Recommended books for 12-14 age group?

Macha

Hi guys,

I have to buy a book for a 12 year old girl and 14 year old boy. Does anyone have any recommendations?

thanks

r3nu4l

OK, ghost story type of book I enjoyed at 12 was Black Harvest by Ann Pilling. Look here for more info.

I read The Hobbit at 14 and quickly moved to The Lord of the Rings.

I know it's cheesy pulp but what about the Hardy Boys books by Franklin W. Dixon?

Harry Potter?
Artemis Fowl?

A 14 year old would probably like Terry Pratchett. He does some Childrens stuff. The Wee Free Men was very good

Watership Down by Richard Adams is excellent.

There will be loads of other suggestions. Was there any genre you think they would like or dislike? Might help focus the answers a bit more.

Faerie

I think the Darren Shan series is excellent and would really suit that age group. Or maybe Adrian Mole if they like funny books.
For the girl in particular, Witch Child and Pirates, both by Celia Rees, are extremely enjoyable books.

Definately agree with r3nu4l about Harry Potter, The Hobbit and Terry Pratchett. All excellent books suitable for that age group.

tSubh Dearg

Having a male cousin who is near the boys age, I've found that they just eat up books like The Guinness Book of Records as it'd full of stuff they can come out with to their friends.

Fenster

The Lord of the Rings, definately.

Miguel_Sanchez

14 Year Old Boy?

Buy him 'Rumble Fish' or 'The Outsiders' by S.E. Hinton.

Or maybe if he's a mature lad 'I am the Cheese' by Robert Cormier.

Nevyn

The narnia books
The belgarid by david eddings
Anything by Rohl Dhal

doonothing

phil pullman no? all the better at age 12.

Dades

doonothing wrote:

phil pullman no? all the better at age 12.

Absolutely agree.

The perfect age to read His Dark Materials.
(That, or 30... )

Beruthiel

My daughter used to read the Goosebumps books at that age.
Terry Prachett was a great favourite too.

Tar.Aldarion

Goosebumps
Discworld series
Black Magician Trilogy
His Dark Materials
Harry Potter
The Hobbit
LOTR

Valmont

The Atheist wrote:

Absolutely agree.

The perfect age to read His Dark Materials.
(That, or 30... )

I also absolutely agree. The three books were my favourite books of all time. I plan to read them again some day.

Speaking of which, A Hollywood production is in the works starring Nicole Kidman as Ms. Coulter. I plan to boycott it. There is no way it could be as enjoyable as the series.

Misty Moon

I remember my dad getting me a book when I was about 12 - the name escapes me know but it was something like the Collins Anthology of Literature for Children. It basically contained a couple of chapters from about 20 different books - I loved it and went on to read quite a few of the books in their entirety. Do they like reading at all? I always read a lot - by 12 I was splitting my time between Mills & Boon (several older sisters, there were always loads lying around), Sweet Valley High and lots of the classics. I remember around the time also getting a set of Bronte books which I loved too. Felt very grown-up to have a leather bound book.

BossArky

I second all of these:

- The Hobbit / Lord of the Rings
- Any Discworld books
- Any Hardy Boys

and I recommend the following:

- The Secret Diary of Adrian Albert Mole
- The Nights Dawn Trilogy (Sci Fi trilogy, each 1000 pages each)

... lots of sci fi actually... it will increase the imagination and when the fellow is older he may be more open to off the wall ideas The last thing you want to be reading when you are young and impressionable is stuff that depresses you from over exposure to the real world. I remember reading something called "the God Squad" when I was young and it was depressing at that age. More info on that book here:

http://www.paddydoyle.com/

It details experiences with childabuse if I remember correctly....it was years ago.

Deer

Lord of the Flies for the fourteen year old and Good Night Mr. Tom for the twelve year old.