HIT: Reluctant Readers (Young Adult Boys)

[Mark & Judy Meadows <marktime@MO-NET.COM>]

Dear LM_Netters:

I was very pleased with the response I got to my inquiry about reading
material to tempt blase 9th and 10th grade boys.  I just have a year's
experience as a school librarian and it is so wonderful to be able to draw
on the expertise of so many others.

The nicest thing about the suggestions was that my library already contains
much of the material recommended.  I just didn't know to tempt them with
it.  I have already talked the particular boy that precipitated my inquiry
into reading a Louis L'Amour book.

Thanks to all who responded.  Here is what you said:


Any Gary Paulsen books,  especially The Car
ANYTHING by Chris Crutcher   He is awesome!!   Try Ironman

I immediately think of Chris Crutcher as an author. Then again, for some
boys any book can be a very hard sell.

How about R.L. Stine or Caroline Cooney or Christopher
Pike? The books are short and geared to teens(boys and
girls). Tom Clancy is good. Biographies of current
celebraties. Audio books(if you can get them)are good.
I hope these help.

 A couple that come to mind to get the boys started are:
    The Car by Paulsen
    White Mountains by Christopher (?)
    Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance - the title gets them!

The ninth and 10th grade males at our school are reading
Louis L'Amour (extra bonus is that the American history teachers let
these titles count for historical fiction reading)
Stephen King
Dean Koontz
Gary Paulsen

Then buy them books about cars
and automobile history
and automotive design
and NASCAR
and auto racing
and Indy Speedway
and famous drivers and designers
and magazines.
Have you used the reluctant reader lists from ALA--
I think we just have to keep trying and trying and trying.

I've had good success with the Thief of Always by Clive Barker and Killing
Mr.Griffin by Lois Duncan

Let me know what you find out.  This is like looking for water on Mars!

Sports bios?
Michael Crichton
Clive Cussler
Do you have car and driver magazines [to] at least get theminto the library?
I taught remedial reading in a high school for years, so nearly ALL of
my students were reluctant readers.  The boys liked "The Last Mission"
by Harry Mazer because it is about war (but not a Rambo thing at all)
and very short.  They also liked Chris Crutcher, especially "Running
Loose."  Good luck.

Consider titles by:
Walter Dean Myers -- African-American, writes for middle and high, often
inner-city
Carl Deuker -- easy, short, and usually sports-related
Gary Paulsen's _The Car_ -- boy drives across America in home-built car
S.E. Hinton's books

I think I can relate.  Although new to the library, I have been an English
teacher for nine years.  You need to try books like "Friday Night Lights"...
any type of reference book on gangs or related fields.  I know this might
not sound right, but at least they're reading and those books tend to have
positive messages as well.  Also try magazines that appeal but also have
informational text they have to decode and transfer

Try Holes by Louis Sachar and the first two books in the Harry Potter
series. I have a reluctant-reader in my 9th grade son and he LOVED both
titles.

A few books come to mind:  Herman Hesse Beneath the Wheel, Damian
dark and mysterious!  both books were crucial to my intellectual
development at that
age

 How about biographies of race drivers?  Encourage reading even if the
interest seems narrow give them what they want.  If you don't make too big a
deal about it a friend's interest will eventually broaden theirs.

I have had luck with high school boys who are reluctant (and not high-level)
readers with popular (and current!) sports biographies (Sammy Sosa, Mark
McGuire, basketball stars--we had to get a lot of these at Borders Books or
Barnes & Noble), other sports books (There's one by David Klass that was a
HUGE hit, but I don't remember the title at the moment!), and in some cases,
the more adventurous books by Gary Paulsen (Hatchet, The River, etc.)

Just finished a *Y. A. Lit* class and it was mentioned that little new high
interest / low vocab books seem to be available for this group.  However we
came to the conclusion that magazines can help meet this need.  Get car
magazines!

My teenage son hates to read.  However, he enjoyed Robert Cormier's We All
Fall Down.
He also read Freak the Mighty by Philbrick when he was in 10th grade and
loved it.
Also: The Car by Gary Paulsen , The Rifle by Paulsen.
Just some that come to mind!

I would highly recommend "Holes", by Louis Sachar!!

How about graphic novels? I went to the archives of LM_NET and found
these suggestions:
I think perhaps that we need to make a distinction between comic books
which are generally abridged versions of the stories and usually poor
condensations at that, focusing on the most grisly or lurid portions and
ignoring any of the plot subtlety.  Graphic novels or graphic novel
format, on the other hand, does generally include most or all of the
original and simply uses the artwork to illustrate.  I too, have used
those successfully to encourage reluctant readers since they will be
getting the impact of the real story.

How about biographies of sportsmen e.g. racing car drivers?

Consider titles by:
Walter Dean Myers -- African-American, writes for middle and high, often
inner-city
Carl Deuker -- easy, short, and usually sports-related
Gary Paulsen's _The Car_ -- boy drives across America in home-built car
S.E. Hinton's books

Will Hobbs writes wonderful adventure stories.

I used the high-low handbook for middle school and a catalog called
Perfection Learning. I also used the Franklin Watts Catalog. One other
source was the Best Books for African-American children. I had a large
Afro-American population. I read the reviews and determined if they would
be useful to my kids. I didn't use it but Ithink that amazon.com would be
a good source. Reviews are included and the topic reluctant readers may
came up as a search.

Here's a hit list of books for lower-reading level YA from my own
brainstorming and YALSA and LM_NET.

Recommended Books
Avi The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle
Avi Nothing But the Truth
Avi Wolf Rider
Bennett, James  Dakota Dream
Block, Francesca Lia Girl Goddess #9
Brooks, Bruce  What Hearts
Carter, Forrest  The Education of Little Tree
Collier  My Brother Sam Is Dead
Creech, Sharon Walk Two Moons
Crutcher, Chris Running Loose
Curtis, Christopher Paul  The Watsons Go to Birmingham 1963
Levine, Gail  Ella Enchanted
Lowry, Lois Number the Stars
Lynch, Chris Iceman
Lynch, Chris Shadow Boxer
Mazer, Harry  Who Is Eddie Leonard?
Paulsen, Gary Brian's Return (sequel to Hatchet)
Paulsen, Gary Brian's Winter  (sequel to Hatchet)
Paulsen, Gary The Car
Paulsen, Gary  Hatchet
Paulsen, Gary Nightjohn
Paulsen, Gary  The River (sequel to Hatchet)
Paulsen, Gary  The Winter Room
Peck, Robert Newton  A Day No Pigs Would Die
Philbrick, Rodman  Freak the Mighty
Sleator, William The Duplicate
Spinelli, Jerry Crash
Spinelli, Jerry  Maniac Magee
Spinelli, Jerry  Wringer
Wallace, Rich  Shots on Goal
White, Robb Deathwatch


__________________________________________________________
Mark & Judy Meadows
url : <www.mo-net.com/~marktime/>

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