Today my Twitter mutual, Ebony Lynn Mudd, tweeted the following question:
#writingcommunity #kidlit friends, What book could I gift to an almost 13-year old boy who stays on TikTok all day and loves anime, but isn’t a reader? #mg
Maybe you know a kid with similar tastes! So I figured I’d share my recommendations with my blog readers, too!
(If you don’t have an independent bookstore near you, I recommend ordering from Bookshop.org. Any purchase benefits independent shops. You can even choose an individual shop to support, like Black Garnet Books, the only Black-owned book shop in Minnesota)
This was my first response to Ebony’s tweet:
If reading Manga might be too difficult (since they’re read backwards and can have very long series), try a standalone graphic novel or comics volume. What shows or topics does he like?
Ebony responded that he likes Marvel and Stranger Things. So here we go with recommendations!
Highly recommend Gene Luen Yang’s middle grade or YA. One of his Avatar: the Last Airbender series or Superman Smashes the Klan (each series told in a collection or 3 short books).
For comics, look for the words “vol. 1” or “omnibus” or “collection” so it includes a whole story arc.
I also highly recommend the Shuri comics by Nnedi Okorafor and Leonardo Romero, which include some great cameos from other Marvel characters.
Axe Cop is ridiculous and hilarious, if he likes weird slapstick humor on TikTok.
My 10yo absolutely loves Preeti Chhibber’s Marvel books. He’s constantly snickering while reading them, and sharing his favorite parts with me.
He also enjoys the Ms. Marvel’s Fists of Fury chapter book (ages 9-12), where Kamala Khan teams up with Thor.
War of the Realms comics are really fun (though violent, so rated T+ and recommended for 13+) and mix a bunch of Marvel heroes into different teams. They also include this gem of Spider-Man talking to a horse [content warning: bloody violence].
If you want to get him a prose novel, get him anything by Jason Reynolds! I’d start with Miles Morales: Spider-Man, given his likes.
Those are my starter book recommendations for a young teen non-reader who loves anime and TikTok! If you ever need a book recommendation (or 8) for a child or teen, tweet me @larathelark or send me a message on Instagram @larathelark!
Lara Willard 