I need some suggestions. I help lead a boys' book club for my son and some other boys, ages 9-13. Can anyone recommend some books with strong boy role models without a lot of the boyfriend/girlfriend stuff in it? Can be recently published or classics. Thanks! Carol
The Narnia series, books by Jack London, Dragonslayer, The Belgariad Series by Edding, Johnny Tremain, anything based on classical mythology, and anything based on Arthurian legends.
Here are some we have enjoyed. Tucket's Travels by Gary Paulsen Hatchet also by Gary Paulsen (and these stories that follow in sequel to this story: The River, Brian's Winter, Brian's Return) My Side of the Mountain Holes Carry On, Mr. Bowditch The Story of Doctor Doolittle From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler Ginger Pye Coyote Autumn Shadow of A Bull Across Five Aprils Little Men Jo's Boys My boys are 9 and 11 so most of these were read to them aloud.
OMIGOSH! Holes is an awesome book! Glad you listed that one Mrs. Oak. I'll have to let Noah read it again. He hasn't read it in over a year.
When I was younger I liked books by christian novelist Frank Peretti and, for humorous books, any of the Wally McDougal series.
We are doing a unit studies on Holes and Where the Red Fern Grows. We are also going to do one on the Shiloh books. (Shiloh, Shiloh Season and Saving Shiloh) My son is 12. I found a lot of neat things on line to go with less books. We are also going to be reading Harry Potter 6 and 7. I currently looking for things to go with these two books now.
Beware the Fish! (Bruno and Boots) (Paperback) by Gordon Korman (Author) There are others that go along with this series. About boys being at a private school & the trouble they get into. I think the author wrote a couple of them when he was quite young. I haven't read them in a long time, but remember them being pretty funny. I think one of my teahers read them to us.
By The Great Horned Spoon Treasure Island The Great Brain The Mad Scientist Club (This one may be hard to find, but TRY!!! It's one I read as a kid, and we read it a while back to my kids. About a group of boys who have all kinds of great adventures. The first story tells how one of their members was late home one night, and so he made up the story of a Sea Monster in the lake. The boys then decided to make a sea monster, and everyone was flocking to town to see it. They also find a Civil War treasure, locate a missing soldier that had parachuted from his plane before it went down, and turned a manakin into a "mysterious flying man".) Diznee, my husband has read all the Bruno and Boots books to my kids! They love them!
Bookadventure.com has reading lists per "grade" that may give you some ideas. You have been given quite a few good ones already. My 10 yr old is enjoying the "Spud Murphy" series by Eion Colfer, but they are probably more of a quick read than a book club book. He is also reading "The Will James Cowboy Book" right now. Matt Christopher has some new sports books that are longer chapters that are quite good. Snowboarding and mountain biking, etc. Another recommend from my boys are the Geronimo Stilton books. MT3
Gary Paulsen's books are great. I read them as well. The Sign of the Beaver The Tiger Rising Holes Shiloh From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler Stone Fox Where the Red Fern Grows Treasure Island Hardy Boys, Henry Huggins and Sugar Creek Gang are good series. We are also big Harry Potter fans.
Oh, I am sure I could go on forever, but I agree with so many of the suggestions already here. But I will suggest something probably not on the radar... Touchdown Alexander by Shaun Alexander. His biography, written in '06. He is a running back for the Seattle Seahawks, and was the NFL MVP for the '05 season. If you have guys interested in sports, or are looking for an athlete role model, then this is your man, BUT, the book is really more about faith than football! It is an easy read, but the way Shaun has stayed focused on the Lord in the face of difficult decisions is truly amazing. I cannot say enough about the impact this book and this guy has had on my oldest's ( just turned 13) walk with Christ. PLEASE, PLEASE read the reviews of this book on amazon.com if you think you might want to consider it. Don't know if you are looking for only fiction books, but if you do want to throw a contemporary biography into the mix, particularly one of, as you say, a strong role model, just wanted to throw that one out there. If you read it, you, as a Mom, will immediately want to call his mother and thank her. PLEASE post what you decide to do this year. I think many of us would love to know what middle school age boys book clubs are reading! Miller
Thank you all for the great ideas. We had some of these on the list, but there are some terrific additions. And Miller, sure, biography, nonfiction...all genres are welcome. Boys seem to be more agreeable to those than girls anyway. (I also help with a girls' book club for ages 9-13, but we seem to never lack for book ideas there.) I will be sure to post what books we decide to read. We meet twice a month, a new book each time. The boys are to bring 2 questions to discuss with the group. Then we try to do at least 2 activities and one snack related to the book, and usually send the boys home with take-home extension activities. For example, for "The Boy Who Saved Baseball," the learned how to calculate batting average, made their own baseball card, had popcorn for snack, then played a game of whiffle ball in the church's back yard. Since the story takes place in San Diego and had several spanish terms sprinkled in, they were sent home with a spanish/english matching activity of words found in the book. We've only been doing this 6 months, but the group continues to grow. My son loves it. Carol
Carol, that sounds like such a neat idea!!! It seems like a great way to get reluctant readers reading!
INmom, how many boys do you have attending your book club? What is a good sized group for discussion but not too big? How do you keep them from being rowdy and loud (they are boys, what a dumb question!)? How long is a get together?
We average about 6 at a book club. We used to have it ages 7-13 but decided to split the age groups as either half were too challenged or half were bored with the reading level. At least 3 are needed for a decent discussion. And NOT a dumb questions at all...we had some trouble with behavior at the beginning. But we found that telling or having a visible list of activities for that session seemed to help the boys focus on the one at hand. We also start each session with the expected behavior standards. It also helps that they know we usually have some outside physical activity for them at the end of the session. Each session tends to run about an hour and a half, followed by 20-30 minutes of free play time. This takes some work, but the boys seem to enjoy getting together talking and doing activities on the book. We TRY to take turns having parents lead the discussion/activities, but you know how it is--it's usually the same one or two. But I believe what goes around, comes around, and someday someone will help out my child when I can't. Keep all those good book ideas coming! Carol
Animorphs has a lot of good stuff if your kids are into that. They have good morals and behaviors. Also Hardy boys, they may be boring for some kids but they have come out with a revised edition series in paperback that seems to have caught my 9.9 yr olds adventure and mystery eye! Encyclopedia brown is always good too.. Huck finn, Tom Sawyer, for oldies, We are checking out a new series too , so I will have to get back to you once I know how it goes! the Narnia Series is always good too, not sure if anyone said that I have not read it all...
