Books for Children and Young Adults

tod evans said:
Foxfire......
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Had to look it up. I knew I'd seen that title somewhere before! I saw it in a thrift store with used books.

"With nearly 9 million copies in print, The Foxfire Book and its eleven companion volumes stand memorial to the people and the vanishing culture of the Southern Appalachian Mountains, brought to life for readers through the words of those who were born, lived their lives, and passed away there—words collected by high school students who wanted to be a part of their community and preserve their heritage. All 12 volumes in the regular series are anthologies of Foxfire Magazine articles written by Rabun County high school students over the magazine's 40-year history, usually expanded through follow-up interviews and other research."

-- http://www.foxfire.org/thefoxfirebooks.aspx
 
The Mysterious Benedict Society: I just finished this one. It's a good book for the most part. Is it explicitly libertarian? No. Implicitly even? Maybe not, but that depends on the reader. The main conflict of the book is a struggle to take down a man bent on controlling people. So that's libertarian. The kids are in a completely controlled prison-like environment: a school! This type of environment should be all too familiar to most children, attending as they do the government prison camps called "elementary school," "middle school," and "high school." In this environment they have no respect for the rules, utter hatred for the school and everything it represents, and bend their every effort toward destroying the school.

So, one could say it's a little bit anti-school. ;)

Another theme that runs through the book is the characters' strong loyalty to truth. The truth is extremely valuable in and of itself. The truth is attacked and undermined in many very sophisticated and interesting ways by the villains. It is a great challenge to our heroes to stay true to the truth -- no matter what.

I give The Mysterious Benedict Society about a 7 out of 10. I won't mention what brought its ranking lower, because it may not bother you at all, and if not I would hate to spoil the book for you. If you like Roald Dahl's books, you will probably like this book, too.
 
helmuth_hubener said:
The Girl Who Owned a City -- Fantastic, fantastic book. Fun premise, interesting plot, likeable characters. Good family values, good libertarian values. Just one sidenote I remember (not a main point of the book): it makes an interesting Hoppean point in a little story the girl tells, that a king need not necessarily be bad, as long as he doesn't have a forcibly-maintained monopoly. Anyway, I highly recommend this book. Too bad the author does not seem to have followed through with his plan for a sequel.
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I came here to add this one to the list, but lo! I already had. So we'll have to do a different one. How about:

RebelFire: Out of the Gray Zone I bought this book as a present for my brother years ago. I also read it (and even listened to the CD!). It has some good qualities. Very big on privacy themes, as well as anti-UN. It is explicitly libertarian, of course. As for the story and writing... it is not bad, but it just didn't light a fire under me either (a rebel fire). So, I give it maybe 6 out of 10 stars.
 
The Alliance -- Here's another one I read at 12 with the chicken pox. It is very good. It is a really good adventure story, and I appreciate that. Just excellent plotting by Lund. And chock-full of libertarian themes, in a distinctly LDS way. For instance, here's some passages:

"Even God, with all his incredible majestic power and infinite knowledge, chooses not to force men to be good. Andthe reason is clear. When man has no choice but to do good, there's no point in calling him moral. Men cannot be good without making that choice themselves. They can be made to act in good ways, but they cannot be good" (pp. 128-29).
"Even infinite power cannot make men be good. You can make them act in good ways, but to really be good, an individual must choose good things freely. It's man's most basic and sacred stewardship — to serve as the guardian of his own behavior." (p. 181)

So if you can't choose to do bad, you can't really choose to do good! I agree. This is an excellent book, and not just for it's pro-freedom philosophy of which I highly approve. It is simply an enjoyable read. Well-written. Good for young adults and even children. 10 out of 10 stars.
 
Do The Hunger Games books count?
I read them, after my wife had and I had been hearing a lot about them, and enjoyed them far more than I expected.
Book three even lays out in plain English for readers how governments keep the people distracted, and it was my favorite book of the series because of the one little section that did it.
 
jjdoyle said:
Do The Hunger Games books count?
I read them, after my wife had and I had been hearing a lot about them, and enjoyed them far more than I expected.
Book three even lays out in plain English for readers how governments keep the people distracted, and it was my favorite book of the series because of the one little section that did it.
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I definitely think the Hunger Games count. The government is the bad guy. Strapping under-dog heroes who hate the government from the bottom of their soul and fight against it are the good guys. Everyone in the government is portrayed as having no redeeming value -- just completely corrupt. The heroine shows complete and utter contempt for all of them. That is so satisfying! It's well deserved contempt!
 
