A book that grips the imagination

Thinking some more about this, how about Hitch-Hikers Guide to the Galaxy which contains some very funny passages about BistroMathematics. There’s an excellent audio book version read by Stephen Fry to listen along with the paper book. BistroMathematics is around Chapter Seven of the Life, the Universe and Everything.

From experience of my S, many years ago now, I would also recommend the Adrian Mole books as they are funny and entertaining and relate to teenage angst.

One son only ever read instruction and information books. He couldn’t see the point of fiction because “it isn’t real”.

It’s hard for those of us who can lose ourselves in a good story to realise just how boring fiction can be to other people.
Like sporty people always think you’d love it if only you’d play😬

When you say “his understanding” do you mean comprehension of what the words actually say or the nuances of the text - the characterisation, emotion, setting etc.?

Reading didn’t necessarily improve spelling though.

I agree with Grandmabatty. Graphic novels are hugely popular. My local Foyles has a whole floor dedicated to them and it’s always buzzing with enthusiastic young people.

And while the Harry Potter novels are popular with children and adults alike, they are not for everyone. The best way to turn children off reading is to force them to read something that doesn’t capture their imagination.

Peer pressure is not always a positive experience. At school in the 1960s, it was the trendy thing to be reading and enthusing about Tolkien. I didn’t like his stories much then (or now) and feel the same about Rowling or anything in the fantasy genre. Give me realism any day of the week although I make an exception for something humorous e.g. Douglas Adams.

If this young lad tends towards STEM he might like Tim Harford’s books about numbers. He’s the presenter of More or Less on BBC Radio 4.

Our boys only read “factual books”, anything about dinosaurs, science, space, and comic books.

One of our daughters was a very reluctant reader, her teachers simply suggested we incorporated into other activities, such as cooking, ie reading from recipes and again comics and magazines, it doesn’t matter what is read, so long as it expands vocabulary and understanding.

If he is taking GCSE in both Language and Literature, they must have read some books in class. I remember my DGD talking about Lord of the Flies, a novel that got her class talking. A teenage boy may well find echoes of school life in it. And there's a film which should also capture his interest. If he follows sport - usually football - biographies of sports people might also encourage him to read.

I would echo those who have said find a subject he is interested in and encourage him to read about that. If it is something which sparks his interest, it doesn't matter whether it is fiction or non-fiction, graphic novels or even magazines. I think boys do often struggle more with reading. My son wasn't much of a reader, but he'd always wanted to join the army so he found himself enjoying books about military history etc.

The Black Hand Gang series available on Amazon. Boys just love these books.

One of my DCs, who has never read a whole novel from cover to cover, still managed an A in English Literature by studying Bitesize. I sometimes wonder if the importance of reading books is overestimated.

I decided that it's nigh on impossible to make a non reader enjoy books.

We have thousands of books in the house. They are everywhere. Even the WC. As a child I adored to read and assumed my children would too. Took me aback when none of them were bookworms. I just couldn't understand it.

My youngest will read novels but the other 3 just don't have any interest at all.

It certainly hasn't stopped them from achieving in life though. They've all done very well. But it certainly bothered me that they didn't share my passion for books !

Just a word from a retired english teacher. I got used to mothers ( it was always mothers) saying of their sons ( it was almost always sons) 'and his spelling is appalling / dreadful'.
I would take a page of his exercise book and count off 100 words. Of those, the highest number of spelling errors I found was seven. I would then suggest, politely, that 93 correct out of 100 was neither 'appalling' or 'dreadful'. This usually led to a more measured attitude.
Interestingly, I was never asked about syntax or morphology.

One of my grandchildren read The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas at school. Your grandson would be able to watch the film afterwards or before if that would encourage him.

Another vote for Harry Potter .
At the sane age my son was addicted to dystopias .
He had and has brilliant language skills .

Crikey I was always such an avid reader. Eating breakfast as a mid junior schooler I would read the words on the HP sauce bottle at the table. Or the Weetabix box … I still recall one of the ingredients was riboflavin! 😂

Hi there, I would recommend books by Robin Jarvis.
His books take you away to some other place, they're intriguing, exciting & beautifully written.
My eldest son introduced us to this author and well be forever grateful. They span the generations with their magic. 😊

I was the same FGT but I sometimes wonder if it was because a great deal of the time there was naff-all else to do. TV was two channels and there were no computers.

