Books for Boys

[Tracy Richards]

Hi everyone,

I am asking everyone for their imput into 'books for boys' for the following catagories.


Grades K-3

Grades 4-6

Grades 7-9

Grades 10-12

grade 7-9- boys at my school really like the Darren Shan series as well as the Among the HIdden series

[Debra Gniewek]

Grades 9-12


MYSTERIES FOR BOYS AT COUNCIL ROCK HIGH SCHOOL SOUTH LIBRARY

F ALP Alphin, Elaine Marie. Counterfeit Son.
When serial killer Hank Miller is killed in a shoot-out with police, his abused son Cameron adopts the identity of one of his father's victims in order to find a better life.

F AVI Avi. Something Upstairs.
When he moves from Los Angeles to Providence, Rho'[de Island, Kenny discovers that his new house is haunted by the spirit of a black slave boy who asks Kenny to return with him to the early nineteenth century and prevent his murder by slave traders.

F AVI Avi. Wolf Rider: A Tale of Terror.
After receiving an apparent crank call from a man claiming to have committed murder, fifteen-year-old Andy finds his close relationship with his father crumbling as he struggles to make everyone believe him.

F BEN Bennett, Jay. Coverup.
Teenage Brad is tormented by confused memories of a drunken ride with his best friend Alden, during which they may have hit and killed a man.

Bennett, Jay. The Dangling Witness.
An eighteen-year-old boy who witnesses a murder decides to keep quiet after he is threatened by the killer, but finds his silence increasingly hard to bear.

F BEN Bennett, Jay. The Dark Corridor.
At the end of a summer disrupted by three teenage suicides in their town, eighteen-year-old Kerry's girlfriend Alicia apparently kills herself, leaving him obsessed with death and strange doubts.

F BEN Bennett, Jay. The Haunted One.
After the girl eighteen-year-old Paul loves drowns at the New Jersey beach while he is the lifeguard on duty, he begins to receive phone calls from her and to see her in odd places.

F BEN Bennett, Jay. The Long Black Coat.
Seventeen-year-old Phil is terrorized by two of his dead brother's associates from Vietnam who demand from him a package he knows nothing about.

F BEN Bennett, Jay. Sing Me a Death Song.
Jason risks his life to find evidence that his mother, a convicted murderer facing execution, was framed.


F BEN Bennett, Jay. The Skeleton Man.
When his Uncle Ed commits suicide, after giving him 30,000 for his eighteenth birthday, Ray receives mysterious death threats and becomes involved in a dangerous sequence of events.

F BEN Bennett, Jay. Skinhead: A Novel.
A plea from a dying man he has never seen before involves nineteen-year-old Jonathan in a life-and-death struggle with white-supremacist skinheads.

F BRA Bradbury , Ray. Death is a Lonely Business.
Set in 1949, a story of intrigue, murder, and mystery unforlds as the great amusement pier in Venice, California is torn down.

F BRO Brooks, Kevin. Martyn Pig.
Faced with the possibility of living with a dreadful aunt, fifteen-year-old Martyn Pig decides not to tell authorities when his alcoholic father dies accidentally, instead asking a friend for her help in disposing of the body.

F CAR Carmody, Isobelle . The Gathering.
When fifteen-year-old Nathanial moves to a sinister town that has been bruised by an ancient evil, he finds himself one of those Chosen to fight the cycle of darkness.

F CAS Cascone, A.G. In a Crooked Little House.
People are dying at Huntington Prep in what appear to be accidents, but Iggy-Boy knows they're not.

F CHA Chandler, Raymond. The Big Sleep.
Phillip Marlowe's classic case involves a paralyzed California millionaire, his two psychotic daughters, blackmail,and murder.

F COL Coles, William. Another Kind of Monday.
When Mark finds money and a clue to finding more in a high school library book, he and a new friend begin a treasure hunt all over Pittsburgh.

F COO Cooney, Caroline B. Terrorist.
Billy Williams steps onto a subway in London and a stranger hands him a package, claiming that one of Billy's friends dropped it. Suddenly, Billy remembers people talking about terrorists and he experiences a "sickening moment of knowledge" as the package explodes, taking his life. Now, Billy's older sister Laura is determined to find out exactly what happened. Was this just a random act of terrorism or was Billy singled out for murder?

