Wtd: recommendations for non-fiction books for 13yr old boys

[Cora]

Any ideas? He enjoys fiction but doesn't get the point of reading books for facts?! Call me old fashioned....

Thanks...

[edanna]

Hi Cora, has he ever had one of the Ripley?s believe it or not books? There is some mind boggling stuff in there. https://www.google.co.uk/shopping/product/10369874696762231600?lsf=seller:2839496,store:1472536690526970026&prds=oid:12658829227644589180&q=ripley%27s+annual+2018&hl=en-gb&ei=rGRqWrnhB-XegAa1y5HACQ&lsft=gclid:EAIaIQobChMI_tmS9Z702AIVBLvtCh3yDASjEAQYAiABEgJc0_D_BwE

[edanna]

Or a Brian Cox book? Have no personal experience of these but good reviews https://www.amazon.co.uk/Wonders-Universe-Brian-Cox/dp/0007395825

[poch]

Is he too old for the Horrible History series?

[redjam]

Tim Peake has just recently published a book called Ask an Astronaut which is not specifically aimed at kids though there's a lot in it that kids would enjoy (including the perennial favourite: 'how do you go to the loo in space?'). I'm not particularly sciencey but I thought it was fascinating and very easy to dip in and out of.

[womanofdulwich]

Guinness book of records??

[Cora]

Thank you :) Might go for the Astronaut one...if he doesn't read it, I'd like to know about peeing in space!..oh dear just realised it's not just peeing is it!!! Will look at the Brian Cox ones too....Any good memoirs out there suitable?

[Carrie]

What about the Gerald Durrell books?

[redjam]

Gerald Durrell is a great idea. Also I loved James Herriott at that age.

As for memoirs - what is he into? Loads of sports star/comedian/musician autobiographies out there. For history maybe something like one of the Forgotten Voices series about the first and second world wars - lots of moving personal stories to dip in and out of. For general inspirational memoir how about something like Malala Yousafzai's I Am Malala, Barack Obama's Dreams from My Father, or Nelson Mandela's Long Walk to Freedom?

On a completely different note, This Is Going to Hurt by Adam Kay is a recent bestseller that gives an insight into life as a junior doctor - very funny and quite rude! And for a fascinating overview of the whole of human civilisation, Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari is brilliant and not hard (though it makes you feel intelligent if you read it!).

[Cora]

:)