Indigo8

One of my DCs, who has never read a whole novel from cover to cover, still managed an A in English Literature by studying Bitesize. I sometimes wonder if the importance of reading books is overestimated.

Oh Indigo8!
How could you say the reading of books is overestimated?
You'll never be be lonely if you have a book, they broaden the mind, reading is a cheap, simple pleasure.
Futhermore, books expand one's vocabulary & world view.
I could never be without a book. (Plus a sandwich, crisps ect) 😬

You don't need to sell the joys of reading to me
Ilovedogs22.

Perhaps I should rephrase what I wrote.

To avid readers, like you and me, "A book is precious life's blood" but plenty of other people, possibly the majority, live perfectly fulfilled lives without feeling the need to read books in every spare moment.

It does sometimes cross my mind that reading about something is not as good as getting out there doing things, meeting people and building experiences.

Yes, well said Indigo8, I see where your coming from & totally agree.
Although, when I'm an ancient old whiskery bat, I shall just read (hopefully) & eat cakey-type food until my eventual death from obesity caused by too much sitting & reading.
Probably dreaming about the places I never got 2 go to because
I was busy reading Tragic.🤭

Gerald Durrel’s Rosy is my Relative? My 12 year old Gs found my ancient copy one sunny day. I found him at the end of the garden a couple of hours later, book in one hand, apple in the other, giggling away to himself.

Silverbrooks

The obvious thing would be to find some books that dovetail into his interests. Buy the paper book and audio book so that he can read and listen along simultaneously. Nothing too childish as that might embarass him.

Adventures in sailing might be a good place to start. Wavewalker by Suzanne Heywood springs to mind. Article here with a longish passage from the text to give you a gist of the level of the language:

www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2023/mar/25/suzanne-heywood-round-the-world-sailing-trip-stolen-childhood

Anothers is One Upon a Prime by Sarah Hart.

A hugely entertaining and well-written tour of the links between maths and literature. Hart’s lightness of touch and passion for both subjects make this book a delight to read. Bookworms and number-lovers alike will discover much they didn’t know about the creative interplay between stories, structure and sums.

This was in the news recently, about how many young people enjoy listening to audio books and a suggestion to add them to the school curriculum. Listening alone won’t help with spelling but listening may lead to a desire to read from the page.

www.theguardian.com/education/2025/feb/25/audiobooks-england-new-schools-curriculum-reading-national-literacy-trust-poll

links are behind a paywall silverbrooks.

I have probably reached ancient batdom as I already find it hard to resist the temptation to just read the next chapter instead of trimming the buddleia or taking my washing out of the washing machine and hanging it up.

I went for a job interview once and as I had put reading as one of my hobbies, one of the people interviewing me asked if I preferred reading about things and people rather than actually doing things and meeting people. I replied that I loved stories and reading did not exclude doing things in real life. Also it enabled me find out about places I could never go to and people I could never meet. I didn't get the job.

He’s on board and wants to do it which is more than half the battle. I would find the past papers that specifically relate to what he has on the curriculum and suggest that he prepares to sit them.

Eg he is given the paper and then has a week to prep for it, he decides what the prep is, it may be reading a poem and reading up on grammar rules. A week later he sits the mock exam under exam conditions, preferably at your house. The following day he reads the answer paper and compares it with his own. It keeps things in his own hands and helps him revise and get exam practice.

If you want to offer him a fabulous bribe for completing a certain number of papers then the Day Skipper theory course costs £295, its online and will certainly involve absorbing written information and applying it which will help too.

I’ve just realised that I didn’t recommend a book! 😂.

My 12 year old gs doesn’t read books either, unlike his sister. I picked up a book at a charity shop Gregor the Overlander and gave it to him. He loved it and happily the book I bought was the first of a series of 3 or 4. His mum bought them and he read them all.
I have tried treasure island etc but as has been said the language used seems to be too complicated for todays children to have the patience to read.