The only books I seem to read are those which come with pictures (think cookbooks or decorating books). I used to read real books. You know, stories with a plot, and an ending. Way back before children. Before breastfeeding left me void of brain cells.
I don’t know how I did it, but I’ve managed to homeschool 3 children, two of which are now voracious readers. As in CHAPTER books. The first child took to reading like a hawk to prey, but the second born took a good deal more coaxing. The trick was to let her think that I could care less if she ever picked up a book on her own accord. So I would leave books laying about, strategically placed throughout the house.
This ploy finally worked. And I have to thank Christian author, Robert Liparulo, for his amazing Dreamhouse Kings series for young adults. Emme has plowed through each of these books at least twice over the last year. One day, without provocation, Cailey picked up the first in the series to peruse the first few pages, wherein she completely expected to slam it closed and declare it boring.
But she couldn’t. She read the 1st book, then the 2nd, and so on. All the way to the 6th book. All in the span of about a month she covered the entire series. And cried bitter tears when she reached the last page of the last book. She is now hooked on reading.
I am forever on the search for new tween-suited reading material now for TWO avid readers in my house. Emme has a subscription to a couple of tween magazines (Discovery Girls, and the faith based, Susie Magazine). They often review books that might appeal to girls between the ages of 11 and 14. Recently Emme read a review on a book called When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead.
We checked it out from the library and Emme devoured it. She came to me after finishing it, and breathlessly declared it the best book she’s ever read. It is along the lines of A Wrinkle in Time and pays direct homage to that wonderful story.
The book has even received the John Newberry Medal for the Most Distinguished Contribution to American Literature for Children.
I started reading it aloud at bedtime to the kids, and found myself quite drawn into the story. So much so that I’ve been sneaking off reading ahead.
The only drawback might be just a little bit of salty language, but these aren’t the really BAD $4.00 words. Just a minor word here or there that I simply changed while reading out loud. Not significant. And I don’t even remember what they were and can no longer find them. Because, Hello? Brain cells? PFFFHHHTTTT.
Anyhoo. Anytime I find a book that appeals to the tween set in this house, I want to share. And for the record, no one gave me anything to review, and I don’t even open myself up for book reviews (because I’d have to, you know, READ).
If you have any tween suitable literature that you’ve discovered, I’d love for you to share it in the comments section. Whenever I do a reading-centric post, I find that there are so many other parents looking for books for this age group as well.
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Thanks for the Dreamhouse Kings series review! I’ve put the first three on my reserve list at the library.
Keep reading, girls! If you find anything that an 11 year old boy would like let me know.
Tara,
I totally forgot, try Michael Vey:Prisoner of Cell 25! We had it on hold at the library for a sweet forever. Both girls loved it, but I think it would really appeal to the boy readers!
Just a quick question, how old are the girls? I have boys 11, 8, and 7. (For reading level/interest comparison purposes, not matchmaking purposes!)
I must admit, I have a tendency to go for the “Young Adult” books. About 5 years ago, I read all of the American Girls books that we owned (Molly, Felicity, Kit). And I read all of the Little House Books again too. I especially loved “The Long Winter”…which by the way, would be a good read in the heat of July. Thanks for mentioning the Dreamhouse Kings and Michael Vey…I am looking for good reads for my almost 14 year old son, who would rather have his nose in an auto mechanic manual. At least he will be able to fix my car!
How funny that you wrote about this book! My kids were in our homeschool group’s drama club and put together videos for two different books for the 90 second Newbery film contest. We did When You Reach Me. You can see video here http://youtu.be/H2NHUWmh2Io My youngest played Miranda and my 3rd daughter Lili played Miranda’s mom.
As a suggestion, you can’t go wrong with the Little House books. My youngest reads those over and over, her favorites-she’ll be 13 this month. My girls have also liked many of the Dear America books, the Narnia series too. I haven’t read them but they also liked the Brisingr series and Charlie Bone series. As a plus, the Brisingr books were written by a homeschooled teen. Carl Hiassen’s books are good as his stories are set here in Florida, so have that as a draw.
My girls love the “Red Rock Mysteries”. They are the kind of books that once they get the next one, they have a hard time putting it down
Mia is 11 and has devoured the My America books (link to Amazon so you can see what I mean: http://www.amazon.com/My-America-Strange-Elizabeths-Jamestown/dp/0439112087/ref=tmm_hrd_title_0). There are tons and we get them ALL from the library.
She has also really liked the books by Wendy Mass (I think those are in first person, and since that is what I prefer when I read, I can’t say that I’m surprised she enjoys them!) which we also get from the library. She’s on a reading challenge that the library distributes for summer…one day she read for 7 hours. I let her.
Miles likes the ones by Rick Riordan (The Lightening Thief). He’s tried 39 Clues, but it’s getting harder to find stuff for him. He’d prefer to borrow tons of dinosaur books (took his Passport to Purity trip with his dad to the Creation Museum…dinosaurs have invaded our life since then) or those on raising ducks (which he hopes to do – the latter that is – by the time we get back into our home. Temporarily displaced due to kitchen fire. Don’t be like me and leave your dishwasher on when you leave the house. Although….you might get new linoleum! I’m getting all new cupboards and a porcelain tile floor.
Jensen might like Hank the Cowdog. I, personally, love them. I prefer to listen to them on CD. The author narrates and letmetellyou…that dog is a stitch. My dog, on the other hand, is a basket of nerves thanks to the lake house our insurance has put us in (sometimes it’s really hard to be me, but someone has to do it!) and the number of fireworks going off this week thanks to the new Michigan law saying they’re not illegal anymore. We love it…he hates it.
Delurking to say my son extremely enjoys Rick Riordan, the Percy Jackson and Heroes of Olympus series. He is 11 and we literally go buy the new releases on the release date. However, they are Greek and Roman mythology but I am fine with it because he knows that they are fiction (others may not make the same choice). Even I read them when he is finished.
Emme is turning 13 in October, and Cailey will be 11.
Hard to believe that when I started this blog, 6 years ago this month, they were ages 6, 4, and 18 months.
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