Parents of Tweens (9-14) discussion

Doug wrote: "Hi,
I am a teacher of tweens, a father of tweens past and a beginning writer for tweens present and future. Talking with many tweens in my classses they tell me how they want to pick out books for..."

Hi, Doug! Welcome to the group. You make some great points. It is difficult to get the word out about good books to tweens. I think a lot of them still haven't found what they really like to read yet, either.

Audrey wrote: "Hi I'm Audrey. I actually have taken an interest in writing and reviewing 'tween fiction and my 10 yr old niece is my go-to reference. She just finished and loved. [book:Coyote Summer: A Summerhood..."

Hi, Audrey! Welcome to the group. Coyote Summer looks like a great read.

Karen wrote: "I have friend who write tween fiction. I write nonfiction for tweens (and other ages). My latest book is Nature Girl: a girls guide to caring for God's creation."

Welcome to the group, Karen!

Hi All,
I have two kids in middle school and my daughter devours books. She likes fantasy mostly, and I tried to get her to read one of my fave authors, Shannon Hale, but the book I had was marketed as mass market I believe, and it looked like a romance cover. I read her some passages withOUT showing her the cover. She seemed mildly interested and then saw the cover. Boom…she tossed it aside.

Disclosure: I am a published author of a middle grade novel, but that only adds to my frustration that I can't teach her to not judge a book by its cover. At least she's reading, but she wants me to constantly buy new stuff when I have a gazillion books in the house already that I've read for my own research/learning.

Now my boy? He reads…if it's related to The Walking Dead. Grrrrr.

All best,
Laura

Wow - that is so frustrating! I have had a similar experience - I usually either wait for the paperback or get the books from the library. I loved the book Endangered, and wanted both my tweens to read it because I knew they would love it, but the paperback cover is aimed at 2nd or 3rd graders....drives me nuts!

My son (12-yr-old) just started The Great Greene Heist last night and stayed up an hour past lights out totally engrossed.

Has your daughter read the Cinder/Cress/Scarlet books?

Frazzled mother to a tween girl,13, who devours fantasy and manga (and writes it, too!) and a 12 year old boy who will take a whiff of books about zombies, read a chapter or two, then be done.

I write and produce video in local TV and am an author of children's literature. My avatar is the e-version of my novel that was published by HarperCollins in 2010. I got the rights back last year and had a new cover designed.

Happy to connect with parents here!

Laura wrote: "Hi All,
I have two kids in middle school and my daughter devours books. She likes fantasy mostly, and I tried to get her to read one of my fave authors, Shannon Hale, but the book I had was market..."

Hi, Laura! Welcome to the group! My daughter does the same thing. It is very frustrating.

Hi everyone,

I have an 11-year-old son who loves to read non-fiction. I've already seen a few titles here that might interest him. His second favorite topic is humor (he devours The Bad Kitty books and I think meeting Nick Bruel at a book signing is among the highlights of his young life), but I'm hoping to get him to read a little more fiction, so that it's 50%-50%, not 80%-20%. Looking forward to seeing what you all recommend!

John, get that boy a stack of historical fiction. It'll blend what he loves with your desire to see him read fiction. And kudos to you for that!

I have a new nonfiction releasing in October for boys-it's a different sort of one year devotional. We combined true stories and retold Bible stories with humor. What's different is that each day includes an activity-hands on fun, experiments, puzzles, jokes, riddles, etc.. It The One Year Devotion for Active Boys. My co-author is Jesse Florea (editor of Clubhouse Magazine at Focus on the Family).

John wrote: "Hi everyone,

I have an 11-year-old son who loves to read non-fiction. I've already seen a few titles here that might interest him. His second favorite topic is humor (he devours The Bad Kitty book..."

Hi, John! Welcome to the group! Your son sounds just like my 11 year old. He loves reading non-fiction, especially about marine life and nature. When he does read non-fiction, it is usually full of pictures and humorous (both my kids loved the Bad Kitty books). It got to the point that he would rarely read books without pictures. He enjoyed the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series, Origami Yoda Files: Boxed Set, and a few other graphic hybrids. Eventually, he started reading books with more words and fewer pictures. He still enjoys his usual fare, but he has branched out to include quite a few more serious and non-pictorial books. He has discovered that he likes historical fiction and realistic fiction quite a bit.

