This is to appease some well-meaning but overtly Christian and out-of-touch family members. Something for a 12yo who reads well above his age, along the lines of inspiration/motivation for teens to be good humans and members of society
Rather than have them pushing propaganda on my son I’d like to find a worthwhile read they will feel addresses the insufficient Christian influence in his life
I am not Christian, but I don’t mind giving him “Christian” books as long as the message doesn’t focus on human guilt/sin, the worthlessness of humanity without a saviour, or racial/gender/orientation/etc. intolerance.
It’s just that everything they are trying to free him focuses on the “traditional Christian” concept of what it means to grow into being a man. It’s all rubbish I can’t tolerate.
Has Christian undertones but is a beautiful book AND it's about ants. It's an old book and out of print but I was surprised by how deep it was. You see ants know how long they will live so the ant reflects on the purpose of life and "the beauty of the work of the creator" in the last chapters. It's also about cooperation and service.
Don't get one of those ugly reprints, get a used copy with the old school binding.
@kaleb@philip_cardella If biographies work, you might also go with "Walking with the Wind", the autobiography of the late Congressman John Lewis. It's an easy to read book with a profound message about public service, and it includes his years training to be a minister that might go over well with the relatives.
@philip_cardella@kaleb It's a wonderful book. I'd recommend it to any good people looking for how to continue to be good people in this grinding world.
This is a pretty obscure book, but I collect children's books about ants that are somewhat realistic about the way that the ants work and this is one of the better ones.
But the author was really trying to share something more about the beauty of nature, and about hard questions about why creatures might fight each other, or die. I kind of wish it was better known.