Dreamweavers' Guilden
13 years ago
Dreamweavers' Guilden
Rebel
Hey everyone :) so I got my brother into reading, which believe me is a miracle within itself, but my problem is now I have used up my scope of books for young boys. He is 14 and loves any spy books and I have given him alex rider, the cherub series, HIVE series, even some of the hardy boys. But he is asking for more and I am just having trouble finding any. My local library is hopeless with suggestions. Anybody here got any ideas :)
My little brother used to really like stuff by morris gleitzman, the two he does with paul jennings, 'wicked' and 'deadly' were pretty good as far as I remember...
White Cat, by Holly Black? It's not a spy book, but it's urban fantasy thriller, with a noir feel to it, fast paced, with a male protagonist.
A few other fast paced YA fantasy books with male protagonists are Patrick Ness' The Knife of Never Letting Go, Catherine Fisher's Incarceron and Scott Westerfield's Peeps.
Will he read something with a female protagonist?
I'll keep thinking. I had a request from a ten year old boy the other day for other books like the Alex Ryder ones, and I had no idea. 14 is a much easier age!
13 years ago
Mon Apr 11 2011, 08:29am
Depending on how mature he is be might be in to Matthew Reilly already.
Oh, and I only ever read one of these books.and it was a while ago so I don't fully remember it, but what about Artemis Fowl?
I'm trying to think of stuff my guy friends like reading... Cirque du Freak, perhaps? But I do wonder if that's tooooo morbid or graphic for 14 years old... Artemis Fowl is a good suggestion, like Cat-Eyes said... Howl's Moving Castle maybe? And hey, what about Harry Potter?? That's a given right?? xP
The Skulduggery Pleasant series is about detective sort of things though with a fantasy/mythical side. Perhaps that? Though as afore mentioned it does mainly feature a female protagonist.
Wanderer Ward
13 years ago
Wanderer Ward
Mage
I would recommend Garth Nix's The Keys to the Kingdom series - has a male protagonist, is relatively "action-y", has teenage/young teenage characters...
Dreamweavers' Guildmistress
13 years ago
Dreamweavers' Guildmistress
Dreamscape Artist
My brother never reads much at all, but he did read Artemis Fowl, The Hobbit, Harry Potter, the Inheritance books, and he currently reads a lot of Star Wars books (he's 15). We had to buy a lot of the last one just so he'd read, but it is worth it :) Maybe some Doctor Who or Stargate novels?
Dreamweavers' Guilden
13 years ago
Mon Apr 11 2011, 10:44pm
Dreamweavers' Guilden
Rebel
He doesn't like fantasy (I tried with many different ones, nothing seemed to interest him) I don't know abou female protagonists, if they are spy like he might enjoy them :)
I tried Artemis and something else someone mentioned, he didn't really enjoy them :( which is unfortunate, because I love them :)
Of course he loved Harry potter though :)
Try Harry Harrison - Paul loves them. It's really clever, witty writing usually - start withthe Stainless Steel Rat series, or Bill the Galactic Hero? They're probably the most accessible - both Sci-fi but there's so much more to them (in a funny or cheek or analytical way).
Failing that, Douglas Adams? Hitchhikers and the like?
Dreamweavers' Guilden
13 years ago
Dreamweavers' Guilden
Rebel
Thanks Min! and Thank Cat-Eyes: I didnt even think of Garth Nix! One of my friends has them and he loved them, but they didn't even cross my mind.
I shall try these: He is just so picky!!! If anybody thinks of anything else, let me know. It is always good to have quite a few, he reads almost as quickly as I do :)
How about the Hunger Games trilogy? I just convinced my 16 year old brother to read those and he devoured them in a couple of days!
Ashlings' guildleader
13 years ago
Tue Apr 12 2011, 12:10pm
Ashlings' guildleader
Master of Obernewtyn
Not the spy genre but books from the Horn Blower series are packed full of adventure. They've been around long enough that you should be able to pick some up cheap at an op shop to test the waters.
