Boy Books - where are they?

ColoradoMom · Aug 6, 2009

I took my (12 year old) son to the book store yesterday to find a good title for the upcoming school year and good god - is there anything out there that is not an urban fantasy "girl" book? He's already read all the Percy Jackson books and I purchased The Alchemyst: The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas to get us started as well as Among the Hidden (Shadow Children) and some classics that are the mainstay of our literary year...but are there any other series out there like Percy Jackson?

I swear when we went to the teen section there as nothing, NOTHING but Vampires and girls on the shelves! He was mortified and then he said "That's why boys don't read mom!".

Any suggestions (not classics - we have those covered).

Amarie · Aug 6, 2009

Check out the website in my signature. I've been cram reading as many boy-oriented MG and young YA as possible.

Here's some more that aren't yet on the website:
Steel Trapp by Ridley Pearson-my 13 loved this
Jake Ransom and the Skull King's Shadow

I'll post more when I go through my stacks!

Shady Lane · Aug 6, 2009

if your 12-year-old is adventurous and you can wait 18 more days, mine's a definite boy book.

Also, how about Ned Vizzini, John Green, Kevin Brooks, and Brent Runyon?

polleekin · Aug 6, 2009

There are plenty of boy books

Just a few to get you started:

The Alex Rider series by Anthony Horowitz
The Artemis Fowl series by Eoin Colfer
The Last Apprentice series by Joseph Delaney
The Ranger's Apprentice series by John Flanagan
The Charlie Bone series by Jenny Nimmo
The Bartimaeus Trilogy by Jonathan Stroud
Erin Hunter has two series, Warriors and I think Seekers?
He might like Gordon Korman's books too
Also, some vampire books that should appeal to boys: Vampire High by Douglas Rees and The Chronicles of Vladimir Tod by Heather Brewer

Mercurio Cavaldi · Aug 6, 2009

I heard "Little Brother" by Cory Doctorow is supposed to be pretty good, but haven't actually read it. "The Bartimaeus Trilogy" by Jonathan Stroud are some of my all-time fav YA books and they feature mostly male protagonists. Philip Pullman's "His Dark Materials" is excellent but very heavy on ideas. "The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian" by Sherman Alexie is a fun and pretty short read (I believe it won the National Book Award for Children's Lit last year). Other recommendations: "The Thief of Always" by Clive Barker, "The Neverending Story" by Michael Ende, "The Mysterious Benedict Society" by Trenton Lee Stewart. These are all books that I have enjoyed reading at various stages of my life and I'm a guy!

Juneluv12 · Aug 6, 2009

Give him a few years, and he can read my boy book narrated by a seventeen year old guy....lol

Mercurio Cavaldi · Aug 6, 2009

polleekin said:
Just a few to get you started:

The Alex Rider series by Anthony Horowitz
The Artemis Fowl series by Eoin Colfer
The Last Apprentice series by Joseph Delaney
The Ranger's Apprentice series by John Flanagan
The Charlie Bone series by Jenny Nimmo
The Bartimaeus Trilogy by Jonathan Stroud
Erin Hunter has two series, Warriors and I think Seekers?
He might like Gordon Korman's books too
Also, some vampire books that should appeal to boys: Vampire High by Douglas Rees and The Chronicles of Vladimir Tod by Heather Brewer

Bartimaeus! Sweet! I love those books and recommend them as well.

Toothpaste · Aug 6, 2009

I have been doing a lot of self promoting on this site lately, and it is starting to make me feel a bit icky.

Oddly that isn't stopping me.

My book "Timothy and the Dragon's Gate" is definitely a boy's book (though girls like it too). But the miracle is that the first book, "Alex and the Ironic Gentleman" is also well loved by boys despite having a female main character, in fact I get more emails from boys about it than girls. At any rate, he can read "Timothy" first even though it is the second book. It stands alone, there are just one or two inside jokes he might not fully get.

FYI - they are pirate adventure stories.

suki · Aug 6, 2009

ColoradoMom said:
I took my (12 year old) son to the book store yesterday to find a good title for the upcoming school year and good god - is there anything out there that is not an urban fantasy "girl" book? He's already read all the Percy Jackson books and I purchased The Alchemyst: The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas to get us started as well as Among the Hidden (Shadow Children) and some classics that are the mainstay of our literary year...but are there any other series out there like Percy Jackson?