Who Is Bugs Potter? -- What if Hank Rearden were 14 years old? And a drummer instead of a steel man? And fun instead of so serious? Well, the book that would be written about him would be Who Is Bugs Potter?. This book glorifies heroic over-achievement in way that would make Ayn Rand beam. It also is a fantastic romp. Lots of fun! It's a good thing to work hard and actually become good at something! Who knew? To love something, be obsessed and passionate, and to be blithely unaware/disregarding of societal limitations saying "you can't do it!" Bugs Potter could do it. And you can, too. That is the message of this book. Another winner, receiving 10 out of 10 stars.

Also, guys, please keep participating! I don't want this to just be my ideas. I've only read so many books! We need input from everyone to make this a useful resource.
 
OK, another good liberty book resource for kids: Dr. Seuss! You don't have to read them the one about environmentalism. There's several books that have good, strong pro-liberty themes. Allow me to mention:

The Butter Battle Book: Dr. Seuss' foreign policy contribution. A delightful skewering of war. Boy, war: how stupid. Preach on, Seuss, preach on!
 
helmuth_hubener said:
The Mysterious Benedict Society: I just finished this one. It's a good book for the most part. Is it explicitly libertarian? No. Implicitly even? Maybe not, but that depends on the reader. The main conflict of the book is a struggle to take down a man bent on controlling people. So that's libertarian. The kids are in a completely controlled prison-like environment: a school! This type of environment should be all too familiar to most children, attending as they do the government prison camps called "elementary school," "middle school," and "high school." In this environment they have no respect for the rules, utter hatred for the school and everything it represents, and bend their every effort toward destroying the school.

So, one could say it's a little bit anti-school. ;)

Another theme that runs through the book is the characters' strong loyalty to truth. The truth is extremely valuable in and of itself. The truth is attacked and undermined in many very sophisticated and interesting ways by the villains. It is a great challenge to our heroes to stay true to the truth -- no matter what.

I give The Mysterious Benedict Society about a 7 out of 10. I won't mention what brought its ranking lower, because it may not bother you at all, and if not I would hate to spoil the book for you. If you like Roald Dahl's books, you will probably like this book, too.
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Dahl was a genius. :cool: I rather wonder what he smoked to come up with the stuff he wrote. ;) :D
 
It's technically college-level reading, but Zamyatin's "We" is good. Orwell basically copy-pasted it to create "1984". "We" is very sci-fi though, so it will probably keep the attention of young readers better.
 
heavenlyboy34 said:
It's technically college-level reading, but Zamyatin's "We" is good. Orwell basically copy-pasted it to create "1984". "We" is very sci-fi though, so it will probably keep the attention of young readers better.
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Thanks so much, HB! We is one of the ones I haven't read yet. Someday.....!

So would you say it was better than 1984? I have read 1984 and think it's a very good book.
 
helmuth_hubener said:
Must...have...more...kid's book recommendations!
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I am coming out with a new young adult/adult novel very soon. I will update you. Should be a couple of weeks. It's more of a psychological thriller fantasy than a sci-fi book, but I think many here will like it and can relate to the main character's sense of never being completely free.

A possible drawback is that it is my first, so it may seem a bit amateur, and it is not really for kids. Anyway, I still hope people will read it!
 
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PaulConventionWV said:
I am coming out with a new young adult/adult novel very soon. I will update you. Should be a couple of weeks. It's more of a psychological thriller fantasy than a sci-fi book, but I think many here will like it and can relate to the main character's sense of never being completely free.

A possible drawback is that it is my first, so it may seem a bit amateur, and it is not really for kids. Anyway, I still hope people will read it!
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Wow, Paul, that's amazing! Congratulations. That's got to be a whole lot of work and take a whole lot of discipline. I think I would give up after a couple chapters once I realized how hard it really was going to be.
 
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