Mission Impossible: Please help me pick a boxed set for 11 yo DS

[firstbaby]

This is embarrassing to share but 11 yo DS does not like reading. He really enjoys non fiction but struggles with more "advanced" fiction with lots of characters and when ideas are subtle and not direct. I've worried about his reading comprehension, but when it's non fiction he can articulate and apply scientific principles, etc so I guess he can comprehend it if he's not overwhelmed with the other stuff. He also HATES books with small text and seems to get overwhelmed with the amount of text on a page. He's had vision therapy and I get his eyes checked regularly and this is just the way he is. He's enjoyed a couple of fiction books, but none have been "grand slams" where he has devoured anything written by a certain author. I'd love to find him a boxed set with the Amazon deal and a friend said her anti-reading pre-teen loved the Hunger Games series at his age. Any BTDT? Any recommendations for a series? Help :)

[SnuggleBuggles]

Has he read Percy Jackson books? My ds1 loves these, as do many of his friends. They are a bit below his reading ability but he really loves them. A friend and I were chatting about how, at any given time, every one of the 10 books was open on their beds and ready to be read. The Hunger Games were also devoured, however they weren't re-read.

[bisous]

Diary of a Wimpy Kid? The pictures mean that there is less text on a page and they're a quick read. While my DS1 can read pretty much anything, he still loves Diary of a Wimpy Kid!

[maydaymommy]

Percy Jackson may be too complex, or outlandish. However, maybe he'd appreciate the tie in to "real" mythology?

I think Diary Of... is a good suggestion.

I'd look at Notebook of Doom, too. Below reading level, but engaging, not too much text on the pages.

Would he read graphic novels?

[firstbaby]

Thanks for the suggestions so far! He's read a couple of the Diary of books and was "meh" on them. I've gotten him a couple of graphic novels and he said he doesn't like all the pictures. It feels like he is Goldilocks...I looked at the Percy Jackson books the other day and thought they may be too complex for him, but maybe not. I will check out the Notebook of Doom suggestion - haven't looked at that before!

[elbenn]

I was going to suggest Percy Jackson or the Wimpy Kid series. Graphic novels are a great idea, too. Is Captain Underpants too young for an 11 year old? I think Stick Dog is hilarious, so you might check that out.

[Green_Tea]

Don't be embarrassed! I teach 5th grade and can say with confidence that a LOT of 11 year old boys don't love fiction. What's important at this stage of the game is getting them to think of themselves as competent readers. I wouldn't discourage ANY kind of books, fiction or non-fiction.

Books that reluctant readers in my class have loved include the Hatchet series, The Shadow Children books (I had to fight the boys in my class for these books because I wanted to read them, too!), anything by Andrew Clements (A Week in the Woods was recently a huge hit), the Joey Pigza books, Escaping the Giant Wave, and Wildfire Run. I would not invest in an entire series (even if the deal is awesome) unless you want to parse the books out as he reads them. It can be overwhelming to be presented with many books at once!

[petesgirl]

not a boxed set, and may not even qualify for the amazon deal, but would be enjoy the Ripley's Believe it or Not? books? or even a national geographic for kids subscription might be something he would enjoy leafing through...

[SnuggleBuggles]

Thanks for the suggestions so far! He's read a couple of the Diary of books and was "meh" on them. I've gotten him a couple of graphic novels and he said he doesn't like all the pictures. It feels like he is Goldilocks...I looked at the Percy Jackson books the other day and thought they may be too complex for him, but maybe not. I will check out the Notebook of Doom suggestion - haven't looked at that before!

The best part of Percy Jackson books (I've read all of them at least twice!) is that Percy talks like a normal kid. It's easy to follow along and get into because he's very relatable.

The Shadow Children were devoured here too.

[KrisM]

Is he open to reading on a kindle? DS1 loves to read now, but he went through not wanting thick books or too many words per page. I upgraded and he got my old kindle 2 years ago and his reading took off. kindles hide the size of the book and you can make the text bigger.

There are 2 books that go with the Percy Jackson - Greek Heroes and Greek Gods. Sort of non-fiction, but told by Percy Jackson. Maybe those would be a good way to get him interested in Percy Jackson to start?

[hillview]

Diary of a whimpy kid
how to train your dragon

[squimp]

My DD likes realistic fiction, and Roland Smith was one of her favorite authors in 5th grade. Her favorite books were Peak, Sasquatch and the Marty and Grace series. He uses a lot of facts and he tends to write about adventure in a way that pulls you into the story.

