Great Books for Guys
For
guys in grades 3 - 5
Bodett, Tom. Williwaw!
A brother and sister get caught in a williwaw (a sudden storm)
in an Alaskan bay. (Juv Fic Bodett)
Brown, Jeff. Flat Stanley.
Goofy fun story about a kid who wakes up flat one morning. (Juv
Fic Brown)
Collins, Suzanne. Gregor the Overlander.
A fantasy that takes place underground with giant cockroaches,
rats, and bats. (Juv SF Collins)
Creech, Sharon. Ruby Holler.
Two 13-year-old orphans are rescued from an abusive orphanage
by an eccentric couple. They all end up in an adventure no one
expected. (Juv Fic Creech)
Curtis, Christopher Paul. The Watsons Go to Birmingham - 1963.
A story that's both hilarious and moving about a kid from Flint,
Michigan whose parents whisk him away to grandma's in Alabama
to keep him from becoming a certified juvenile delinquent. (Juv
Fic Curtis)
Durbin, William. The Broken Blade.
A voyageur adventure. (Juv Fic Durbin)
Etchemendy, Nancy. The Power of Un.
A boy finds a device that allows him to "undo" things
that have happened in the past. (Juv SF Etchemendy)
Colfer, Eoin. Artemis Fowl series.
(#1: Artemis Fowl)
A 12-year-old genius uses James Bond-type techniques to blackmail
fairies for gold, but he underestimates their magic, technology,
and troll allies. (Juv SF Colfer)
Gantos, Jack. Joey Pigza trilogy
(#1: Joey Pigza Swallowed
the Key)
Joey's brain is wired differently from other kids', and that leads
him to do unusual things…like swallowing his housekey. (Juv
Fic Gantos)
Heneghan, James. Wish Me Luck.
Based on the true story of the sinking of a passenger liner by
a German U-boat during World War II. (Juv Fic Heneghan)
Kjelgaard, Jim. Big Red.
A classic boy-and-dog story in which Danny and his Irish Setter
track a killer bear. (Juv Fic Kjelgaard)
North, Sterling. Rascal.
A WWI story about a boy who tames a raccoon. (j599.74443 North)
Robertson, Keith. Henry Reed, Inc.
Henry finds a practical way to spend his summer vacation: coming
up with money-making schemes. (Juv Fic Robertson)
Rodda, Emily. Rowan of Rin series.
(#1: Rowan of Rin)
A shy kid has to climb a mountain and face a dragon to save his
village. (Juv SF Rodda)
Sachar, Louis. Holes.
Stanley Yelnats lives under the curse of his great-great-grandfather.
After he is accused of theft, he is sent to a detention camp,
where an evil warden forces him to dig holes in the desert. (for
grades 5+) (YA Fic Sachar)
Sachar, Louis. Sideways Stories from Wayside School.
Not your average school. (Juv Fic Sachar)
Scieszka, Jon. Time Warp Trio series
(#1: Knights of the
Kitchen Table; but series can be
read in any order)
Joe's uncle gave him a magic book that transports Joe and his
buddies to different places and times, where the guys get into
some interesting scrapes. (Juv SF Scieszka)
Serraillier, Ian. The Silver Sword.
It's WWII, the Germans have occupied Poland, and three friends
have been separated from their families. (Juv Fic Serraillier)
Van Draanen, Wendelin. Shredderman series.
(#1: Secret Identity)
Fifth-grader Nolan Byrd, tired of being called names by the class
bully, takes on a secret identity - Shredderman! (Juv Fic Van
Draanen)
My Name Is America series by various authors.
Part fiction, part fact, these journals tell the stories of boys
who survived tough times throughout American history. Ask at the
Youth Services desk for a list of authors and titles.
For
guys in grades 6 and up
Brooks,
Kevin. Martyn Pig.
