Books for Boys
Here's where to find our list of recommended books for teen boys. If you would like to help make new lists or add on to an existing list call Carly @ 262-0626 or email at crencsko@biblio.org.
| Nonfiction | ||
| Fleischman, John | ||
| Phineas Gage: A Gruesome But True Story About Brain Science 2002 | ||
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Through the case history of Phineas Gage, a 19th century Vermonter who had an iron bar driven through his brain and lived, the book examines what is known of brain function. | |
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| Fiction | ||
| Allende, Isabel | ||
| City of the Beasts 2002 | ||
| When fifteen-year-old Alexander Cold accompanies his individualistic grandmother on an expedition to find a humanoid Beast in the Amazon, he experiences ancient wonders and a supernatural world as he tries to avert disaster for the Indians. | ||
| Almond, David | ||
| Kit's Wilderness 1999 | ||
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Thirteen-year-old Kit goes to live with his grandfather in the decaying coal mining town of Stoneygate, England, and finds both the old man and the town haunted by ghosts of the past. |
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| Anderson, M.T. | ||
| Feed 2002 | ||
| In a future where most people have computer implants in their heads to control their environment, a boy meets an unusual girl who is in serious trouble. | ||
| Avi | ||
| Crispin: Cross of Lead 2002 | ||
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Falsely accused of theft and murder, an orphaned peasant boy in fourteenth-century England flees his village and meets a larger-than-life juggler who holds a dangerous secret. Sequels include Crispin: At the Edge of the World |
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| Curtis, Christopher Paul | ||
| Bucking the Sarge 2004 | ||
| Deeply involved in his cold and manipulative mother's shady business dealings in Flint, Michigan, fourteen-year-old Luther keeps a sense of humor while running the Happy Neighbor Group Home For Men, all the while dreaming of going to college and becoming a philosopher. | ||
| Barry, Dave | ||
| Peter and the Starcatchers 2004 | ||
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Soon after Peter, an orphan, sets sail from England on the ship Never Land, he befriends and assists Molly, a young Starcatcher, whose mission is to guard a trunk of magical stardust from a greedy pirate and the native inhabitants of a remote island. Includes sequels Peter and the Shadow Thieves, and Peter and the Secret of Rundoon |
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| Brooks, Bruce | ||
| The Moves Make the Man 1987 | ||
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A black boy and an emotionally troubled white boy in North Carolina form a precarious friendship. | |
| Choldenko, Gennifer | ||
| Al Capone Does My Shirts 2004 | ||
| A twelve-year-old boy named Moose moves to Alcatraz Island in 1935 when guards' families were housed there, and has to contend with his extraordinary new environment in addition to life with his autistic sister. | ||
| Colfer, Eoin | ||
| Artemis Fowl 2001 | ||
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When a twelve-year-old evil genius tries to restore his family fortune by capturing a fairy and demanding a ransom in gold, the fairies fight back with magic, technology, and a particularly nasty troll. First book in the Artemis Fowl series. |
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| DuPrau, Jeanne | ||
| City of Ember 2003 | ||
| In the year 241, twelve-year-old Lina trades jobs on Assignment Day to be a Messenger to run to new places in her decaying but beloved city, perhaps even to glimpse Unknown Regions. Sequels and prequels include The People of Sparks, The Prophet of Yonwood, and The Diamond of Darkhold |
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| Farmer, Nancy | ||
| The Ear, the Eye and the Arm 1995 | ||
| In 2194 in Zimbabwe, General Matsika's three children are kidnapped and put to work in a plastic mine while three mutant detectives use their special powers to search for them. | ||
| Farmer, Nancy | ||
| House of the Scorpion 2002 | ||
| In a future where humans despise clones, Matt enjoys special status as the young clone of El Patrón, the 142-year-old leader of a corrupt drug empire nestled between Mexico and the United States. | ||
| Garfinkle, Debra | ||
| Storky, How I Lost my Nickname and Won the Girl 2005 | ||
| Fourteen-year-old high school student Michael "Storky" Pomerantz's journal describes his freshman year, from dealing with his mother's dating his dentist to attempting to win the heart of the girl he loves. | ||
| Hautman, Pete | ||
| Godless 2004 | ||
| When sixteen-year-old Jason Bock and his friends create their own religion to worship the town's water tower, what started out as a joke begins to take on a power of its own. | ||
Hinton, S.E. |
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| The Outsiders 1967 | ||
| The struggle of three brothers to stay together after their parent's death and their quest for identity among the conflicting values of their adolescent society. | ||