I swear when we went to the teen section there as nothing, NOTHING but Vampires and girls on the shelves! He was mortified and then he said "That's why boys don't read mom!".

Any suggestions (not classics - we have those covered).

I have to be honest, this makes me absolutely bat-crap crazy becuase there are tons of books that appeal to boys (even boys who won't touch books "about girls") and so it makes me crazy that the bookstore shelves seemed devoid of any books he might like.

Here are some good ones off the top of my head:

Holes by Louis Sachar

Some of the books by Walter Dean Myers (all are great, but some might be too mature still)

Snow Bound, by Harry Mazer

Ender’s Game, Orson Scott Card

I've heard good things about the Alex Rider series and the Gatekeepers series, both by Anthony Horowitz

The Book Theif, by Marcus Zusak

Skulduggery Pleasant series, by Derek landry (yes, the MC is a girl, but she is a kickass magic warrior in training and her partner is a male skeleton detective, and it has a sarcastic, funny voice and cool evils beings and the series is way cool)

Not sure is the Wimpy Kid series by Jeff Kinney would be too young for him - they're funny and light, but he might think them beneth him or not meaty enough

Pretty much anything by Christopher Paul Curtis, including Elijah of Buxton

ETA: I'm surprised the bookseller couldn't offer any suggestions - maybe an independent bookstore or the library would offer more choices or more guidance. Good luck!

~suki

ColoradoMom · Aug 6, 2009

Oh You guys are awesome! I am going to check out evey single one - some of them I have Like Ender's Game and Golden Compass stuff (he's seen the movie - so kinda ruins it) but want to wait another year before doing them.

But thank you guys for the shameless self promotion - that is way cool that he might read something that one of you guys wrote!

Our serious books for this year are 1984, I am the Cheese, The Outsiders, and Lord of the Flies. If anyone has any other suggestions along the basic theme I have going with this set of books, please feel free to add them. I decided agianst Anthem, Fahrenheit451,and Brave New World just because they might go over his head and he won't fully appreciate them. He's a very good reader - but still only 12.

No to Animal Farm as well - I want to do that when we get to 20th century history so it all fits together (we're doing American Revolution this year). If anyone knows of any American Revolution historical fiction please do tell!

ColoradoMom · Aug 6, 2009

Toothpaste said:
I have been doing a lot of self promoting on this site lately, and it is starting to make me feel a bit icky.

Oddly that isn't stopping me.

My book "Timothy and the Dragon's Gate" is definitely a boy's book (though girls like it too). But the miracle is that the first book, "Alex and the Ironic Gentleman" is also well loved by boys despite having a female main character, in fact I get more emails from boys about it than girls. At any rate, he can read "Timothy" first even though it is the second book. It stands alone, there are just one or two inside jokes he might not fully get.

FYI - they are pirate adventure stories.

I just purchased both of the books above and you'll be happy to know that I buy both the audio and the book - we do a "read along" thing and he loves it!

Thanks!!!

eyeblink · Aug 6, 2009

ColoradoMom said:
Our serious books for this year are 1984, I am the Cheese, The Outsiders, and Lord of the Flies. If anyone has any other suggestions along the basic theme I have going with this set of books, please feel free to add them. I decided agianst Anthem, Fahrenheit451,and Brave New World just because they might go over his head and he won't fully appreciate them.

If he can handle Nineteen Eighty-Four he should have no problems with Brave New World or Fahrenheit 451. I'd say they were easier books, certainly the latter. I haven'r read Brave New World in years, but I have heard word that it's quite dated now.

Robert Muchamore's Cherub (kids as spies) or Henderson's Boys (same principle, though with a WW2 setting) series do well in the UK, and they're definitely boy books. I'm told (by the author) that the Cherubs can be read in any order, not sure about Henderson's Boys.

Red.Ink.Rain · Aug 6, 2009

Scott Westerfeld does a lot of good boy books, and a lot of dystopian. I think the Hunger Games is a boy book, despite the fact that the narrator is a girl. Sleeping Freshmen Never Lie is contemporary, but has a very cool and snarky boy protagonist. EXCELLENT book. One of my favorites. And I second John Green.