I also agree with Green tea's recommendations, DD read every Andrew Clements book and loved Joey Pigza. Also, the origami Yoda books were a big hit all around.

Another book series she loved was Maze Runner, but she got into that after seeing the first movie. She was completely obsessed for a while there. She loved Hunger Games as well, as did I! The movies are good, but I found the books much better (we both read the books before seeing the movie).

I second the Kindle for kids who have vision issues, you can zoom in and make the text bigger. Works for old eyes too.

I think Diary of a Wimpy kid is for much younger kids, maybe DD read them too early though.

[oneplustwo]

If he's comfortable with nonfiction, go with the flow! My boys devour the Guinness book of world records and ripleys believe it or not every year. Your ds might like the DK Eyewitness Encyclopedia books, so another option to check out.

[ahisma]

I agree with the Kindle as well. It was the breakthrough for my DS, who not only would not read fiction (and still will not read anything in the 1st person as, in his words "It's a lie!"), but wouldn't read anything in a serif font. With the Kindle he could adjust the font size and the font. We used a straight e-reader, not a Fire.

Also - many (most) teachers interpret the common core as requiring mainly non-fiction, so that's what they work with in school. My DH is an English teacher and interprets it differently, but he's one of the few and has had to fight tooth and nail to continue teaching fiction. Our DS1 is a strong non-fiction reader but a reluctant fiction reader - we've also had to push for him to read fiction in free-reading time and home and had some resistance from school. It may be partly that non-fiction is his comfort level. It's a bit of an uphill climb, but he will at some point "fall into" a book and it will all click.

[oneplustwo]

Another thought, if he likes science, check out this book, elements: a visual exploration of every known atom in the universe. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1442429771?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=ox_sc_act_title_2&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

there are a whole bunch like that. My boys love them.

[bnme]

How about the Origami Yoda series or Dark Lord?

[Momit]

What about the "I Survived" series?

[ahisma]

What about the "I Survived" series?

Great idea - it's a bridge between fiction and non-fiction.

[firstbaby]

You guys are awesome! Green Tea, I've never heard of the Shadow Children series and now I want to read those books! He's read a little of How to Train Your Dragon and had a hard time with the different words and the dialect. He also really enjoyed the first 150 pages of Origami Yoda and felt like the font and font size was his "perfect"...and then put it down and was perfectly happy not finishing the last few pages. I have always loved to read so I hoped that was something my kids would enjoy. My middle DS devoured the Wimpy kids books so maybe that is why DS1 doesn't want to read them as much now...since his younger brother grooved on them? He also has several of the "I Survived" books and will start and stop with them a few times. Right now he's taking a literature class so that is eating up most of his free reading time, but with winter break coming I wanted to have something "on deck". The Gods book Kris mentioned may be another one he would like too since it's not totally fiction. I don't know...it's frustrating to know he *can* read but is so picky between the font, font size, too many characters, etc. I just want him to ENJOY a book for once and not slug through it. Sigh...thanks for all the suggestions though! Please keep them coming if anything else comes to mind!

[rlu]

DS was not big on fiction either - I eventually used arbookfinder to find books at his level about dogs. I brought home 9 books the other week for him to pick through - he chose the 3 dog books and rejected the others (including Book of Three, Dragondrums, A Night Divided and teacher-rec'd The Golden Goblet). Oh well, at least he's reading books he is interested in.

Hopefully finding books that truly engage him will get him past the font size issues.

[connor_mommy]

Nathan Hale's Hazardous Tales are a big hit with my boys. It's history in graphic novel form.

[klwa]

Has he read any of the Wings of Fire series? It's a favorite of DS (10). http://www.amazon.com/Wings-Fire-Boxset-Books-1-5/dp/0545855721/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1448893596&sr=1-2&keywords=wings+of+fire

[elbenn]

What about Calvin & Hobbes? Lots of great vocabulary and super funny!

[ahisma]

I wanted to circle back to your OP. It's not something to be embarrassed about. Kids come in all sorts of packages. If they universally loved reading the world would be a boring place. I have a 7 year old who is an amazing kid, creative, thoughtful, insightful, but veers away from books for a variety of reasons (anxiety, mainly). It's who he is. We read to him and use audiobooks. Yes, he does his school reading...and hates it. FWIW, my DH is a high school English teacher. We value books - but it's okay that it's not his cup of tea.