F COR Corbett , Scott. Grave Doubts.
Two sixteen-year-old boys, suspicious of the sudden death of an eccentric millionaire, look for a clue to the mystery in the last crossword puzzle the old man worked on.

F COR Cormier, Robert. I Am The Cheese.
A tragic event happened to Adam that caused him to lose all of his memories. Now he's trying to unlock the secrets of his past but what he doesn't realize is that if he does, he could die.

F COR Cormier, Robert. In the Middle of the Night.
Sixteen-year-old Denny lives in the shadow of a deadly accident with which his father was connected when he was Denny's age, a disaster for which some of the survivors still blame his father.

F COR Cormier, Robert. The Rag and Bone Shop.
In the woods near her home, a seven-year-old girl's lifeless body is found. Jason Dorrant stands accused of the grizzly murder. The case is high profile and everyone wants an answer. The evidence is solid, but circumstantial. So, an expert interrogator is called in to produce a confession. Can the accused stand up to the pressure?

F COR Cormier, Robert. Tenderness.
A psychological thriller told from the points of view of a teenage serial killer and the runaway girl who falls in love with him.

F DEX Dexter , Catherine. I Dream of Murder.
Fourteen-year-old Jere is haunted by a recurring dream about a murder he may have witnessed ten years earlier.

F GIL Giles, Gail. Shattering Glass.
King of Popularity, Rob Haynes, decides to play a practical joke on class geek, Simon Glass. Haynes' plan is to remake Glass into a stud and then revoke his newfound popularity, leaving him broken and humilated. But Glass has a plan of his own.

F GOL Goldman, E. M. Getting Lincoln's Goat : An Elliot Armbruster Mystery.
Tenth-grader Elliot wants to be a detective when he grows up, and when he discovers that Lincoln the goat, the school mascot, is missing, he and some of his classmates get a taste of what their chosen careers would really be like.

F HAL Halliday, John. Shooting Monarchs.
Macy and Danny, two teenage boys who have both grown up under difficult circumstances, turn out very differently—one becomes a hero, the other a murderer.

F HAL Halam, Ann. Dr. Franklin's Island.
Three people made it out of the plane crash alive only to be captured and imprisoned by Dr. Franklin. Unwilling subjects, the three are injected with animal genes as the deranged scientist tries to create a breed of super-humans that can morph from creature to human at will.

F HAR Harrell, Janice. The Murder Game.
When a guest is killed at his "murder" party, Dusty's name must be cleared.

F HAU Hautman, Pete. Mr. Was.
In order to prevent his mother's death at the hands of his father, Jack travels back in time fifty-five years through a door in his grandfather's house.

F HAY Hayes, Daniel. The Trouble with Lemons.
Newcomer Tyler is with his one friend, Lymie, when they find a body in the quarry, but the last straw comes when Tyler accidentally overhears who put the body there.

F HOR Horowitz, Anthony. Stormbreaker.
Alex thinks he's just a normal fourteen-year-old. He lives with his uncle, goes to school, hangs out with his friends. But, when his uncle dies and his mysterious "business dealings" are revealed, Alex is no longer a normal kid. He becomes Alex Ryder-- teenage spy!

F KER Kerr, M.E. The Books of Fell.
A young man from the wrong side of the tracks, John Fell investigates spies, drug dealers, murders, and a decades-old disappearance case, all of which are connected to his exclusive prep school's mysterious club, Sevens.

F KER Kerr, M.E. Fell.
A strange incident on the night of the senior prom changes John Fell's entire life, leading him to enroll in an exclusive private school under an assumed name.

F KER Kerr, M.E. Fell Back.
When a classmate at his exclusive private school falls to his death from a tower, seventeen-year-old John Fell is determined to find out whether the incident was suicide, accident, or murder.

F KER Kerr, M.E. Fell Down.
Seventeen-year-old Fell's determination to investigate his best friend's death in a car crash leads him to a ventriloquists' convention and an unsolved disappearance from almost twenty years ago.