| Hobbs, Will | ||
| Downriver 1991 | ||
| Fifteen-year-old Jessie and the other rebellious teenage members of a wilderness survival school team abandon their adult leader, hijack his boats, and try to run the dangerous white water at the bottom of the Grand Canyon. | ||
| Hobbs, Will | ||
| Far North 1996 | ||
| After the destruction of their floatplane, sixteen-year-old Gabe and his Dene friend, Raymond, struggle to survive a winter in the wilderness of the Northwest Territories. | ||
| Holt, Kimberly Willis | ||
| When Zachary Beaver Came to Town 1999 | ||
| During the summer of 1971 in a small Texas town, thirteen-year-old Toby and his best friend Cal meet the star of a sideshow act, 600-pound Zachary, the fattest boy in the world. | ||
| Horowitz, Anthony | ||
| Alex Rider Adventure series 2001-current | ||
| Fourteen-year-old Alex's life is turned completely upside down when his uncle is killed. The secrets he learns about his uncle, Ian Rider, and how he earned a living result in Alex becoming a member MI6, a British intelligence agency, where his determination and courage is put to the ultimate test. | ||
| Korman, Gordon | ||
| Jake Reinvented 2003 | ||
| Rick becomes friends with the popular new boy, Jake Garrett, football player and host of superlative parties, and in the process discovers the true nature of his schoolmates and uncovers the mystery of Jake's past. | ||
| Korman, Gordon | ||
| Son of the Mob 2002 | ||
| Seventeen-year-old Vince's life is constantly complicated by the fact that he is the son of a powerful Mafia boss, a relationship that threatens to destroy his romance with the daughter of an FBI agent. | ||
| Lowry, Lois | ||
| The Giver 1993 | ||
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| Marsdon, John | ||
| Tomorrow When the War Began 1993 | ||
| Seven Australian teenagers return from a camping trip in the bush to discover that their country has been invaded and they must hide to stay alive. | ||
| Paulsen, Gary | ||
| Harris and Me: A Summer Remembered 1993 | ||
| Sent to live with relatives on their farm because of his unhappy home life, an eleven-year-old city boy meets his distant cousin Harris and is given an introduction to a whole new world. | ||
| Paulsen, Gary | ||
| Hatchet 1987 | ||
| After a plane crash, thirteen-year-old Brian spends fifty-four days in the wilderness, learning to survive initially with only the aid of a hatchet given to him by his mother, and learning also to survive his parents' divorce. | ||
| Pullman, Phillip | ||
| The Golden Compass 1996 | ||
| Accompanied by her daemon, Lyra Belacqua sets out to prevent her best friend and other kidnapped children from becoming the subject of gruesome experiments in the Far North. First Book of His Dark Materials Series |
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| Rowling, J.K. | ||
| Harry Potter Series 1999-2007 | ||
| Sachar, Louis | ||
| Holes 1998 | ||
| As further evidence of his family's bad fortune which they attribute to a curse on a distant relative, Stanley Yelnats is sent to a hellish correctional camp in the Texas desert where he finds his first real friend, a treasure, and a new sense of himself. | ||
| Shan, Darren | ||
| Cirque Du Freak 2000 | ||
| Darren Shan is just an ordinary schoolboy who enjoys hanging out with his three best friends. Then one day they stumble across as invitation to visit the Cirque du Freak, a mysterious freak show. Only two tickets are available, so they draw straws to see who will go. As if by destiny, Darren wins one, and what follows is his horrifying descent into the dark and bloody world of vampires. | ||
| Snicket, Lemony | ||
| A Series of Unfortunate Events 1999-2006 | ||
| Chronicles the lifes of the Baudelaire orphans from distressing beginning to disastrous end. | ||
| Spinelli, Jerry | ||
| Loser 2002 | ||
| Even though his classmates from first grade on have considered him strange and a loser, Daniel Zinkoff's optimism and exuberance and the support of his loving family do not allow him to feel that way about himself. | ||
| Stroud, Jonathan | ||
| The Amulet of Samarkand 2003 | ||
| Nathaniel, a magician's apprentice, summons up the djinni Bartimaeus and instructs him to steal the Amulet of Samarkand from the powerful magician Simon Lovelace. First Book on the Bartimaeus Trilogy. |
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| Thompson, Julian | ||
| The Grounding of Group 6 1996 | ||
| Arriving at what they believe is an exclusive school, five sixteen-year olds are unaware that they have been sent there to be exterminated and that their teacher is a murderer for hire. | ||
| Weeks, Sarah | ||
| So B. It: A Novel 2004 | ||
| After spending her life with her mentally retarded mother and agoraphobic neighbor, twelve-year-old Heidi sets out from Reno, Nevada, to New York to find out who she is. | ||
| Tolkien, J.R.R. | ||
| The Hobbit 1966 | ||
| The adventures of the well-to-do hobbit, Bilbo Baggins, who lived happily in his comfortable home until a wandering wizard granted his wish. Continue the story with the Lord of the Rings Trilogy. |
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