Camping can be a great time for the family to disconnect from screens and spend time talking, hiking, or reading. If you have teenage sons, 11-15 years old, the key thing for keeping them engaged with a book instead of Snapchat is picking the right book. Here are several that my teen sons enjoyed enough to put down their phones.
The Chronicles of Narnia
This is a series of seven fantasy novels by C. S. Lewis. You might have read it as a kid, since it has sold over 100 million copies in 47 languages. Set in the fictional realm of Narnia, a fantasy world of magic, mythical beasts, and talking animals, the series narrates the adventures of various children who play central roles in the unfolding history of that world. Except in The Horse and His Boy, the protagonists are all children from the real world, magically transported to Narnia, where they are called upon by the lion Aslan to protect Narnia from evil and restore the throne to its rightful line. The books span the entire history of Narnia, from its creation in The Magician’s Nephew to its eventual destruction in The Last Battle.
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The Fault in Our Stars
The story is narrated by Hazel Grace Lancaster, a 16-year-old girl with thyroid cancer that has affected her lungs. Hazel is forced by her parents to attend a support group where she subsequently meets and falls in love with 17-year-old Augustus Waters, an ex-basketball player and amputee. Entertainment Weekly calls this story, “The greatest romance story of this decade.” A feature film adaptation of the novel was released in 2014.
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The Trials of Apollo
After angering his father Zeus, the god Apollo is cast down from Olympus. Weak and disoriented, he lands in New York City as a regular teenage boy. Now, without his godly powers, the four-thousand-year-old deity must learn to survive in the modern world until he can somehow find a way to regain Zeus’s favor. This set is the first three paperbacks in the exciting, hilarious, and poignant series about Apollo, an arrogant god turned hapless human who must restore five ancient Oracles and battle a triumvirate of evil Roman emperors in order to regain his place in Mount Olympus.
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Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard
Magnus Chase, a once-homeless teen, is on a death-defying quest across the Norse realms, literally. As a resident of the Hotel Valhalla, this son of the god Frey is now one of Odin’s chosen warriors. Magnus and his friends, Hearthstone the elf, Blitzen the dwarf, Samirah the Valkyrie, and other heroic characters must use all their wits and special talents in order to defeat fearsome giants, lethal creatures, and meddlesome gods in order stave off Ragnarok. (3 book paperback boxed set).
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Percy Jackson and the Olympians
My son has read the series three times. Percy Jackson is about to be kicked out of boarding school…again. No matter how hard he tries, he can’t seem to stay out of trouble. But can he really be expected to stand by and watch while a bully picks on his scrawny best friend? Or not defend himself against his pre-algebra teacher when she turns into a monster and tries to kill him? Of course, no one believes Percy about the monster incident; he’s not even sure he believes himself. Until the Minotaur chases him to summer camp. This is a boxed set with all five of the books in this riveting series, and includes The Lightning Thief (Book 1), The Sea of Monsters, The Titan’s Curse, The Battle of the Labyrinth, and The Last Olympian. Whether it is for readers who are experiencing Percy’s thrilling adventures with Greek gods and monsters for the first time, or for fans who want to devour the saga again, this gift will be prized by young and old. (5 book paperback boxed set)
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The Book Thief
It is 1939 in Nazi Germany, and the country is holding its breath. Death has never been busier – and will become busier still. By her brother’s graveside, Liesel’s life is changed forever when she picks up a single object, abandoned in the snow. It is The Gravedigger’s Handbook, and this is her first act of book thievery. So begins Liesel’s love affair with books and words, and soon she is stealing from Nazi book-burnings, the mayor’s wife’s library, wherever there are books to be found. But these are dangerous times, and when Liesel’s foster family hides a Jew in their basement, nothing will ever be the same again.
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Happy reading! Travel smart. Live better.