The First Man in Rome by Colleen McCulloch – It has 18+ style stuff so whatever you feel comfortable with. But its a truly brilliant book and very easy to read. (Its very long though)
Most-Artichoke6184 on
The Nightingale, by Kristin Hannah.
Under a scarlet sky by Mark Sullivan
rustybanter on
The Killer Angels was pretty great
lascriptori on
City of Thieves, by David Benioff — coming of age story set in the siege of Leningrad.
Cautious-Ease-1451 on
The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, by William Shirer
judistra on
Master and Commander series
-rba- on
{{Genghis: Birth of an Empire}} (aka Wolf of the Plains in the UK)
Lugubrious_Lothario on
I read Gates of Fire by Steven Pressfield around that age and I remember really enjoying it.
If he is a particularly voracious reader I might suggest some of Neal Stephenson’s work… Cryptonomicon might prove to he a little challenging but I think the Baroque Cycle is pretty approachable and it’s actually connected to a lot of his other work.
I really loved the Years of Rice and Salt by Kim Stanley Robinson. I would sat it’s his best work, and a good introduction especially if he is also in to scifi.
Sassquwatch on
Eagle of the Ninth by Rosemary Sutcliff is published as middle grade, but would absolutely be an enjoyable historical adventure novel for a teen, especially if the teen is at a lower reading level. I reread it recently for a course on children’s literature, and it really holds up.
Indifferent_Jackdaw on
I found myself debating over this because on the one hand 16 yrs old is old enough to read adult books but if they are starting out older MG or YA might be the better option. Anyway these are books which I feel have enough complexity to satisfy a teen while being on the shorter side.
Eagle of the Ninth – Rosemary Sutcliffe – Great coming of age story, very complusive read about a young Roman traveling beyond Hadrian’s wall to find out what happened to his Father and the legion he commanded.
Warhorse – Michael Murpurgo – Tells the story of WWI from the point of view of a horse.
Call of the Wild – Jack London – Tells the story of the Klondike goldrush from the point of view of a sled dog.
Gentlemen of the Road – Michael Chabon – Tells the story of two Jewish mercenaries swashbuckling their way along the Silk Road.
redribbonfarmy on
The Book Theif
Blecher_onthe_Hudson on
Sharpe’s Rifles. The Last Kingdom. Beat to Quarters (first book of the central Horatio Hornblower trilogy). My son loved the first two series by Bernard Cornwell.
If he’s not quite up to grade level in reading, Call It Courage or Captains Courageous are a little less challenging than the adult books above.
12 Comments
The First Man in Rome by Colleen McCulloch – It has 18+ style stuff so whatever you feel comfortable with. But its a truly brilliant book and very easy to read. (Its very long though)
The Nightingale, by Kristin Hannah.
Under a scarlet sky by Mark Sullivan
The Killer Angels was pretty great
City of Thieves, by David Benioff — coming of age story set in the siege of Leningrad.
The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, by William Shirer
Master and Commander series
{{Genghis: Birth of an Empire}} (aka Wolf of the Plains in the UK)
I read Gates of Fire by Steven Pressfield around that age and I remember really enjoying it.
If he is a particularly voracious reader I might suggest some of Neal Stephenson’s work… Cryptonomicon might prove to he a little challenging but I think the Baroque Cycle is pretty approachable and it’s actually connected to a lot of his other work.
I really loved the Years of Rice and Salt by Kim Stanley Robinson. I would sat it’s his best work, and a good introduction especially if he is also in to scifi.
Eagle of the Ninth by Rosemary Sutcliff is published as middle grade, but would absolutely be an enjoyable historical adventure novel for a teen, especially if the teen is at a lower reading level. I reread it recently for a course on children’s literature, and it really holds up.
I found myself debating over this because on the one hand 16 yrs old is old enough to read adult books but if they are starting out older MG or YA might be the better option. Anyway these are books which I feel have enough complexity to satisfy a teen while being on the shorter side.
Eagle of the Ninth – Rosemary Sutcliffe – Great coming of age story, very complusive read about a young Roman traveling beyond Hadrian’s wall to find out what happened to his Father and the legion he commanded.
Warhorse – Michael Murpurgo – Tells the story of WWI from the point of view of a horse.
Call of the Wild – Jack London – Tells the story of the Klondike goldrush from the point of view of a sled dog.
Gentlemen of the Road – Michael Chabon – Tells the story of two Jewish mercenaries swashbuckling their way along the Silk Road.
The Book Theif
Sharpe’s Rifles. The Last Kingdom. Beat to Quarters (first book of the central Horatio Hornblower trilogy). My son loved the first two series by Bernard Cornwell.
If he’s not quite up to grade level in reading, Call It Courage or Captains Courageous are a little less challenging than the adult books above.