F LOC Locke, Joseph. Kill the Teachers Pet.
After his teacher is slain, Lenny becomes convinced that the murder is part of a string of unsolved homicides involving students and teachers.

F MAL Malcolm, Jahnna N. Get the Picture.
One photo could be the finish for Mandy and Pepper unless Mick can expose a dangerous killer.

F MAC MacGregor, Rob. Hawk Moon.
Will faces a mystery involving drugs at his high school, while being framed for the disappearance and possible murder of his girlfriend.

F MAC MacGregor, Rob. Prophecy Rock.
Will Lansa visits his father, who is the tribal police chief on the Hopi reservation in northern Arizona, and learns about some sacred Hopi traditions while he helps investigate several murders.

F MCC McColley, Kevin. Switch : A Mystery.
Seventeen-year-old Ken, an epileptic who lives in the shadow of his older half-brother, meets a drifter who settles into a vacant lot in his small town which leads him to discover a world of deception, crime, and revenge

F MCD McDonald, Joyce. Shades of Simon Gray.
When sixteen-year-old Simon Gray crashes his car into a tree, everyone in town believes it’s an accident. But three popular classmates think Simon’s accident is related to the dark secret they share with him.

McNamee, Graham. Acceleration.
Stuck working in the lost and found department of the Toronto Transit Authority for the summer, seventeen-year-old Duncan finds the diary of a serial killer and sets out to stop him.

F NEW Newman, Robert. The Case of the Murdered Players.
When two actresses of the London stage in the 1890s die under circumstances suspiciously like those that killed three actresses ten years before, Andrew and Inspector Peter Wyatt fear for Andrew's actress mother.

F PAT Patneaude, David. Someone Was Watching.
Chris, watching a video of the outing from which his sister Molly disappeared, apparently drowned, realizes that someone was watching who could be involved.

F PLU Plum-Ucci, Carol. The Body of Christopher Creed.
Torey Adams, a high school junior with a seemingly perfect life, struggles with doubts and questions surrounding the mysterious disappearance of the class outcast.

F PUL Pullman, Philip. The White Mercedes.
Seventeen-year-old Chris, living and working in Oxford, falls in love with an elusive girl and while searching for her discovers the devastating consequences of placing his trust in the wrong person.

F REE Rees, Celia. The Truth Out There.
Thirteen-year-old Josh begins digging into the mystery of his Uncle Patrick, an autistic boy who died at Josh's age while investigating the crash of a flying saucer, and a terrible family secret is uncovered.

F ROB Roberts, Willo Davis. Dark Secrets.
Four teenagers, hired to caretake an abandoned mansion for the summer, find themselves dealing with more than occasional vandalism.

F ROB Roberts, Willo Davis. Nightmare.
When a falling body strikes Nick's car as he drives under an overpass, the police call the man's death a suicide, but Nick suspects murder and finds his life in danger when he tries to investigate.

F ROZ Rozan, S. J. Stone Quarry.
PI Bill Smith thinks the body he finds in his friend's basement is unrelated to the art theft he is investigating, but when the boy Bill has tried to father is the prime suspect, Bill decides to look into the murder, too.

F RYA Ryan, Mary Elizabeth. Alias.
Toby's not allowed to ask his mom why, but now that he's in high school, he decides he's putting a stop to the never-ending changes of schools, towns, and names that have been his life.

F STI Stine, R.L. Beach House.
A killer stalks a group of teenagers at the beach.

F STI Stine, R.L. The Hitchhiker.
James, a hitchhiker, gets more than he bargained for in the way of a ride.

F STR Strasser, Todd. The Accident.
After four of his friends leave a beer party and suffer a fatal accident, eighteen-year-old Matt senses something peculiar about the police investigation and suspects a cover-up to hide the identity of who was really responsible for the accident.

Sykes, Shelley. For Mike.
When Jeff's best friend Mike disappears in the fall of their senior year in high school, Jeff has disturbing dreams in which Mike urges him to come get him, and a secret begins to unfold.

F VAN Vande Velde, Vivian. Never Trust a Dead Man.
Wrongly convicted of murder and punished by being sealed in the tomb with the dead man, seventeen-year-old Selwyn enlists the help of a witch and the resurrected victim to find the true killer.

