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Connect with Margie Gelbwasser: Boy Books

Posted on March 11th, 2010 by Margie Gelbwasser · Email post Email post · Print Print

While I was growing up, my dad often talked to me about the books that grabbed him when he was a boy. He did well enough in school, but he wasn’t the studious type my mother was. The books that drew him in were not those that took twenty pages to get moving. As a boy, he loved Mark Twain’s Tom Sawyer or Jules Verne’s Sci-fi. As a teen, he continued to gravitate to novels full of adventure and humor, those that let him escape.

When a friend of mine recently asked for some boy book recommendations for a sixteen year old, I tried to think of YA books that would have been up Dad’s alley. However, the sixteen year old was not into fantasy or sci-fi, so I limited my list to realistic fiction—current and past—with the reluctant reader in mind. Please share some favorites that grabbed you.

  1. The Pigman by Paul Zindel

  2. 13 Reasons Why by Jay Asher

  3. Lord of the Flies by William Golding

  4. Flash Burnout by L.K. Madigan

  5. The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton

  6. Liar by Justine Larbalestier

  7. Spanking Shakespeare by Jake Wizner

  8. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie

  9. Break by Hannah Moskowitz

  10. The Unthinkable Thoughts of Jacob Green by Joshua Braff

Categories: Connect

About The Author

Margie Gelbwasser
Margie Gelbwasser has written for a variety of magazines including Writer's Digest, SELF, LHJ, Girl's Life, and NJ Monthly. Her first YA novel, INCONVENIENT, will be published by Flux in November 2010. She's currently at work on her second YA novel out by Flux in Fall 2011.  Read more about Margie Gelbwasser.

Related posts:

  1. Connect with Margie Gelbwasser: Excuses
  2. Connect With Margie Gelbwasser: Writing Outside The Box
  3. Connect with Margie Gelbwasser: The Mystique of Characters
  4. Connect with Margie Gelbwasser: Keeping Writing Fun
  5. INCONVENIENT by Margie Gelbwasser

Comments

  • 1 Doret // Mar 11, 2010 at 8:38 pm

    I loved all of these titles. They’re very reluctant reader friendly.

    I Am the Messenger by Zusak
    The Making of Dr. Truelove by Barnes
    Shift by Bradbury
    Brothers Torres by Voorhees
    Mexican Whiteboy by de la Pena
    Deadline by Crutcher
    Sammy and Juliana in hollywood by Saenz
    Sunrise Over Fallujah by Myers
    Repossessed by Jenkins
    The Viking Warrior by Roberts.

    I think its harder for boys to find novels in bookstores, especially if they don’t like fantasy.

    So I always try to have suggestions ready, hence the long list.

  • 2 Jennifer Hubbard // Mar 12, 2010 at 10:25 am

    The works of John Green, Chris Crutcher, and Chris Lynch come immediately to mind. Also STRUTS & FRETS by Jon Skovron, THAW by Monica M. Roe, IN THE BREAK by Jack Lopez, SURF MULES by G. Neri, PEAK by Roland Smith, and SOMEDAY THIS PAIN WILL BE USEFUL TO YOU by Peter Cameron.
    These recommendations are all over the map in terms of topic and tone, since we don’t know the person in question.
    I’ve also heard good things about, but haven’t yet read, FOOD, GIRLS, AND OTHER THINGS I CAN’T HAVE by Allen Zadoff, and CHESS RUMBLE by G. Neri.

  • 3 Donna St. Cyr // Mar 12, 2010 at 5:54 pm

    Yes, Yes – Chris Crutcher.

    And Robert Cormier – excellent psychological thrillers with boys in mind.

    Robert Lipsyte also.

  • 4 Margie Gelbwasser // Mar 13, 2010 at 11:21 am

    Thanks for the reminder about Robert Cormier! The Chocolate War was terrific.

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