BOOKS TO INSPIRE BOYS TO READ:

BACKLIST FAVORITES AND FRONTLIST FINDS

 by Linda Cornwell

Get Real: Contemporary Problems and Real-Life Issues

The Car   

  Gary Paulsen

Crash       

 Jerry Spinelli
Driver's Ed Caroline Cooney
Handbook for Boys Walter Dean Myers
 Maniac Magee    Jerry Spinelli
The Misfits James Howe
Monster Walter Dean Myers
No More Dead Dogs Gordon Korman
Nothing but the Truth Avi
Racing the Past Sis Deans
The Rifle Gary Paulsen
Swallowing Stones Joyce McDonald
Things Not Seen Andrew Clements
The Tiger Rising Kate DiCamillo
Whirligig Paul Fleischman
Zach's Lie Roland Smith

 

Cliff-Hangers: Adventure and Survival

 
Between a Rock and a Hard Place  Alden Carter
Down the Yukon   Will Hobbs
Downriver Will Hobbs
Far North Will Hobbs
Holes Louis Sachar
Jason's Gold Will Hobbs
Red Midnight       Ben Mikaelsen
River Thunder                 Will Hobbs
Touching Spirit Bear   Ben Mikaelsen

 

Sporting Life

 
 The Brave  Robert Lipsyte
Bull Catcher        Alden Carter
The Chicken Doesn’t Skate    Gordon Korman
The Chief   Robert Lipsyte
Danger Zone               David Klass
Fighting Ruben Wolfe  Markus Zusak
Heart of a Champion Carl Deuker
 Hoops           Walter Dean Myers
The Moves Make the Man             T  Bruce Brooks
On the Devil’s Court Carl Deuker
Painting the Black      Carl Deuker
 Second Stringer  Thomas Dygard
Slam!               Walter Dean Myers
 Tangerine   Edward Bloor
Warrior Angel                 Robert Lipsyte

      Relationships: Friends and Family

Freak the Mighty        Rodman Philbrick
Harris and Me      Gary Paulsen
 A Hole in the World   Sid Hite
How Angel Peterson Got His Name Gary Paulsen
Kit’s Wilderness David Almond
Lord of the Deep    Graham Salisbury
The Schernoff Discoveries  Gary Paulsen
Son of the Mob        Gordon Korman
Up on Cloud Nine   Anne Fine
When Zachary Beaver Came to Town Kimberly Willis Holt

   

Chills and Thrills: Mysteries, Horror, and the Supernatural

 

Ghost Canoe  Will Hobbs
Hoot    Carl Hiaasen
Lord of the Kill        Theodore Taylor
The Rag and Bone Shop Robert Cormier
Raptor Paul Zindel
 Rats    Paul Zinde
 Silent to the Bone E. L. Konigsburg
Weirdo’s War Michael Coleman
Wild Man Island Will Hobbs
Wolf Rider  Avi

             Fantastic Worlds: Fantasy and Science Fiction

 Artemis Fowl   Eoin Colfer
Arthur: The Seeing Stone Kevin Crossley-Holland
Black Horses for the King Anne McCaffrey
Crusader Edward Bloor
The House of the Scorpion  Nancy Farmer
 The Keys to the Kingdom: Book I  
Mister Monday    Garth Nix
The Kindling    J. Armstrong & N. Butcher
The Last Book in the Universe       Rodman Philbrick
  Midnight for Charlie Bone   Jenny Nimmo
The Thief Lord Cornelia Funke
Virtual War  Gloria Skurzynski

                                       Historical Fiction                                            

Bull Run Paul Fleischman
Crispin    Avi
  Maus: A Survivor’s Tale  Art Spiegelman
No Man’s Land: A Young Soldier’s Story Susan Bartoletti
Soldier’s Heart   Gary Paulsen
Stones in Water    Donna Jo Napoli
Stowaway Karen Hesse
Trouble Don’t Last  Shelley Pearsall
The Watsons Go to Birmingham—1963   Christopher Paul Curtis
The Winter People  Joseph Bruchac
 A Year Down Yonder Richard Peck

 Short Takes: Short Stories and Quick Reads

145th Street: Short Stories Walter Dean Myers
Island Boyz   Graham Salisbury
On the Fringe    Donald Gallo, ed.
 Sports Stories Alan Durant, ed.
Thirteen    Tonya Pines, ed.
Ultimate Sports   Donald Gallo, ed.

 Poetry

The Basket Counts

  Arnold Adoff
Jump Ball: A Basketball Season in Poems Mel Glenn
 Poetry for Guys Who Thought They  Hated Poetry Kathy Grizzard Schmook, ed.
  Sports Pages  Arnold Adoff

    Sure-Fire Series
The Adventures of Captain Underpants  Dav Pilkey
Baseball Card Adventures Dan Gutman
Brian Books Gary Paulsen
Cirque Du Freak: The Saga of Darren Shan Darren Shan
Deltora Quest Emily Rodda
Dive  Gordon Korman
Everest         Gordon Korman
Harry Potter   J. K. Rowling
His Dark Materials Trilogy Philip Pullman
Joey Pigza Jack Gantos
Pendragon    D. J. MacHale
A Series of Unfortunate Events Lemony Snicket
The Seventh Tower Garth Nix
The Shadow Children Margaret Peterson Haddix
Tales of Redwall  Brian Jacques
Tucket Adventures Gary Paulsen

 Tantalizing Nonfiction

Bad Boy: A Memoir Walter Dean Myers
Blizzard: The Storm That Changed America Jim Murphy
Boys Will Be    Bruce Brooks

Bruce Lee: The Celebrated Life of the Golden Dragon

 John Little, ed.

 Bury the Dead: Tombs, Corpses, Mummies, Skeletons, & Rituals

 Christopher Sloan
Flags of Our Fathers James Bradley
The Greatest: Muhammad Ali  Walter Dean Myers
 Guts  Gary Paulsen
Houdini: Master of Illusion Clinton Cox
The Life and Death of Adolf Hitler James Cross Giblin

Lives of the Athletes: Thrills, Spills (and What the Neighbors Thought) 

Kathleen Krull
My Life in Dog Years  Gary Paulsen

   Oh, Yuck! The Encyclopedia of     Everything Nasty                   

 Joy Masoff

Phineas Gage: A Gruesome but True

     Story About Brain Science

 John Fleischman
 Piracy and Plunder: A Murderous Business Milton Meltzer

Seaman: The Dog Who Explored the

      West With Lewis and Clark       

Gail Langer Karwoski
Within Reach: My Everest Story     Mark Pfetzer & Jack Galvin