What is the BEST winter holiday present? Buy your child a book!

Written By Kim Duckworth

All ages appreciate a good book.

Check out some of best book gifts at: Amazon.com or Barnes & Noble

  • Nobel Prize in Literature 2017 – Kazuo Ishiguro – 8 Books; Most recent – The Buried Giant (2015)

  • ManBooker Prize 2017 – Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders

  • Hugo Award – Best Novel 2017 – The Obelisk Gate by N.K. Jemish

  • Pulitzer Prize 2017 – The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead

  • Caldecott Medal for Illustration: Radiant Child by Javaka Steptoe

  • Finding Winnie: The True Story of the World’s Most Famous Bear by Sophie Blackall and Lindsay Mattick

  • For students interested in the Legal Field – The Rogue Lawyer by John Grisham

12 adult books that appeal to teens:

  1. The Lost City of the Monkey God by Douglas Preston

  2. The Next Person You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom

  3. All Involved by Ryan Gattis

  4. Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates

  5. Bones & All by Camille DeAngelis

  6. Futuristic Violence and Fancy Suits by David Wong

  7. Girl at War by Sara Nović

  8. Half the World by Joe Abercrombie

  9. Humans of New York: Stories by Brandon Stanton

  10. Sacred Heart by Liz Suburbia

  11. Undocumented: A Dominican Boy’s Odyssey from a Homeless Shelter to the Ivy League by Dan-el Padilla Peralta

  12. The Unraveling of Mercy Louis by Keija Parssinen

Not sure what you are good at?  Hoping to find your Superpower?

  • Try Reading: Strengthsfinders 2.0 by Tom Rath

The Pulitzer Books:

  • Website: https://www.pulitzer.org/prize-winners-by-year

Some favorites from SEC tutors for middle and high schoolers include:

  • Wonder by R.J. Palacia

  • Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand (high school)

  • Night by Elie Wiesel (high school)

  • Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck….(“If you don’t cry at the end of this book….you may not be human.”)

  • Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand (high school)

  • Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes (middle school/ high school)

  • Frankenstein by Mary Shelley (high school)

  • The Life of Pi by Yann Martel

  • Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown ( a MUST read)

  • Go Set A Watchman by Harper Lee

  • I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou

Also don’t forget the possibility of a magazine subscription. for an area of interest:  National Geographic,  Astronomy, Psychology Today, Business Week, Chemistry World, Poetry Magazine, etc.

If your child has a “hero” you can also think about a biography or autobiography on that individual.  There are some fabulous ones out now about several of the country’s founding fathers.

Kim Duckworth

Scottsdale Education Center’s College Coach is Kim Duckworth. Kim specializes in the application process including resume development, application essay writing and question selection, the common application, college research, timeline development, letters of recommendation, in-state admissions, standardized testing review (ACT vs. SAT), the interview, and overall application review and student packaging. Kim has helped students gain admission to all major Arizona schools as well as Stanford, Harvard, Columbia, Yale, Brown, USC, George Washington, Loyola, SMU, Georgetown, Pepperdine, Loyola Marymount, Chicago, Duke, Cal Berkeley, Michigan, UCLA, SDSU, MIT, Penn State, West Point, Naval Academy, Air Force Academy, Coast Guard Academy, plus many more.

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