Dreamweavers' Guilden
13 years ago
Dreamweavers' Guilden
Rebel
He has read hunger games, he liked those :)
he could read The Power of Five by the author of Alex Rider Anthony Horowitz. my brother likes that series.
Wanderer Ward
13 years ago
Wanderer Ward
Mage
Bam, another suggestion - Philip Pullman's Dark Materials trilogy? It's a bit more fantasy based, and the first book is primarily from the point of view of a female protagonist, but the second and third have a male protagonist too?
I definately second the 'His Dark Materials' trilogy, wonderful books!
13 years ago
Mon Apr 25 2011, 02:27pm
Bam you might try John Flannagan's - Ranger series, i know a few boys who have enjoyed reading them.
also -
Beautiful Creatures - Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl
Beautiful Darkness - Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl
There not so much spy novels but if he's up for a differenct genre he may enjoy them and there's always Christopher Paolini.
I'd second the dark materials trilogy and Tomorrow Series. I also liked spy/detective books when I was younger (i read Alex Rider/Cherub/Nancy Drew/Hardy Boys etc). There is also the spin-off Cherub series called the Henderson Boys if he want more Cherub books. If he is ready for older books Matthew Reilly as already mentioned would be pretty good.
On the Hardy Boys front- did he enjoy them? If he did, then there are always more Hardy Boys books (over 200 with all the different series). If so, i'd recommend traversing libraries or second hand book stores for more (I loved them when I was younger, and have built up a collection of 80 or so- mostly from second hand stores- they were all the older ones though, i've hardly read any of the new ones).
There are other detective series I read when I was younger but I'm not sure they are really around anymore- one which would have been the same era as the older Hardy Boys books would be 'The Three Investigators' by Alfred Hitchcock (not the director, just another made up name as a syndicate like Hardy boys).
The other was Teen Power Inc by Emily Rodda. I think they may be known by a different series name now though- (found it- 'The Raven Hill Mysteries'). I guess at 14 he may be a little old for some of these- although if he is enjoying Hardy Boys then they are still probably fine- to be honest i loved all these series so much I read them even though they were quite easy reads.
Actually I just bought the latest Alex Rider book, so i'm still reading them, although I am far from being a teenager anymore. :p
Ashlings' guildleader
13 years ago
Ashlings' guildleader
Dreamscape Artist
How about Mortal Engines by Phillip Reeve? Not exactly spies, lots of action, secret plots, betrayal, etc. It is sci-fi though, so that might be too close to fancy. Another book like this, though a bit 'younger' than the first one, is Dirty Magic by Carol Hughes, it's closer still to fantasy, but there are portions of actual spying in it too.
I'm not sure which one would be better in terms of age group because my brother and I both tended to read above our age bracket.
I'm going to suggest something completely different from all of the above. Try the Diary of A Wimpy Kid series. He might enjoy those one's.
I second Lol's suggestion of The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness. It's the first book in the Chaos Waling Trilogy, and it is absolutely fantastic. My brother is twelve, and he was the one that put me on the trilogy, of which the first was given to him by his friend. I loved it, and he did too. It was the first time he read a book/s with a spine exceeding 3cm :D
I don't second Beautiful Creatures. I hated that book. *cough*cliche*cough*
Also, try the Uglies series by Scott Westerfield. I really enjoyed it, and I think that if he loved Hunger Games, he will like this one. My brother tried reading it but it was too complicated for him and I took it back after he started curling the cover >:(
12 years ago
Sat May 14 2011, 04:42pm
Also the Leviathan Series by Scott Westerfeld (steampunk genre) - my 16 year old brother ate those right up! My brother wasn't receptive to the Ugly series by Westerfeld either though Axe, so maybe give that a miss? I think the content is just not of much interest to guys. Appearance is definitely something that seems to plague girls more...you can't go wrong with mechanical beasts though!