Thanks, Laura. He's read some historical fiction by Laurie Calkhoven and Lisa Potocar. Looks like I'll have to get him more!

Hi Diane. I can get my son to read books without pictures, but he sure drifts toward non-fiction. I'll continue to push historical fiction on him and give realistic fiction a try. Thanks!

HI Everyone! I think I've posted here a couple times…I get confused when I post from my phone…getting better! Anyway, I am an author (Of tween & teen lit!) and have a boy and girl in middle school. They are 1st generation Lao. Their grandpa spent 12 years as a POW in northern Laos starting in 1975. Their dad was a child POW for 5 years, and they all immigrated to the USA in 1989. It's this history that made me start writing in my early 30's.

My book (avatar) was originally published in hard cover by HarperCollins in 2010, but I just released the e-version last month with a new cover. Hoping that the book will help refugees and their families feel connected by finding their story in a book, help others understand their plight, and help fill the need for diverse books.

My girl devours fantasy and manga stuff. My boy, eh, he likes walkers. Stupid zombies!

Cheers, everyone!

Hi, I confess I'm not a parent of a tween anymore, but I teach tweens so getting parents' insights is really important to me. The military genre is exploding with my 8th grade boys. The language is often rough but the parents seem to accept it. What are your thoughts on the genre for middle school students?

Salut! For Parents, an upcoming free promo on 25th October. Written for an international market, which is much stricter on language and appropriate scenes than the US. Several readers recommended that these adventure fiction books are very well-suited to tweens and teens in the US. Boys especially found them "fresh" and "fast-paced" with "characters you care about." The locales are true to life, the adventures modern yet classic and maybe will encourage more young people to pursue foreign language and geography studies. A fresh and fast-paced modern adventure with a bit of romance crossing half the globe, from the wild western Sahel of Africa to Wyoming cattle ranches. Book Two in The Decatur series by T.K. Naliaka. A classic, yet modern adventure with terrific characters, unexpected locales and an engaging continuing family saga,from cowboys to nomads! Enjoy! A Difficult Damsel to RescueAvailable for free downloads from Amazon Kindle here: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00J39YHTY?c.... Veuillez agréer l’assurance de ma considération distinguée!

I'd leave if I'm too young/if it's weird for me to be in this group, but I'm Raevyn and I'm thirteen. :)

Raevyn wrote: "I'd leave if I'm too young/if it's weird for me to be in this group, but I'm Raevyn and I'm thirteen. :)"
Haven't been around long enough to know if it's weird around here, but it is very quiet. ;)

Hi. I am Linda and I just published a new tween book.

http://www.amazon.com/Gaby-Best-Middl...

Gaby and the Best Middle School Self-Defense Book Ever is a new tween self help and fiction story dealing with many middle school issues including bullying, cliques, self bullying, stress and more.

Hi. Thanks for letting me join the group. I'm guessing I'm probably the first bear to sign up. The name's Jake G. Panda and I write jungle noir for young readers.

I started my new middle-grade mystery series The Endangered Files to educate kids on the plight of my endangered friends. The first installment is a wild and woolly adventure called The Case of the Cursed Dodo.


The Case of the Cursed Dodo

Hi!! I'm Stephanie and I teach 5th grade. I love getting my kids excited about reading so I was so happy to find this club. I hope it will keep me up to date on the latest and greatest books!!!

Stephanie wrote: "Hi!! I'm Stephanie and I teach 5th grade. I love getting my kids excited about reading so I was so happy to find this club. I hope it will keep me up to date on the latest and greatest books!!!"

Hi, Stephanie! Welcome to the group!

Hi, I'm Sandy. My tweens have since grown up but they have always been avid readers. I'm a former middle school teacher who now writes books for tweens. (The Seed Savers series)

Hi,

I'm Julie, mom to an almost 11 year old girl. I just learned from her school librarian that she tends not to finish books. That was news to me because she loves reading.

