Lawn Boy by Gary Paulsen: Hilarious. I loved this quick read. Business men would also enjoy it IF they could come to grips with the fact that it's a fictional comedy. Andy couldn't. It says it's around a 4th grade reading level, but the vocabulary in it could be made for high schoolers (financially speaking). Dawson- you would love this, you little saver! ;)
The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan: I bought the entire series and read this book because ALL the boys in my class are reading and loving it! Percy, the main character, is edgy and misunderstood. He acts older than his age, battles anything the gods will send his way, survives a visit to hell, and has a sense of humor about it all. He's every little boy's hero. I'm not into the idea of not letting kids read things because they might be contrary to the truth of the gospel, like magic, witches, wizzards, vampires, hobbits, etc. I have no problem with kids reading that stuff because it's fiction. They read it knowing that it's fiction. It's not truth. Having said that, I was put off by some things in this book. The kids would say things like "Oh my gods," or "Thank the gods." At dinnertime, every person would set aside the best portion of their meal and offer it to their parent god. The book says something in the beginning about how these are "little g" gods and are tiny compared to "big G" God. However, big G God didn't seem to have any interest or involvement in the universe, the little g gods, or any mortals. He was completely out of the picture. So...in my mind, this one borders on the edge of healthy and unhealthy. My advice- you know your kids better than anyone. Use your best judgement. Definitely read it before you let your kids and make sure to talk through some of the issues with them.
