to find... I don't think anything in this house would qualify as trash, but if I liked bodice rippers, for instance, I would be careful not to have them left where dd could get them.

I definitely make an effort to expose my kids to the pre-Disney tales. DD7 has written a 50 page book about the daughters of Fairy Tale Princesses, and she purposely left out the Little Mermaid because she doesn't have the happy ending of the Disney version.

I did once read about glass slippers being a translation error; was it supposed to say some kind of fur? I can't remember.

I know what you mean Dot, about having a good cry. For me, it was Charlotte's Web and then Tuck Everlasting. DD read Tuck at five and didn't get very upset. I think for her, ten was still really "old" and faraway, whereas I didn't find it until after I was ten. POV can change a lot with age!

CFK-

I "allow" quite a bit, though I would probably confiscate anything too far out, as in some of the very *graphic* graphic novels that are out now.

DS didn't choose to read Gregor, BTW, it was a teen book club selection. He actually didn't want to read it, but once he started listening, I think he enjoyed it. The book club has been a good way to expose him to more than fantasy books, which are his favorites. They read an Agatha Christie, for instance, which he enjoyed more than he had imagined he would.

He likes the Discworld novels by Terry Pratchett, LOTR, Eragon and Eldest, that sort of thing. He also likes Percy Jackson, Tamora Pierce, adult Star wars novels, and a weird never ending series of books about warrior cats. He's been reading the Redwall books on and off since he was six. He has always loved non fiction too, especially science books. When he was two and a half, he used to enjoy reading about rocks and seashells in field guides. Now he is taking chemistry and is so happy to finally be doing something with the periodic table, which he has been fascinated by for years.

If it helps any, my older son liked Crichton books like Andromeda Strain and Jurassic Park when he was a tween.

LOLFOTF... so funny that you mention those dwarf songs! We have a tradition of reading The Hobbit together when each child is about five. I HATED reading aloud those stupid dwarf songs! They go on and on...

That being said, I do like LOTR and feel that the movies were good but left out far too much. No Tom Bombadil for instance!

CFK,

Could you recommend other books on the periodic table? DS's current fascination, too. We're reading Elements with Style as his bedtime story - but they don't cover every element, and doesn't cover his questions, such as what is a metal.

Thanks!

Thanks, CFK. DS is 7, and not a good reader, so I read everything to him. One of the reasons he's not a good reader at this point is that his understanding is at an adult level, so he doesn't have the patience to slow down and read. (And thanks to other posts here, he's now doing it with Geronimo Stilton and other books).

He loves Elements with Style (and frankly, I'm not sure why. It leaves a lot of gaps as far as I'm concerned.) I'll check out the ones you've suggested. I don't remember my chemistry and can't answer his questions.

Re: Stephen Hawking, there's currently a bio on either the Science Channel or PBS, not sure which. We've seen it on the schedule a couple of times. DS is also a fan.

Here's a fun video DS loves: Alien Planet. Was on Discovery Channel. Stephen Hawking and other scientists describe an imaginary planet, Darwin IV, and what type of aliens they could see there. DS became obsessed with that one - and then also another Discovery production, The Future is Wild. Another imaginary docu where real scientists supply the imagination.

I saw the play, Camelot, the other day and it made me think of another wonderful book, The Once and Future King about King Arthur and his story. I've read that book twice and really enjoyed it but I am going to have to read it again. It think some of the kids here might enjoy it. It's just a fun read.

EandCmom,

I think it needs to be added that �The Once and Future King� has a small bit of �adult content� � the Lance and Guinevere thing. I would not be comfortable with eight-year-olds reading it (I�d be very comfortable with fourteen-year-olds reading it).

It is an absolutely fantastic book. It�s actually a brilliant essay on ethical and political philosophy � Wart was changed by Merlyn into all of the different animals so that he would understand the distinctive nature of homo sapiens and the implications of that nature for human ethics and politics. First, you read TOAFK and then you read Locke�s �Second Treatise on Civil Government� and Thoreau�s �Essay on Civil Disobedience� and then some modern writings in the same tradition (Rothbard�s �The Ethics of Liberty,� Friedman�s �Machinery of Freedom,� etc.)

White actually lays out all of this rather explicitly in �The Book Of Merlyn,� a collection of �out-takes� that he, wisely in my judgment, finally decided not to include in TOAFK.

I absolutely agree that �The Once and Future King� is a �must-read�: it�s not just an entertaining book, it�s �literature� in the classic sense that helps illuminate history, psychology, and, as they used to say, �the human condition.� If you really want to �get� what Aristotle meant when he said that humans are �the rational animal� or what Jefferson meant when he declared that certain truths were �self-evident,� well, White figured out how to turn Jefferson and Aristotle into entertaining fiction. If only our Presidential candidates had read and understood �The Once and Future King�!

Dave

Hi, Everyone,

A new recommendation. We just started listening to the unabridged version of Bill Bryson's A Short History of Nearly Everything. DS loves it. It's so much the way he thinks. (e.g., the introduction talked about atoms and how you might have an atom in you that formed part of a creature who once licked cave walls, or had a blowhole on the top of his head). Of course, it's an adult book, so it has words like birds**t in it (talking about how the scientists in NJ were trying to figure out what was going on with their newly installed equipment that was picking up static, so they had to clean the you know off it) - DS loves hearing that!! We found the unabridged version of tapes at the library. The cd's are abridged, although there is an unabridged version available on Itunes (we're about to go on vacation and I'm trying to figure out if there's a way to travel with less than 13 cassette tapes!).