Hunger Games is her favorite - read in 4th grade. Summer before 3rd was Harry Potter.

She's a high level reader, but still too young (per her) for the "liking boys" stuff.

Anyway, I read its "slow" on here, but it's new to me :)

Thanks!
Julie

Hi All,
My book Gaby and the Best Middle School Self-Defense Book Ever (available at Amazon) has received a lot of positive feedback from guidance counselors across the country. The book makes a great stocking stuffer or holiday gift for a 6th grader. I hope that you enjoy and share and have a wonderful holiday season!

thanks! great to know. will get for our daughters.

Great. Looking forward to her reaction.

Hello everyone, I am Trish and I just started joining groups on GR today. I have a 10 year old daughter. I was thrilled to see a group for parents to help find some new titles my daughter might like. When she was younger I tried to get her interested in The Borrowers and The Spiderwick Chronicles, but she was having none of it. I finally hit the jackpot with Fablehaven a few years ago but the she hit a lull. Now she loves the Goosebumps books (which I enjoyed at her age) and a series called The Missing Series. I am hoping to help her branch out or just continue reading with your help. One day she will read the Xanth series (since she loves puns), but I think that should wait a couple more years. Looking forward to talking to you all!
Trish

Trish wrote: "Hello everyone, I am Trish and I just started joining groups on GR today. I have a 10 year old daughter. I was thrilled to see a group for parents to help find some new titles my daughter might lik..."

Welcome to the group, Trish!

John wrote: "Hi everyone,

I have an 11-year-old son who loves to read non-fiction. I've already seen a few titles here that might interest him. His second favorite topic is humor (he devours The Bad Kitty book..."

A friend of mine just self published a book on Amazon aimed at boys. T.R. Isham the title Blood and Guts.

Hello, Im Anderson Atlas. I'm a Middle Grade / Young Adult author and illustrator and I'd like to recommend my book. Shameless, I know. But as a father, I know how important reading is. So we have to bring these kids GOOD books. All kinds, too.

So if anyone is interested in my story, check it out! The reviews coming in are fantastic. It's about a boy in a wheelchair who gets lost on another planet. Lots of fun and excitement and some spine tingling moments as well.
Surviving the Improbable Quest

Anderson wrote: "Hello, Im Anderson Atlas. I'm a Middle Grade / Young Adult author and illustrator and I'd like to recommend my book. Shameless, I know. But as a father, I know how important reading is. So we have ..."

Welcome to the group, Atlas!

Diane wrote: "Anderson wrote: "Hello, Im Anderson Atlas. I'm a Middle Grade / Young Adult author and illustrator and I'd like to recommend my book. Shameless, I know. But as a father, I know how important readin..."

thank you! I hope to find some fans of my work as well as learn about the next great book that I can put into my kids hands!

Hi everyone - I'm Sami!

What a great group. Looking forward to exploring what you guys find suitable for tweens. While I don't have kids myself, I have many nieces and nephews that are right in the MG reading range, and always looking for good suggestions, as they're big bookworms. Thanks for including me!

Sami Jo wrote: "Hi everyone - I'm Sami!

What a great group. Looking forward to exploring what you guys find suitable for tweens. While I don't have kids myself, I have many nieces and nephews that are right in t..."

Hi, Sami! Welcome to the group!

Hi. I'm Bethany and I am a librarian that loves to read YA, and starting to dig into more middle grade titles. I'm also looking to start a book club this fall for parents to talk about / ask questions / get readers advisor for their ya and mg readers. Looking forward to seeing your suggestions for titles and feedback on a potential book club.

Bethany wrote: "Hi. I'm Bethany and I am a librarian that loves to read YA, and starting to dig into more middle grade titles. I'm also looking to start a book club this fall for parents to talk about / ask questi..."

Welcome to the group, Bethany!

Happy Friday everybody! I'm a Tween parent myself, and for good measure, a Tween author of contemporary fantasy fiction. On my 2nd Tween (kid, not book! :-) ...) and I sure wish there was a "pause" button for these guys!! ;-) ... Anyhow, looking forward to chatting with you all.

