Thursday, February 23, 2012

Books for Boys

I love YA and all, but it is FILLED TO THE BRIM with books targeted for girls. This is great for girls and all, but it makes it harder for the guys to find books that they like. A mom recently contacted me about books for a teen guy's book club. I gave her a list of recommendations, and apparently they liked most of the books, so I thought I'd share it for anyone looking for a Guy Book.

The Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins
The Uglies Series by Scott Westerfeld 
The Last Apprentice series by Joseph Delaney
Maximum Ride series by James Patterson
The Rise of Renegade X by Chelsea M Campbell
The Unwanteds by Lisa McMann (Better for younger boys)
Swim The Fly by Don Calame (Better for older boys)
Divergent by Veronica Roth
Sabriel by Garth Nix
Birthmarked by Caragh M O'Brien
Arson by Estevan Vega
The Gardener by S.A. Bodeen
Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer
Unwind by Neal Shusterman
And though I haven't read The Percy Jackson Series by Rick Riordan, and Gone by Michael Grant, some friends have and they love them.

Those are my recommendations! Did I miss any? 

14 comments:

  1. I really just read anything and everything. YA really caters to teenage girls to teenage girls, but there are a few writers who consistently put out books easily accessible to both sexes (I'm thinking David Levithan, John Green, etc).

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  2. Great list! I'm not sure about female protagonists. Sometimes they spend so much time in their own heads.

    Not Katniss though. She rocks.

    Have you ever read Airborn? I listened to it recently and it was SO good and great for guys.

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    1. *Katniss high-five*

      I picked it up from Goodwill a while ago, but I haven't gotten around to it yet. I'll try to get to it soon!

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  3. I think that is a pretty good list! A lot of those can be girls or guys interests also. A fun one for guys depending there age is also the Choose your own adventure books! My brothers used to always read those and loved them!

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  4. Love the name of your site. I write action-adventures & mysteries for readers 8 - 13, especially boys. http://booksandboys.blogspot.com

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  5. I'd like to add, Rot and Ruin, The Dead, and The Enemy to name a few extras.

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  6. Thanks. I'd add Shipbreaker by Paolo Bacigalupi and On The Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta. The latter is about a girl, but I believe boys would like it too. I did, and I'm an old boy.

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    1. I haven't read Shipbreaker, but I LOVED Jellicoe Road.

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  7. Bloomsbury Children's Books (UK) is releasing my debut novel 'Avery McShane' next week (March 1st). It's an action adventure set in the Venezuelan jungle, and it is very much a boy book. Hopefully it will be on your next list. Speaking of which, I might add the HIVE series by Mark Walden to it. Cheers

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  8. What about The Compound by S.A. Bodeen or Enclave by Ann Aguirre? Have you read either? They would both be great for guys, my brothers loved them.

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  9. Looks like you need to make another list:)

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  10. The Chaos Walking trilogy by Patrick Ness is another good series for boys. I've only read the first book but the Pendragon series by D.J. MacHale seems like another good one for boys.

    Great idea for a list. Boys do seem to be overlooked within YA.

    Alison at The Cheap Reader

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