RLB · Aug 6, 2009

I"ve noticed that the "teen" section in B&N and Borders seems to be all girly vampires too, but if you go into the children's section, a lot of the series you guys are suggesting are shelved there. Are there older "teen" boy books with a YAish feel, where the protag is 16+? Or not so much?

I know I went straight from MGish books to adult books, because there wasn't the YA selection back then, and I'm wondering if boys still have to do that?

shethinkstoomuch · Aug 6, 2009

Revolutionary War books:
My Brother Sam is Dead by Christopher Collier and James Lincoln Collier
The Fighting Ground by Avi (ANYTHING by Avi, really)

Fantasy:
The Dark is Rising Sequence by Susan Cooper (first book is The Dark is Rising, and it apparently was made into a terrible looking movie). I loved this series.
The Prydain Chronicles by Lloyd Alexander (first book is The Book of Three).
Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer
The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien

JoNightshade · Aug 6, 2009

Walk your boy over to the Sci Fi and Fantasy section and let him take his pick. Seriously.

Actually at his age I guess I wasn't totally into the adult section yet - what I was doing was reading a LOT of sci fi short story collections. Funny, I don't do this anymore. But short stories tend to be a lot less intimidating and easier to understand. (Even if they have deeper nuances.) I read all of Ray Bradbury and Robert Heinlein's short stories. I then started branching into Heinlein and Asimov's easier stuff - Heinlein actually wrote a lot of stuff aimed at teenagers. Actually Asimov wrote the "Norby" series with his wife, Janet, aimed at younger readers - I adored them immensely. I think they're out of print but you might be able to get them used or at the library.

Anyway by the time I finished with the short stories I was ready for the adult stuff.

Of course this is all assuming your kid likes robots and spaceships and stuff.

Moost · Aug 6, 2009

Has he read Herbie Brennan's Faerie Wars series yet? Great books with a male MC.

Stunted · Aug 6, 2009

Little Brother.
Pete Hautman.
Dull Boy, though I haven't read it and have no reason to think it's any good.
Maximum Ride (female MC, but with lots of good male characters and definitely a boy book).
His Dark Materials (ditto Maximum Ride, but much classier.)

ColoradoMom · Aug 6, 2009

shethinkstoomuch said:
Revolutionary War books:
My Brother Sam is Dead by Christopher Collier and James Lincoln Collier
The Fighting Ground by Avi (ANYTHING by Avi, really)

Excellente!

You guys are so much better at this than the homeschool boards! LOL...I might have to put Absolute Write up as a "resource".

Thanks very much, I will mull it all over - LOTS to look at now. I really appreciate it.

History_Chick · Aug 6, 2009

I can give you a list of teen books, but some may deal with mature subjects. There maybe some swearing.

nitaworm · Aug 6, 2009

I know how you feel. I have a son of fourteen. Have him check out my link below, there are 3 chapters on there. If he likes it pick it up when it comes out in Feb. 2010.

Also, check out the following that my son liked:
Percy Jackson and the Olympians by Rick Riordan

Mercurio Cavaldi · Aug 6, 2009

I also wanted to throw in Neil Gaiman's "Graveyard Book," up for a World Fantasy Award this year! His "Coraline" is amazing too.

Skye Jules · Aug 6, 2009

The Chrestomanci Chronicles. Most--not all--of the books in this series have male MCs, if I remember correctly.

History_Chick · Aug 6, 2009

Maybe I missed it but I didnt see Mike Lupica mentioned Tim Greene also has a few MS boy books

F.F. · Aug 7, 2009

He might be a little young for these but I remember regarding Frank Herbert's Dune as one of my favorite books of adolescence and also Roger Zelazny's Nine Princes in Amber series. Great male protagonists.

Can't go wrong with Orson Scott Card - Ender's Game.

My little cousin who is around 12 is deeply into the Pendragon Series by D.J. Machale. - Can't say if it's any good, but he seems glued to it.

Garth Nix has a YA series called Keys to the Kingdom, which is supposed to be good.

Or you can wait for me to get agented up and published with my YA crossover featuring a 14 year old male protagonist. But by which time he might be a little more in the crossover bracket and less in the YA...

Boy Books - where are they?

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