Things go from bad to worse when Martyn fails to tell the police
about his alcoholic father's accidental death. (Hiding a corpse
is not easy.) (YA Fic Brooks)
Cadnum, Michael. The Book of the Lion.
Fighting alongside Richard the Lionhearted sounds like a noble
task, but it's not exactly a glorious job. (YA Fic Cadnum)
Clements, Andrew. Things Not Seen.
Put a suddenly invisible teen together with a blind girl and you
get a whole new perspective on life. (YA Fic Clements)
Crutcher, Chris. King of the Mild Frontier: An Ill-Advised Autobiography.
This popular teen author's life story might seem stranger than
fiction sometimes. (YA 921 C979Aak)
Deuker, Carl. High Heat.
Shane is an ace pitcher at a rich kids' private school. Life is
good…until his dad is arrested for money laundering at his
Lexus dealership. (YA Fic Deuker)
Farmer, Nancy. The House of the Scorpion.
Matt's life as the clone of a 142-year-old drug czar shows the
not-so-cool side of genetic engineering. (Juv SF Farmer)
Horowitz, Anthony. Alex Rider Adventure
series. (#1: Stormbreaker)
Alex Rider, a teen, is recruited to carry on the intelligence
work of his assassinated uncle and guardian. (YA Fic Horowitz)
Hunter, Mollie. The King's Swift Rider.
Scotland's Robert the Bruce was a brilliant and creative strategist
in his battles with the English. Martin hates bloodshed but can't
help admiring The Bruce's devotion to his people. (YA Fic Hunter)
Klass, David. Danger Zone.
A small-town Minnesota basketball pro makes the American High
School Dream Team. He gets more than he bargained for when the
team travels to Rome for a tournament and faces racism and a death
threat. (YA Fic Klass)
Lawrence, Iain. High Seas trilogy.
(#1: The Wreckers)
High seas adventure, swashbuckling swordplay, bloodthirsty villains,
and great cliffhangers. (YA Fic Lawrence)
Marsden, John. Tomorrow When the War Began
series.
A group of Australian teens goes camping to get away from it all
and returns home to find the country has been invaded. (YA Fic)
Mikaelsen, Ben. Sparrow Hawk Red.
Ricky Diaz thought his mother's death was accidental. When he
finds out she was murdered by drug dealers, he decides to get
revenge. J(uv Fic Mikaelsen)
Myers, Walter Dean. Slam!
So what if he's flunking out of the Latimer Arts Magnet High School;
Greg "Slam" Harris' ticket out of Harlem is his talent
on the basketball court. (YA Fic Myers)
Orlev, Uri. The Man from the Other Side.
It's easy for Marek to discriminate against Jews in WWII Warsaw
until he finds out his dead father was Jewish. (Juv Fic Orlev)
Paulsen, Gary. My Life in Dog Years.
Paulsen, author of many great adventure novels, writes about some
of his real-life dogs, some of whom were heroes. ( j636.7 Paulsen)
Sachar, Louis. Holes.
Stanley Yelnats lives under the curse of his great-great-grandfather.
After he is accused of theft, he is sent to a detention camp,
where an evil warden forces him to dig holes in the desert. (YA
Fic Sachar)
Spinelli, Jerry. Crash.
What happens when a superjock and a male Quaker/cheerleader/ vegetarian
cross paths? (Juv Fic Spinelli)
Turner, Megan Whalen. The Thief.
To save his own neck, Gen has to do a little job for the king:
steal a stone that confers power on the bearer. So it's in a booby-trapped
cave guarded by ancient gods? No problem. (Juv Fic SF Turner)
Weaver, Will. Striking Out. (followed
by Farm Team and Hard
Ball)
Life on the farm stinks in more ways than one. At least there's
baseball to take his mind off his angry father and the death of
his brother. (YA Fic Weaver)
Photo credit:
Top: Photo by Shirley Gray,
1st Place, Amateur Division, ALA's Beyond Words Photo Contest
