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What Would You Recommend to a Bright 14 Year Old?
51–60 of 215 posts
Re: What Would You Recommend to a Bright 14 Year Old?
#52Hatchet by Gary Paulsen
Far and away, the best for a young person coming into adulthood. In an age appropriate manner and wording (vocab, tenses, allusions to other works, etc) Hatchet explore what it takes to mentally be an adult. Brian's near suicide and rebirth alone in the Canadian forests is a classic story in literature, and it is no where else better played for young adults than in Hatchet. Brian's personal choice to live and be self sufficient against the odds is a great lesson for that age. The epilogue is masterful as well, and I'm sure, took a lot of guts to publish as-is and not re-write.
Other great books (with amazon links) can be found here: http://www.artofmanliness.com/2009/06/02/the-essential-man%E...
The follow up from that blog's readers can be found here: http://www.artofmanliness.com/2013/05/21/fiction-for-men-as-...
Note: The linked blog focuses more on the 'classical style' in western literature and thought. By classics, I mean true classics from the Enlightenment and Greek and Roman works, not devoid of racism or sexism, sometimes in full acceptance and joy of those evils. Nonetheless, I feel most of those books are great reads, if the young person is given caution and some guidance on how to handle the differences between our forefathers' views and ours'.
EDIT: Additionally, look into language learning courses. Duolingo (https://www.duolingo.com/) is free and amazing (nothing beats having cousins in Italy or Mexico, though). At 14, the brain is still pretty plastic and able to learn languages a bit easier than us old'uns.
I have been amiss for not linking to the above blog's other non-fiction lists and movie lists: http://www.artofmanliness.com/2008/05/14/100-must-read-books... http://www.artofmanliness.com/2009/07/13/100-must-see-movies...
I'll also act like a shill here and advocate for youth organizations like the BSA. Here is a nice tool to find a troop near you :http://www.scouting.org/LocalCouncilLocator.aspx . I know I may get some flak from HN here for BSA advocacy, but I had a great time on the road to Eagle and the Scouts are updating. Also, many councils are in open defiance of the policies (naming names is hard to do here, it is necessarily kept mum). Please, give them the time they need.
Re: What Would You Recommend to a Bright 14 Year Old?
#53I wish when I was 14 I was exposed to more contemporary literature, instead of great classics. And I have no regrets about missing out on math books—most of my friends went to math camp for that kind of knowledge.
I'd recommend David Foster Wallace's Infinite Jest; Junot Diaz's This is How You Lose Her; The Collected Stories of Lydia Davis; Haruki Murakami's Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage.
I wish when I went into college I understood women better, people with mental health issues, sexuality, drugs, rich people, powerful people, old people.
He'll have 2x4 year periods where he'll be able to build long-lasting relationships. Understanding himself and other people will pay off much better than solving puzzles. So I'd stick to really aggressive contemporary fiction. He'll find math on his own.
Re: What Would You Recommend to a Bright 14 Year Old?
#54Feynman's lectures on physics.
Re: What Would You Recommend to a Bright 14 Year Old?
#55SICP? How to win friends amd influence people? Math textbooks? Either everyone here is an incredible savant, or it's been too long since you were 14 to remember what it was like.
Looking at my own path, I agree with many of the SF suggestions (intelligent fiction of any kind os the best way to start, IMO). For me, Micheal Crichton was a huge boost to my early interest in science, objectivity, problems with the media, etc. I suspect Neil DeGrasse Tyson is a similar figure for today's generation (The new Cosmos is a great and entertaining introduction to the most fascinating aspects of the natural world).
Re: What Would You Recommend to a Bright 14 Year Old?
#56Socrates, Plato, Aristotle
Essentially start with the classics of philosophy. Its my biggest regret I wasn't introduced to them as a child.
Re: What Would You Recommend to a Bright 14 Year Old?
#57go outside and play
Re: What Would You Recommend to a Bright 14 Year Old?
#58Go outside and play. Seriously.
Re: What Would You Recommend to a Bright 14 Year Old?
#59Hatchet by Gary Paulsen Far and away, the best for a young person coming into adulthood. In an age appropriate manner and wording (vocab, tenses, allusions to other works, etc) Hatchet explore what it takes to mentally be an adult. Brian's near suicide and rebirth alone in the Canadian forests is a classic story in literature, and it is no where else better played for young adults than in Hatchet. Brian's personal ch…
>Far and away, the best for a young person coming into adulthood. In an age appropriate manner and wording (vocab, tenses, allusions to other works, etc) Hatchet explore what it takes to mentally be an adult. Brian's near suicide and rebirth alone in the Canadian forests is a classic story in literature, and it is no where else better played for young adults than in Hatchet. Brian's personal choice to live and be self sufficient against the odds is a great lesson for that age. The epilogue is masterful as well, and I'm sure, took a lot of guts to publish as-is and not re-write.
Wait. You mean that book's not for 4th-graders? Not being sarcastic: I found it in our elementary-school library in 4th grade and read it. Other people did, too.
Re: What Would You Recommend to a Bright 14 Year Old?
#60Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card
The story of a genius child training to battle an alien species. Not only very entertaining but also critically acclaimed. It won the Hugo and Nebula and has been on several military leadership reading lists. [0] I loved it as a teenager and recently reread it and still loved it.
[0]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ender%27s_Game#Critical_respons...