Airboy Needs Book Help

Started by airboy, July 28, 2015, 06:27:26 PM

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airboy

After 30 years of childless marriage, we have custody of a 16 year old nephew.  For various reasons, we have to home school him.

I need book recommendations for English/History by US Authors suitable for a 16 year old who will be forced to read.

I would especially appreciate a book at that level about the US Revolutionary War (or battle); WW1 and WW2.  Again, 16 year old who does not like to read - not a groggy who loves to read.

Some of the books my wife and I are batting around include:
Two Twain short stories (Jumping Frog and the Lightning Rod salesperson)
The Call of Cthulhu
The Killer Angels

I really would appreciate help on this.

MetalDog

Would it be possible to take him to a library or book store and let him wander and pick out his own?  Gives him some control over what he gets in to and gives you an opportunity to see how his mind works.
And the One Song to Rule Them All is Gimme Shelter - Rolling Stones


"If its a Balrog, I don't think you get an option to not consent......." - bob

bayonetbrant

Greatest Stories Never Told - good bite-sized nuggets of history that each last about 1 shitter session.  Was published by the History Channel before they went reality/aliens/weird

"US authors" rules out Ivanhoe but it's an excellent read, and I'd still recommend it

Edgar Allen Poe short stories are always good.

Once he works up to it, I'd heartily recommend Geoffrey Perret's A Country Made By War for the span of US military history


My dad happened to call tonight to talk to my son, and dad recently retired from a 2d career of teaching high school US history and (occasionally) American Lit, and he recommended the set of Civil War novels from Joseph Altsheler that he read growing up, and that he recommended to some of his kids.

Dad also pointed out that when I was 13 or so, I read the Cornelius Ryan books that were turned into big movies:  The Longest Day and A Bridge Too Far
After he reads them, let him watch the movies and compare to the books

that should be enough to get you started :)
The key to surviving this site is to not say something which ends up as someone's tag line - Steelgrave

"their citizens (all of them counted as such) glorified their mythology of 'rights'...and lost track of their duties. No nation, so constituted, can endure." Robert Heinlein, Starship Troopers

Staggerwing

Quote from: bayonetbrant on July 28, 2015, 07:16:04 PM
Dad also pointed out that when I was 13 or so, I read the Cornelius Ryan books that were turned into big movies:  The Longest Day and A Bridge Too Far
After he reads them, let him watch the movies and compare to the books

Oh yeah!

Also, didn't Harry Turtledove have a series of young-adult novels about folks time-traveling to different interesting historical moments? Sometimes fiction, esp. sci-fi, time travel, and Alt History can be great motivators to learn more about the novels' subject matter.
Vituð ér enn - eða hvat?  -Voluspa

Nothing really rocks and nothing really rolls and nothing's ever worth the cost...

"Don't you look at me that way..." -the Abyss
 
'When searching for a meaningful embrace, sometimes my self respect took second place' -Iggy Pop, Cry for Love

... this will go down on your permanent record... -the Violent Femmes, 'Kiss Off'-

"I'm not just anyone, I'm not just anyone-
I got my time machine, got my 'electronic dream!"
-Sonic Reducer, -Dead Boys

Mr. Bigglesworth

#4
Get the PBS DVDs on the civil war. Ken Burns. If he likes it there is an author on the war in many of the interviews. I like his style in the show. Shelby Foote.

WWI, II, Churchill's books

http://www.fleisherfilm.com/history.html

The American Revolution: A History, Gordon Wood

One for airboy, Gordon Wood got the Pulitzer for this one

http://www.amazon.ca/Radicalism-American-Revolution-Gordon-Wood-ebook/dp/B004HFRJT4/ref=sr_1_5?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1438139831&sr=1-5
"Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more; "
- Shakespeare's Henry V, Act III, 1598

DoctorQuest

Quote from: MetalDog on July 28, 2015, 06:34:24 PM
Would it be possible to take him to a library or book store and let him wander and pick out his own?  Gives him some control over what he gets in to and gives you an opportunity to see how his mind works.

I think this is a great idea. Try not to be too critical of his selections. It is unlikely he will find anything harmful in the library but it may not jive with your tastes.

Get him into reading as a pleasurable pastime then work in the serious stuff.

Good luck. You and your wife should be commended for taking this on.
"Everything you read on the internet is true." - Benjamin Franklin

"Zero-G and I feel fine....." - John Glenn

"I reject your reality and substitute my own." - Adam Savage, inventor of the alternative fact.

besilarius

To introduce him to people in historical situations, he might get interested in John Kennedy's Profiles in Courage.
Each chapter is a different person in different kinds of stressful situations.  It's kind of old, but remember being drawn in by the stories.
For something a little lighter, just about any of Robert Heinlein's "juvenile" stories might grab him if his imagination leans at all toward scifi or fantasy.  At that age, recall liking Glory Road, Magic, Inc., Citizen of the Galaxy.
"Most gods throw dice, but Fate plays chess, and you don't find out until too late that he's been playing with two queens all along".  Terry Pratchett.

During filming of Airplane, Leslie Nielsen used a whoopee cushion to keep the cast off-balance. Hays said that Nielsen "played that thing like a maestro"

Tallulah Bankhead: "I'll come and make love to you at five o'clock. If I'm late, start without me."

"When all other trusts fail, turn to Flashman." — Abraham Lincoln.

"I have enjoyed very warm relations with my two husbands."
"With your eyes closed?"
"That helped."  Lauren Bacall

Master Chiefs are sneaky, dastardly, and snarky miscreants who thrive on the tears of Ensigns and belly dancers.   Admiral Gerry Bogan.

