How would you get him to read?

[Christopher]

I had a conversation with a student of mine today about what interests him and a I asked, "if you were to read a book, what would it be about?" He looked at me - I know he was thinking about his love for a video game called, 'Destiny'.
He fixed his glasses and replied, "The future, travel, and new worlds."
So many boys are interested in video games (obviously a trend for about 20 some odd years now) but today, the games are so interactive, there is character development, and big story-lines. No wonder so many of them find it challenging to pick up a book.
How would you engage them? What book would you present to them? What book would you recommend for this student?
What sort of questions would you ask your target audience?

[Jenny]

Well, how old is he?

As you said, loads of video games today contain in-depth lore. There are many games that also have entire series of companion books written in those worlds. Some of the content in those series may be of a mature nature.

But it seems like science fiction would be the way to go with that particular kid. Or maybe some graphic novels, if he is intimidated by thick books or is impatient with reading in general.

[Cassandra]

Do you know if this particular boy has any dyslexia markers? These students have trouble reading, so reading a book probably won't happen if that is the case. I'm both a parent and a teacher, and my son has dyslexia markers that makes reading a battle. He loves his video games, but the solution we found together is audiobooks. We listen everyday to and from school, and he looks forward to it and we discuss it while we listen, and he pauses it to ask me questions when he didn't understand something. I want to teach him to love books even if reading them isn't his thing right now, and once he is farther in his dyslexia training that he will voluntarily pick up books when he is older. Just wanted to give you what I found works for my son :) Hope something here gives you an idea :)

I'm not sure how old the boy is you are talking about, but mine just turned 14 and he is in the 8th grade. We love listening to the Peter and the Starcatcher series.

[Julia]

Perhaps depending on his age and interests Ready Player One by Ernest Cline .

Another one to try is Little Brother by Cory Doctorow .

[Leigh]

You practically described my husband! He's a gamer through and through! But I still tried and I succeeded last year when I asked him to read 'Ready Player One' by Ernest Cline! It worked! Mainly because that novel is also about gaming with elements of old 80s&90s games! :) and then I followed it up with 'Steelheart' by Brandon Sanderson and he also loved it! This one's about superheroes and anti-heroes. So it's still somehow in that line, heroes and villains and gaming. ;) Now he's the one recommending those books to his other gamer friends. So I guess it's really a matter if what book to start them with!

My hubby now has a favorite author, Sanderson, and have read 5 books by him. 3 of which he read on his own w/o my recommendation ;)

[Alyssa]

My husband is a gamer but he also likes to read quite a bit. His favorites so far have been the Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan. The Eye of the World

He LOVES them.

[Christopher]

Good to know. I'll pass that on.