Any ideas on books that might peak the interest of a 14 year old boy.. He loves magic and has read every book available at our library.   He does seem to like Harry Potter.. I thnk he is discouraged by the size of the books..

If he likes Harry Potter, He may like the Garth Nix Series Keys to the Kingdom or any of Eoin Colfers Artemis Fowl Books. My son has read them all and loved them

My son (13) is a huge reader, but also loves books on tape/disc.  Some of the more intimidating books your son is interested in might be approached that way.

Good luck!

The Alex Rider series by Anthony Horowitz (not magic, but adventure).  Scorpio, etc. 

My grandson who is this age loves Eragon and the sequel. 

House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer.  

Dragon and Thief by Timothy Zahn and the 5 sequels.  This has the dragon/alien sort of riding along inside him and has a nice fast pace. 

Non SF/Fantasy, the book most read in that age range by both boys and girls  here is A Child Called It.  For some reason, kids are facinated by the idea of a person surviving that level of abuse.  It's gross and has some profanity.

We are headed to the library on Monday and I will  takeyour titles with us.. Keep your fingers crossed!

Let us know how it goes!

Maybe Angie Sage's Trilogy: Magyk, Flyte and Physik?  Or Chris D'Lacey's Dragon Trilogy:  Icefire, Fire Within and Firestar?  Cornelia Funke is good as well:  The Thief Lord, Dragon Rider, Inkheart, Inkspell.

Jan beat me to my recommendation - Cornelia Funke is wonderful!

A Wrinkle in Time is also very good.

I didn't like to read when I was 14 either!  Heck I didn't like to read till I got out of college.  Now I'm going thru the same thing with my daughter.  While I'm sure some kids do like to read, I bet you'll find it pretty evenly split between those that do and those that don't like to read.  I wouldn't worry about it too much or try to force the issue, but do as you are in finding something that peaks his interest.  I've yet to find a way to get my daughter to enjoy reading....if you do let me know!  And good luck!

Sam - to get my daughter started reading, I picked up a bunch of teen fan magazines - Tiger Beat, J-14, etc.  She would devour them.  Then we talked about things that interested her - soccer, magick, ghosts.  Then we found books about those topics.  We also made sure that reading was a positive experience, not a chore (which kind of irked the schools with their mandatory reading requirements that I sort of ignored) - but now she's anxious to finish a book so she can start another one.  The hard work is paying off.

My boys both loved Sparrow Hawk Red and some of the other Ben Mikaelsen (sp?) adventure books.  They're great adventure storie; not particularly realistic (how much could a 12 year old boy really do?) but great fun, exciting and easy to read.  They're pretty short, too - maybe around 150 pages.

And there's always the Anne McCaffrey Dragons of Pern series. 

Good luck, and do let us know how it goes.

My 14 yr old loves The Outsiders, Theif Lord, Dragon Rider, Aretmis Fowl series and Deltora Quest.

You might want to take a look at the YALSA Quick picks for reluctant readers.

http://www.ala.org/ala/yalsa/booklistsawards/quickpicks/quickpicksreluctant.cfm

Why not try Manga or other types of graphic novels, thats what alot of the 14yo read in my library and then when we find out what interests them the most we recommend other novels to them.  Lots of normal novels are now done as graphic novels.  Boys seem to like Avatar the last air bender and Negima, Fullmetal alchemist is one I have read.

I also think Cornealia Funk is great, loved the books.

Spiderwick chronicles was also a great series and more appealing to boys that dont like long books.

Also Pullman is a great read.

Plus never forget the Hardy Boys (also done as a graphic novel) never go out of fashion.

Also ask the librarian for books like harry potter, it is a very common question these days and they will know what your library has.

I would also like to share that at 14 I got alittle sick or reading due to being made to read things at school that did not interest me at all. So just let him pick what he likes.

Please remember that ALL kids enjoy being read to, my mother used to read to my brother at that age because he felt so stressed out by school. Being read to by his mother brought back happy memories for him and helped him get to sleep. WHich reminds me, see if he likes Hitchhikers guide to the galaxy AND terry pratchett books. Very funny books.

Oh...how could I forget....The Bartimaeus Trilogy, The Leap, The Last Siege by Jonathan Stroud

I think a 14 year old boy would like Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer.  It's the true story of his climb of Mount Everest, told vividly and  frankly.  Krakauer does not bog the story down with technical climbing stats or anything boring, he just gets right to the point.  I think if you can just convince your 14 year old son (or anybody!) to read the 2 1/2 page introduction, he will HAVE to read on.  It's that good.  Good luck! 

I just read A Malady of Magics by Craig Shaw Gardener. Its the first in a series of 6 books (havent read the other five) about a wizard and his young apprentice. It was funny and fast paced and only 235 pages long. He might like it.

You might want to try the Magice Circle Series by Tamora Pierce.  It's a good read!

I have a 15 year old who reads only his kind of stuff,spiderman,and cool stuff.I never suggest anything.I only take him to the library or other reading places and let him roam.Then I go in my direction.He tends to find something cool,Star wars or a Laker's book because he likes basketball.He might read some of it,sometimes all of it but he chose it.He really likes Shaq and did read all of his books.Then we found Kobe Bryant,another basketball player.These are ways to "peak" the interest in their territory of interest.Only rare for school does his English class make him read something dreadful like The grapes Of Wrath-Oh No!!!

I second the suggestion of graphic novels.  Almost every teenage boy I have ever known has loved them.  Go to a comic book store and ask for some recommendations.  Reading is reading!

Terry Pratchett is a great suggestion too.

Vampire Hunter D by Hideyuki Kikuchi. 

my brother is 12 and loved the harry potter series. while the size of the books may be intimidating at first, he was so excited to finish one book and move onto the next. by the end of the first book he was so hooked he could hardly put it down.

my brother also loved the lemony snicket series. he couldnt wait to go to the library and get the next book in the series

i also agree that the eragon trilogy is great. though i think only the 1st two books are out. they are fairly decent sized books, but once you get started you cant put it down. and i liked them even more knowing that they were written by a very young author.