F WAL Walter, Virginia. Making Up Megaboy.
When 13-year-old Robbie shoots an old man in a liquor store, everyone struggles to find out why such a seemingly nice kid would do such an unsettling thing.

F WER Werlin, Nancy. The Killer's Cousin.
After being acquitted of murder, seventeen-year-old David goes to stay with relatives in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where he finds himself forced to face his past as he learns more about his strange young cousin Lily.

F WER Wersba, Barbara. The Best Place to Live Is the Ceiling.
A lonely teenager from Queens impulsively flies off to Switzerland on another man's passport and finds his life turning into a James Bond adventure.

F WES Westall, Robert. Yaxley's Cat.
After Yaxley disappears, the inhabitants of an English village fear that his ugly old cat will uncover the truth about the secret they are hiding.

F WHI White, Robb. Deathwatch.
Needing money for school, a college boy accepts a job as guide on a desert hunting trip and nearly loses his life.

F WIN Windsor, Patricia. The Sandman's Eyes.
Angry because he was confined in a school for disturbed juveniles for two years after witnessing a murder, upon his release eighteen-year-old Michael seeks to prove his innocence by tracking down the killer only he saw.

F WYN Wynne-Jones, Tim. The Boy in the Burning House.
Trying to solve the mystery of his father’s disappearance from their rural Canadian community, fourteen-year-old Jim gets help from the disturbed Ruth Rose, who suspects her stepfather, a local pastor.

[bj neary]

Great, great titles!

[Jeri Hurd]

Anything by Chris Crutcher for the 9-12 set. Though he does get challenged a lot. Great stuff, though.

[Susan H]

Find the "Guys write for Guys Read" book by John Scileszka, it is flying off my shelves and can point boys to books they might enjoy. All scary story treasuries are a must for all ages about 3rd grade, but the "Batman Handbook" and books by the same publisher are also grabbing readers of all ages and they contain true reading material (even if it is silly, it is better than Captain Underpants which is popular with the under grade 3s).

Susan

[bmayer]

Grades 4 to 6: "Freak the Mighty", Roald Dahl books, non-fiction material (sports, cars, war... etc.)
Grades 7 to 9: Gary Paulsen, GRAPHIC NOVELS/MANGA
Grades 10 - 12 Todd Strasser, Terry Goodkind, GRAPHIC NOVELS/MANGA

[Lesley Edwards]

The Times of London just printed a top 100 must read list for boys. It can be found at http://dwarfurl.com/88887

[bj neary]

Thanks so much- I made it a favorite!

[C]

Here is a list for grades 10-12 that I recently wrote up.

[bj neary]

Great list! I especially liked the Authors you included!

[Karen Hornberger]

