Recommendations for books relevant to our current situation

[Zing Zing Zingbah]

I'm looking for some good book ideas for my son. He is a 9th grader. I'd like for him to read something that would possibly help him make sense of the situation we are in with the Trump presidency. It could be fiction or non-fiction, but it has to be a story with characters. It can't be like a history text book. I'm looking for something available in kindle format too. Thanks.

[COLGATE4]

1. Shirer's 'Rise and Fall of the Third Reich' seems approprate. nt

[Johnny2X2X]

2. The Road

Cormic McCarthy's the Road is our future if we don't stop Bannon and Trump.

[Tanuki]

3. This is a great trilogy for someone his age, not exactly what you are asking for

but highly recommended anyway. Graphic novel format, highly accessible, National Book Award winner:

[Tommy_Carcetti]

4. I just finished Sinclair Lewis' It Can't Happen Here

Written in 1935 but a lot of the similarities with now are chillingly close.

Amazingly while Lewis uses Hitler and the Nazis as a model for his American dystopia you can't forget that at the time it was written Hitler was just getting started. So it's even prophetic in the short term.

[theophilus]

5. Men Without Work: America's Invisible Crisis by Nicholas Eberstadt

It is a good place to start looking at the horrible shape this country's job situation has gotten into. A young man needs to be aware of the probable future if things keep going as they have over the last few decades. Shareholders, robots, whatever. It is looking pretty bleak as we continue to produce human while also doing away with good jobs.

[briv1016]

6. If he was a little older I'd recommend 1984.

In 9th grade the ending might be a little disturbing.

[yardwork]

7. The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood

[0rganism]

18. +1

[KingCharlemagne]

8. Robert Cormier's "The Chocolate Wars" for a fictional microcosm

of a Trumpian mindscape (middle- and high school).

[66 dmhlt]

9. I think "1984" would be OK for a 9th grader - AND ...

Certainly "All the President's Men" - a non-fiction book that reads like a whodunit thriller

[CrispyQ]

10. We the People: A Call to Take Back America

We the People: A Call to Take Back America
Thom Hartmann, illustrated by Neil Cohn
2004



http://www.visuallanguagelab.com/wtp.html

snip...

This 216 page non-fiction comic book shows the dangers that corporations pose to American democracy. Americans have become second-class citizens to the first-class “personhood” of transnational corporations, who, in often-devious fashion, have usurped control from We the People – a development that the Founding Fathers never intended – leaving us with our rights and freedoms hanging in the balance.

Clear and accessible, this work describes the dangers posed to American democracy and offers concrete steps on how to take back our country – relevant for years to come.

Highly recommended for kids & adults!

[dixiegrrrrl]

11. Grapes of Wrath

if he is a very good reader.
Otherwise....animal farm, but you will want to discuss with him afterwards
and
Lord of the Flies.
and the Diary of Anne Frank.

I may be miles off his reading level, I read all of them by the time I was in the 10th grade, back in the '50's.

[RealityChik]

12. George Orwell's Animal Farm.

It was required reading for me in the 10th grade so not beyond a 9th grader, at face value at least. Also had to read Lord Jim as a Senior. Similar in theme, but more abstract.

Any of these works of fiction, will, however, take guidance from you, as the abstractions are not obvious to a 13-14 year old.

Same could be said for Stranger In A Strange Land, which uses a scifi setting to tell a story of ethnic disparity. I didn't read that one until college.

Updated: A Clockwork Orange and Fahrenheit 451 also.

Or even The Hunger Games, for that matter

[RealityChik]

13. Ultra Bowl by IJ Weinstock

Not directly related to the Trump situation--more about our dependence on technology and how robotics could?/might? threaten our future.

A unique dystopian adventure about a fictitious Super Bowl NFL team somehow transported to the future to win against a team of robots. I haven't read it yet, but seems quirky enough to stoke my curiosity, and I'm not even a football fan.

Found it on Amazon in Young Adult Fiction. Available for Kindle and in paperback.

[Drahthaardogs]

14. Animal Farm

There is an animated show as well.

[Zing Zing Zingbah]

15. Thanks for all the recommendations

We ended up choosing Night by Elie Wiesel. He hasn't read a book about the Holocaust yet and it seemed like a good choice based on reading some excerpts. I think he will like it. I was thinking of Animal Farm too, but maybe next time.

[Zing Zing Zingbah]

16. Feel free to post more if you have more

we might read them in the future.

[csziggy]

17. "March" - three book series of graphic novels based on Rep. John Lewis

And his fight for equal rights by John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, and Nate Powell. The story is intercut with the events of January 20 2009.

When I ordered the books I didn't realize they were graphic novels - not my favorite form of books. But the visualizations are well done and provide a lot of context.

[Zing Zing Zingbah]

21. Someone else mentioned that series too.

Sounds interesting, but I don't think the teacher wants them to read graphic novels. I read the Maus series for a class in college, so sometimes graphic novels are OK, but in that circumstance the professor specifically assigned the books. I loved Maus. I'd like my son to read that one someday too.

[csziggy]

22. I didn't realize it was for school

There are also John Lewis' about the movement:

Walking with the Wind: A Memoir of the Movement by John Lewis and Michael D'Orso

Across That Bridge: A Vision for Change and the Future of America by John Lewis

The second is available in a Kindle version.

[EarthFirst]

19. Confessions of an Economic Hitman Naomi Klein nt

[0rganism]

20. The Man in the High Castle

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Man_in_the_High_Castle

[ancianita]

23. For a book on Western values, science and ethics, The Once and Future King by T.H.White.

I believe it to be the spiritual predecessor of the Harry Potter series.

Book One is about the fun of learning under Merlin.

Book Two is about how complicated betrayal can be.

Book Three is about how one survives both purity, corruption, friends and enemies.

Book Four is about how love is sacrifice that lives beyond one's life.


It's a hard, multi-level book that's relevant for any age. I'd recommend you read it along with him to point out some deeper understandings me might overlook.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Once_and_Future_King