@ross Depending on the content and intended readership/distribution, you could also do something like one of these (age ~8, age ~10, age ~18) and literally self-publish.
The first is white/printer paper (glued to construction paper on the covers) run through the lamination machine (pro tip: crayon illustrations do not play well with the heat of laminating!) and spiral bound. The second is just white paper folded over and stapled, with the “back” sides of the outermost sheet glued to the back of the cardboard cover, which was coated with drawer-liner/contact paper (I think; all I remember is that they were out of white and clear by the time it was my turn). The last I printed using the old BookMaker /T-Maker ClickBook Chooser extension and my English teacher then photocopied on the colored paper and stapled (there’s a special stapler for doing those center staples).
The first two were fun crafty projects—could make a great father-son project; I have great memories of making them in class, plus my first two stories are now books I will have forever. The latter was just timely; a cathartic way of ending my senior year, part my English teacher’s gift to me and part my gift to her and my AP English classmates for the post-Cairo re-integration support….
I hope you do figure something out, because I’m sure having a book in some form will be something special for him for years to come.