My 16yr old foster son speaks four languages – with English being his fourth. As impressive as that is, he struggles with his reading comprehension (understandable) and recent testing suggests his vocabulary is only at a third grade level and his reading comprehension tops out at about fifth grade.
We're trying to improve his English comprehension and vocabulary but he hates reading. He struggles with many big words and his attention span wanes after too long.
I'm looking for suggestions of hi/low reading level books that might hold the interest of a teenage boy. He likes sci-fi movies and action films, so something in that genre might work best. But we're open to all suggestions!
by Kytraveler
11 Comments
Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy is a sci-fi series that people love if they read it as a teen
Get this boy Percy Jackson!
My brother really enjoyed Halo when he was a teenager. It’s pretty action packed.
How is he with the Harry Potter books?
Maybe try the I Survived series? [https://www.laurentarshis.com/i-survived](https://www.laurentarshis.com/i-survived) I think they’re like a 4th-5th grade reading level, and not too long. They’re about real historical disasters, wars, etc. but told from a kid’s perspective
The Egypt Game by Zilpha Keatley Snyder.
My Side of the Mountain by Jean George.
See if you can find copies of the Readers digest condensed books. They simplify longer novels and are easy to read
Imaginarium Geographica, Owen. My daughter is advanced reader for 8. She is loving it. It started when I was an adult, and I really like it. First book is {{Here There Be Dragons, by Owen}}
The Gone series by Michael Grant
Try out Hatchet by Gary Paulsen
My husband never got a lot of support in finding the right material growing up, and we’ve had a lovely time exploring together as adults!
One of the first books I introduced him to was my favourite growing up. It’s called Oryx and Crake, and it’s by Margaret Atwood. The main character is a young guy, and it’s an interesting adventure and universe.
It’s actually a part of a trilogy, called the Madaddam trilogy. These books are cool because you can read them in any order. I suggest starting with Oryx and Crake though.
Anyways, he loved them! Also have him try The Giver by Lois Lowry and Life is Funny by ER Frank.