Neil wrote: "Happy Friday everybody! I'm a Tween parent myself, and for good measure, a Tween author of contemporary fantasy fiction. On my 2nd Tween (kid, not book! :-) ...) and I sure wish there was a "pause"..."

Happy Friday, to you, Neil! Welcome to the group!

Hi, I'm also a librarian (and tween author). So many great new tween titles coming out for me to add to our library collection. I've just finished PAPER WISHES and I'm looking forward to COUNTING THYME and CRENSHAW. Happy reading!

Marcia wrote: "Hi, I'm also a librarian (and tween author). So many great new tween titles coming out for me to add to our library collection. I've just finished PAPER WISHES and I'm looking forward to COUNTING T..."

Welcome to the group, Marcia!

Hello! I am Tammi from Texas and have 2 sons who are 13 and 16. I am also a middle school reading/social studies teacher and teach kids who are 11-13 so I am always looking for book recommendations and reviews :)

Hi, I'm Shan and I am a mom to a 9 year old girl. She loves to read and write stories, but is most interested in reading stories about fashion (Sew Zoey & The Lotus Lane Series). Would love to hear more about books like these if there are any!

I'm also an (aspiring) author, currently in the stages of publishing my first novel, Little Red and the 'Not I' Class Committee. A middle grade novel that I wrote that was suggested in a very silly manner by my daughter. However silly the idea was at first, it has grown on the both of us into a book that I am glad to be able to share perhaps sometime in September of this year :).

Tammi wrote: "Hello! I am Tammi from Texas and have 2 sons who are 13 and 16. I am also a middle school reading/social studies teacher and teach kids who are 11-13 so I am always looking for book recommendations..."

Hi, Tammy! Welcome to the group!

Shanquetta wrote: "Hi, I'm Shan and I am a mom to a 9 year old girl. She loves to read and write stories, but is most interested in reading stories about fashion (Sew Zoey & The Lotus Lane Series). Would love to hear..."

Hello, Shanquetta! Welcome to the group! Good luck on your book!

Hi, I'm Amanda Hensley. I'm a sixth grade teacher and mom to two 9 year olds. My son is an avid reader and devours books, so I'm always looking for recommendations for him - he reads at a higher level than his age, so often his books work well for my sixth graders as well! Currently, he's reading Book Scavenger and The League of Beastly Dreadfuls. Looking forward to this group!

Beyond Good Manners: How to Raise a Sophisticated Child

So nice to meet everyone! My name is Tara and I am the author of the above book - I'm excited to share my book with tween and teen parents out there :)

I am also interested in finding parents who would be interested in reviewing the book on Audible. If you enjoy audiobooks and would like a free copy of "Beyond Good Manners: How to Raise a Sophisticated Child" please get in touch with me for more details. The audiobook is a little under 4 hours long and will make a great summer listen while doing chores, working out or, hopefully, driving to the beach! Listen to it with your kids and get their feedback on which activities or ideas interest them the most.

I have 6 free download codes left to distribute for reviews and I'm looking forward to hearing from you: [email protected]

Amanda wrote: "Hi, I'm Amanda Hensley. I'm a sixth grade teacher and mom to two 9 year olds. My son is an avid reader and devours books, so I'm always looking for recommendations for him - he reads at a higher le..."

Welcome to the group, Amanda!

HI. I'm Joanne. My youngest is 12, but he still has a lot of naivete. His innocence is so refreshing and makes him believe anything is possible. We're always on the lookout for clean books, fascinating world-building, non-fiction, and books which deal with deep issues in an optimistic way. I wouldn't say he's a reluctant reader, but he'd rather read the same book fifteen times in a row than try a new one. I'm looking forward to finding more great books and offering some of our favorites. Thanks for the opportunity to be part of the community here.

Joanne wrote: "HI. I'm Joanne. My youngest is 12, but he still has a lot of naivete. His innocence is so refreshing and makes him believe anything is possible. We're always on the lookout for clean books, fascina..."

Hi, Joanne. Welcome to the group! Your son sounds a lot like mine in his reading preferences.