Hi Tracy,
Here is a list I just did for you using Titlewave. My focus is Grades 9-12.
I hope you like it!
Karen
Across the wall : a tale of the Abhorsen and other stories
By Nix, Garth. Dewey: -Fic-
Presents twelve fantasy short stories plus a novella set in the world of the Abhorsen trilogy, and features story introductions by the author.
____#26885S5 2005 IL:YA $12.16 The all-American hot rod : the cars, the legends, the passion
Dewey: 629.228
A collection of photographs and essays by well-known and respected automotive historians, celebrities, and journalists that trace the history of hot rods.
____#38153J2 2004 IL:AD $26.96
American cars, 1960-1972 : every model, year by year
By Flory, J. Kelly. Dewey: 629.222
Contains a comprehensive reference to American made cars from 1960 to 1972 and includes information on each make's status and the significant changes that were made each year due to the gas crisis of the early 1970s.
____#36285J2 2004 IL:AD $74.96 Ball don't lie
By Pena, Matt de la. Dewey: -Fic-
Seventeen-year-old Sticky lives to play basketball at school and at Lincoln Rec Center in Los Angeles and is headed for the pros, but he is unaware of the many dangers--including his own past--that threaten his dream.
____#34369Q2 2005 IL:YA $14.40
Battle of the bands
By Denman, K. L. Dewey: -Fic-
Jay, Kelvin, and Cia are The Lunar Ticks, a dedicated band, convinced they are on their way to the top.
____#10678T7 2006 IL:YA RL:3 $12.26 Blood brothers : among the soldiers of ward 57
By Weisskopf, Michael. Dewey: 956.7044
"Time" magazine correspondent Michael Weisskopf describes his experiences in the amputee ward of Walter Reed Medical Center in Washington, D.C., after losing a hand to a grenade in Iraq, and chronicles the physical, emotional, and psychological recoveries of three soldiers he met there.
____#24711S7 2006 IL:AD $22.50
Blue blood : Duke-Carolina, inside the most storied rivalry in college hoops
By Chansky, Art. Dewey: 796.323
Chronicles the fifty-year rivalry between the Duke and Carolina basketball teams, examining the contrasts between the two schools and their teams and describing some of the games that have influenced the rivalry.
____#37138Q9 2005 IL:AD $25.95 Cars and culture : the life story of a technology
By Volti, Rudi. Dewey: 629.222
Presents a history of the automobile, and discusses the political, economic, social, cultural, and technological forces that have shaped the development of automobiles and the automobile industry.
____#38272LX 2004 IL:YA $50.70
Cinderella Man : James J. Braddock, Max Baer, and the greatest upset in boxing history
By Schaap, Jeremy. Dewey: 796.83
Contains a look at the life and career of Depression era heavyweight boxer James Braddock, describing his experiences as a fighter and a longshoreman, and includes a chronicle of his auspicious bout with champion boxer Max Baer.
____#09583Q4 2005 IL:AD $20.40 Colder than hell : a Marine rifle company at Chosin Reservoir
By Owen, Joseph R. Dewey: 951.904
Personal narrative describing the fighting conditions experienced by the U.S. Marines in North Korea.
____#36791J7 1996 IL:AD $5.94
The complete guitar course : learn to play in 20 easy-to-follow lessons
By Fleming, Tom, 1975- Dewey: 787.87
Contains twenty lessons designed to teach a beginning musician how to play the guitar, discussing choosing the right instrument, chords, different styles, scales, famous guitarists, and more; and includes exercises.
____#36943S4 2006 IL:AD $25.50 Concept cars : designing for the future
By Dredge, Richard. Dewey: 629.222
Photographs and text profile concept cars from the last thirty years, documenting key designs of recent times and celebrating those cars that have evolved from the drawing board to the production line.
____#39000Q5 2004 IL:AD $21.22
Crackback
By Coy, John, 1958- Dewey: -Fic-
Miles barely recalls when football was fun after being sidelined by a new coach, constantly criticized by his

[Tracy Poelzer]

Hi Tracy,

Grades K-3 love David Shannon books (No David!, David Goes to School, etc. - they are hysterical!). Captain Underpants and Ricky Ricotta (all by Dav Pilkey) are also very popular with beginning readers, and many of them also like the Magic Treehouse series too. Two other picture books which I can't keep on the shelves for this age group are "Actual Size" and "Prehistoric Actual Size" by Steven Jenkins. They are really cool books!

Grades 4-6: At my school magazines are very popular with this group. They are constantly signing out The Hockey News, Off-Road Magazine, Shonen Jump, and Sports Illustrated for Kids. Many are really into graphic novels and manga. Right now the "Fullmetal Alchemist" series is quite popular, as well as the "Whistle" series. The "Slapshots" series by Gordon Korman has also been re-printed with new cover art and it seems to be quite popular at the moment.

My school only goes to grade 7, but as you mentioned, the Darren Shan series (Cirque du Freak) is definitely one worth buying for this age group. I usually booktalk it to a class or two in the fall, and then I can't keep it on the shelves all year. Again, the magazines are quite popular with this age of boys. They also seem to like The "Keys to the Kingdom" series by Garth Nix a lot. Graphic novels and manga are also appealing. Many have read the entire "Bone" series to date (by Jeff Smith).

[Debra Warren]

Tracy I would like to hear what you find out about books for boys 4 - 6 and 7 - 9. Those are the areas I have and always have a hard time getting some of the boys to even pick up a book.

Thanks
Debra Warren
Berryville Middle School Library