The criticism I read on amazon from those who criticized it said it was too simple for those who knew science. Well, it's just perfect for DS7 - and me (the former comp. lit. major).

I love this thread. I've been copying all the book recommendations to a spreadsheet so I can look them up later, and mark off the ones we've read.
Thanks all!

I realized I forgot to say what the book is about (science). Here's a link to the amazon page with descriptions and reviews. http://www.amazon.com/Short-History-Nearly-Everything-Illustrated/dp/0767923227/ref=ed_oe_h

My son has recently enjoyed reading the "Flying Dutchmen" series by Brian Jacques and �The Alchemyst [The Secrets of The Immortal Nicholas Flamel]� by Michael Scott.

�A Short History of Nearly Everything� looks great for my DS!

Another book my DS looks at often is �The Way Things Work� by David MaCaulay.

My students are getting ready to participate in a Battle of the Books so I have found myself reading over this spring break. The first (the kids rated it high) was The Seven Wonders of Sassafras Springs. It was about a very curious child who, upon reading about the Seven Wonders of the World, is given a challenge by his father to find seven wonders in their own SMALL community in seven days. The prize is a trip to visit a relative via train. (Historical fiction)

My favorite was a very easy read, but I am imagining what I can do with it in a classroom. It is called Punished and is all about words. (Pun----ished isn't the title just because the kid is in trouble. There are many other word challenges in the short book.)

The Homework Machine is the last one that I have read this week. It is also an easy read, but has a very highly gifted male fifth grader and one very bright girl as two of the main characters. I think this would offer a great discussion starter for the kids.

It will be interesting to hear the kids comments about the last two when we return to school, but I am pretty sure that they will be excited about them. I know they were the ones that got me to continue with the first one. I just could not get into it to start with.

Just Ducky - my DS10 read The Homework Machine over Christmas break and he loved it! I guess I should have read it too and we could have discussed it. He did tell me alot about it so I don't know why I didn't think to do that.

Anyone know anything about Diane Duane's Young Wizards series? My DS saw them in a book store and I was wondering if they were any good.

The recent reads were fresh in my mind, but as a teacher my absolute personal favorites are The View from the Cherry Tree and Christmas Spurs.

I am a fan of Willo Davis Roberts for kids. She seemed to have a way of pulling kids in that many authors miss. Don't Hurt Laurie was another in which she seemed to grip the subject of child abuse in a way that kids could relate to and make them want to reach out to help the main character, Laurie.

Bill Wallace is also great for a fun read (yet in Christmas Spurs very serious).

I have read these to my kids in the past. They can't wait for the next chapter. Christmas Spurs has a young brother who dies after a battle from cancer. (I cry every year when I read it to the kids.) It is so touching the way it is dealt with though. I passed on reading it to this class because I have a student whose brother is fighting a battle with lymphoma for the second time in the past year. I did recommend it to several students and they said it was one of the best books they have ever read.

These books are very emotional reads. They are definitely topics that exist, but that most of us would prefer to push under the rug. I just thought these books were well written and approached the subjects in tactful ways. They were encouraging in some ways, because I knew that one of two things was happening. The kids were either seeing a world that they were sheltered from and this gave them some compassion for others or it opened the door for someone hurting to talk realizing that if there was a book about the subject they were not the only ones experiencing such pain.

Did he mention that the character in Homework Machine was VERY gifted? I just wonder how much the gifted child will relate with the two bright main characters?
I would encourage you to go back and read it still. I think there is a lot of discussion that could go on just with the position that Brenton is placed in as the creator of the homework machine.

It also has some interesting topics that the kids are involved with. There is a particular series on war. One of the characters has a father in the military. Of course, the opinions of the kids on war is a part of their development. It is also very much a part of the plot when that father is killed while on duty overseas.

Probably the one that had me laughing was the fifth grader whose mother told her since her grades had improved she could get her belly button pierced and then it was too scary for her to go through with initially...... Wow how the character development has changed over the years!!!

Boy at War is the series you're talking about maybe? My DS read it last year and said the father got killed at Pearl Harbor I think. We found the other books in the series at scholastic and I just bought them for him. He really enjoyed this book too.

He did tell me about The Homework Machine but I don't remember exactly what he said. I will have to get it and discuss it with him.

I'm going to have to look into your other recommendations, they sound great too!

I'm sorry. I guess I wasn't clear in what I meant. The war issue is in Homework Machine. I was really surprised at the topics mentioned throughout the book. Definitely ones that make a person think about how they feel about certain topics.


I will have to check out the series that you mentioned though. We live near a former AF base that has a small museum. Several of the kids are very much into the military planes. This base still houses the refueling wing, so planes are often flying over and the kids understand that they are a definite part of the military involvement overseas.

Oh, I did misunderstand, sorry! My DS didn't mention the war issue at all in The Homework Machine. Interesting. He did mention the belly button piercing incident though. He thought it was hilarious! I am definitely going to have to read this book and discuss it with him.



I still have a tendency want to protect him from too much hurt in what he reads, but I enjoyed books that made me cry at this age so I try not to keep him from reading the sad stuff. It is part of life as you say.



And this right here is a great reason to let them read such things.

Thank you kcab! I have ordered the first one of the Young Wizards from the library. I will definitely have to give Diana Wynne Jones a look too.