Book recs please? I want to choose a gift for a 14 y/o....

[tosh]

who is fascinated with politics. She's the daughter of a Community Organizer and is getting a fair amount of exposure to the political system. Can someone name some must-reads? She probably reads above 14 y/o level, she's very bright but is in a crappy school system.

TIA

[Dogmudgeon]

1. It Can't Happen Here

Also good are the other great dystopian novels like 1984, Brave New World, and We. But It Can't Happen Here is closer to modern American politics, even if it is nearly 80 years out-of-date.

--p!

[tosh]

5. Thanks - I'll have to put this in my own stack!

I don't know how I missed this one in my youth.

[Idealism]

2. If you want her to grow up a cynic

The Shock Doctrine, Naomi Klein

Very relevant to what is happening currently in our financial system, the war in Iraq, and the crime family mentality of government. But it may lead her to become terribly pessimistic about the future of a governing body :/

[tosh]

6. This is what I'm reading now. I've been rec'ing it

to everyone. It is taking me a while to read it - so much to absorb that I read and re-read almost every paragraph.

I'll consider loaning her my copy...in 2 or 3 years. (I'll give her a little more time for "innocence", LOL!)

[TheWraith]

3. There's always "America: The Book" by the Daily Show crew

Another possibility would be the collected Jefferson-Adams letters. I've read some of them and they're still excellent, a window into the brains of a couple of founding fathers as well as truths about the human condition.

[tosh]

7. Good suggestions - both! Thanks!

[TheWraith]

11. Oh, a couple other things...

These two might be a little heavier. You say she's probably got an above average reading level, though. I haven't read it myself, but I've heard good things about Howard Zinn's "A People's History of the United States." Also "Charlie Wilson's War," which extends to geopolitics.

And there's a book that I found at a little younger than her age (albeit at a ridiculously advanced reading level). It's actually a novel, but it deals a lot around politics and political philosophy, and is very thought provoking. It's called "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress," and it's by Robert A Heinlein.

[Captain Hilts]

13. That picture of the Supremes, naked, will turn her back off politics!

[sorcrow]

4. Little Brother

Little Brother by Cory Doctorow is an interesting young adult book about DHS gone wild after a bombing in SF and the young heroes that expose the excesses.

[tosh]

8. Great! I just checked this out at amazon and I MUST add it to the list.

It looks as though she'll be getting a bag of books instead of just one. Thanks!

[sinkingfeeling]

9. Delete. Didn't read all of OP post about asking about political books.

[zbdent]

10. Triumph of Politics by David Stockman

really shoots a hole in the idea that Reagan was doing a great thing with this country, and exposes what the Repukes did to help drain the country ...

and, for a perspective on what levels the Repukes would go, "Blinded by the Right" ...

[Neoma]

12. Endurance by Alfred Lansing

http://www.amazon.com/Endurance-Shackletons-Incredible-Alfred-Lansing/dp/078670621X

Eh, just because it'll expand her horizons.

[Sequoia]

14. All The King's Men.

Novel by Robert Penn Warren. About a guy running for governor. Based on the life of the Kingfisher. Excellent book.

[Sabriel]

15. Wide Awake by David Levithan

http://www.amazon.com/Wide-Awake-David-Levithan/dp/0375834672/ref=pd_bbs_sr_4?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1236121315&sr=8-4

It's about a future with a gay, Jewish president whose election is contested by the religious minority. It's a real paradigm shifter, to say the least.

[CrispyQ]

16. Here is a great book by Thom Hartmann,

"We the People: A Call to Take Back America"

Just because it's written in a comic book fashion, don't underestimate this book! It is basically a civics refresher course, only it covers some things we never went over in civics, like corporate personhood. It has a great section about our Commons & how through privatization, we have allowed our national resources to be looted by private industry & stockholders. He reminds us that corporations don't need clean air & water & that their only agenda is profit for the share holder.

If you like Thom Hartman, you'll like this book. There are some excerpts at this site.

http://www.we-the-people-book.com/

30 votes on Amazon & it has a 5 star rating.
http://www.amazon.com/We-People-Call-Take-America/dp/1882109384/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1236132938&sr=1-4