Con

I would try and find something that relates to where you live or close by you.  I got one of my nephews interested in the war of 1812 by having them walk on the deck of the Constitution with a copy of 6 Frigates.  I had a couple of key passages already outlined and we read them together on the same spot where the action took place 200 years ago.  He ended up reading most of the book (aside he was already an avid reader so this was not a hard sell for me).

Con

bayonetbrant

Quote from: besilarius on July 28, 2015, 10:48:58 PMFor something a little lighter, just about any of Robert Heinlein's "juvenile" stories might grab him if his imagination leans at all toward scifi or fantasy.  At that age, recall liking Glory Road, Magic, Inc., Citizen of the Galaxy.

Good point - Tunnel in the Sky is another great one, too, along with The Menace From Earth.
The key to surviving this site is to not say something which ends up as someone's tag line - Steelgrave

"their citizens (all of them counted as such) glorified their mythology of 'rights'...and lost track of their duties. No nation, so constituted, can endure." Robert Heinlein, Starship Troopers

JasonPratt

Man, anything I can think of is pretty much necessarily for someone who already likes to read... ;) I have to say, a lot of the recs above go that route, too.

Still, okay. For WW1 and WW2 (and a lot of other war periods, Vietnam, etc.), there was a series of large coffee-table heavily illustrated books that, despite often needing small font print, were excellent bite-sized comprehensive reports on the wars and the history around them.

I can't recall who published them (and my brother has the ones we owned at his house), but I bet most of us know which series I'm talking about. Except for the occasional photos of dead people (which wouldn't have bothered me at that age), I'd even recommend them for pre-teens who need good history introductions but who don't like reading yet.

(I can't yet find them on Amazon, though surely they're there. Originally published back in the 90s. Dang but I cannot remember the series exactly...)
ICEBREAKER THESIS CHRONOLOGY! -- Victor Suvorov's Stalin Grand Strategy theory, in lots and lots of chronological order...
Dawn of Armageddon -- narrative AAR for Dawn of War: Soulstorm: Ultimate Apocalypse
Survive Harder! -- Two season narrative AAR, an Amazon Blood Bowl career.
PanzOrc Corpz Generals -- Fantasy Wars narrative AAR, half a combined campaign.
Khazâd du-bekâr! -- narrative dwarf AAR for LotR BfME2 RotWK campaign.
RobO Q Campaign Generator -- archived classic CMBB/CMAK tool!

Mr. Bigglesworth

When I was a kid there needed to be something useful about the material. For example i did not give a damn about math until i started physics 11. Suddenly math had reason for taking my time. I could have been on the rugby field!

If you want him to see purpose in history you have to show how it gives insight into today's problems. Take him through the connection once, then give him a project. If he can make discovery his own, he is set.
"Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more; "
- Shakespeare's Henry V, Act III, 1598

besilarius

Jason, I think there are memories of the series you describe.  IIIRC John Keegan got his start by writing one on the Ruhr pocket.  Want to say the series was by Ballantine, but this may be wrong.
"Most gods throw dice, but Fate plays chess, and you don't find out until too late that he's been playing with two queens all along".  Terry Pratchett.

During filming of Airplane, Leslie Nielsen used a whoopee cushion to keep the cast off-balance. Hays said that Nielsen "played that thing like a maestro"

Tallulah Bankhead: "I'll come and make love to you at five o'clock. If I'm late, start without me."

"When all other trusts fail, turn to Flashman." — Abraham Lincoln.

"I have enjoyed very warm relations with my two husbands."
"With your eyes closed?"
"That helped."  Lauren Bacall

Master Chiefs are sneaky, dastardly, and snarky miscreants who thrive on the tears of Ensigns and belly dancers.   Admiral Gerry Bogan.

airboy

Quote from: besilarius on July 28, 2015, 10:48:58 PM
To introduce him to people in historical situations, he might get interested in John Kennedy's Profiles in Courage.
Each chapter is a different person in different kinds of stressful situations.  It's kind of old, but remember being drawn in by the stories.
For something a little lighter, just about any of Robert Heinlein's "juvenile" stories might grab him if his imagination leans at all toward scifi or fantasy.  At that age, recall liking Glory Road, Magic, Inc., Citizen of the Galaxy.

Citizen of the Galaxy or Starship Troopers would work.  Thanks.

Staggerwing

The Star Beast was also one of my favorite Heinlein reads when I was a kid.
Vituð ér enn - eða hvat?  -Voluspa

Nothing really rocks and nothing really rolls and nothing's ever worth the cost...

"Don't you look at me that way..." -the Abyss
 
'When searching for a meaningful embrace, sometimes my self respect took second place' -Iggy Pop, Cry for Love

... this will go down on your permanent record... -the Violent Femmes, 'Kiss Off'-

"I'm not just anyone, I'm not just anyone-
I got my time machine, got my 'electronic dream!"
-Sonic Reducer, -Dead Boys

JasonPratt

Don't ask me if I tried to call the Bro yesterday afternoon to figure out what series those books come from.

Because I one hundred percent forgot to even check.  :buck2:
ICEBREAKER THESIS CHRONOLOGY! -- Victor Suvorov's Stalin Grand Strategy theory, in lots and lots of chronological order...
Dawn of Armageddon -- narrative AAR for Dawn of War: Soulstorm: Ultimate Apocalypse
Survive Harder! -- Two season narrative AAR, an Amazon Blood Bowl career.
PanzOrc Corpz Generals -- Fantasy Wars narrative AAR, half a combined campaign.
Khazâd du-bekâr! -- narrative dwarf AAR for LotR BfME2 RotWK campaign.
RobO Q Campaign Generator -- archived classic CMBB/CMAK tool!