BOOKS FOR BOYS

                  

Every summer it seems we get many requests from parents asking us to help their school-age sons find something to read.  Many times these boys are reluctant readers. Connecting a child with a book he is eager to read is one of our greatest pleasures!

Did you know there are also great websites that have book suggestions for boys, tips for getting boys to read, and more?

Guys Read, a web-based literacy program for boys is a great place to start.  It was begun by author (and Flint, MI native) Jon Scieszka, named in 2008 as the first National Ambassador for Young People's Literature.

Boy Meets Book is also an excellent website for finding books boys will like and tips for parents of boys. This website was created by Michael Sullivan - teacher, librarian, chess instructor, author, storyteller, and expert on boys and reading.

One of my favorite websites for reading about children's books is KidsReads.com. Besides the Great Books for Boys list, other features include lists of new books, series books, and books into movies as well as trivia, author interviews, contests and more.

For other reading lists for boys, try BoysRead.org and Parents Choice Book List for Boys. 

In an effort to educate myself and read books other than fiction, I recently finished a book called China Road: A Journey Into the Future of a Rising Power, by NPR correspondent Rob Gifford. I have to admit that nonfiction books take me longer to read, but that can be a good thing - I really did learn something!

Books & Bagels will be discussing the popular book (and now movie) The Lightning Thief on Saturday, March 13 from 2-3 pm. Books & Bagels is for children in grades 4-6. We'll talk about the book, enjoy bagels and cream cheese, then have fun making origami creatures from Greek mythology. FREE!

The votes are in! BookBrowse.com has announced the 2009 BookBrowse Favorite Awards.  Over 4,000 votes were submitted, and the winners are...

• Overall Winner: The Help by Kathryn Stockett

I read several reviews of this title, and initially thought I would pass on it. But I decided to give it a listen in my car. It's a story of the Holocaust but told from yet another viewpoint, and the story jumps back and forth from 1942 to the present. The main character, Julia, and her husband are renovating a family apartment in Paris that belonged to Julia's mother-in-law. Through one thing and another, Julia discovers that a Jewish family once lived in the apartment and in 1942 were brutally arrested in the Vel’ d’Hivâ roundup and sent to concentration camps.

How do I describe The Story of Edgar Sawtelle? Is it just a good story? A thriller? A tale of survival?  Or how about all of the above? It's a beautifully written debut novel by David Wroblewski, a coming-of-age story about a boy who can't speak. He and his parents raise and train their own breed of dogs. His rather sinister uncle returns after a lengthy absence, and it's then that Edgar's world starts to fall apart.

The Help is Kathryn Stockett's New York Times bestselling debut, taking place in 1962 Mississippi where 22-year-old Skeeter has just graduated from college and returned home. She takes a job at the local newspaper writing an advice column for homemakers, but she knows she is cut out for more. Her mother, however, would just as soon Skeeter get married and settle down. Skeeter decides to write a book describing how the African American "help" are treated in her town by their white employers.

This year's One Book, One Community focuses on "The Soloist," a New York Times best seller, written by Steve Lopez, award-winning journalist and Los Angeles columnist.  The book was also made into a recently released, feature film starring Jamie Foxx and Robert Downey, Jr.

"The Soloist" is the true story of Los Angeles Times columnist Steve Lopez's fascination with Nathaniel Anthony Ayers, a Julliard trained musician who is homeless and playing Beethoven on a two-string violin in a noisy traffic tunnel.

Eric Cash is 35 years old, still living on the Lower East Side in New York City, still working in a restaurant, and he still hasn't made it big as a screenwriter. Not at all what he expected to be doing at this age. Then an evening out with a new young co-worker, Ike Marcus, turns to tragedy as Ike is gunned down in front of him. Author Richard Price explores the repercussions of this seemingly random shooting. The reader gets to know Detective Matty Clark; his partner, Yolanda; Ike's grief-stricken father Billy; the teenage shooter, Tristan; and more. The ending is not a shock, but the trip there is a fascinating one.

Bernstein, Arnie. The Bath Massacre. (977.424 Ber)
A new and gripping account of America’s first-and largest-school mass murder.

NATION, BY TERRY PRATCHETT
I really enjoyed listening to this book on CD while in my car. I didn't know what to expect, but it sounded like a good adventure story. What I didn't expect was that it would be so funny! Mau, an island boy, loses his home, his village and his family in a tsunami, and thinks he is alone on the island. But he discovers a girl about his age who has survived both the tsunami and a shipwreck. She is an English princess, though she doesn't yet know about the princess part. They find other survivors, fight off evil shipmates, and go about rebuilding their community. Funny, but serious, too.

Read Books...Write Reviews...Win Prizes!

It couldn't be easier.  Celebrate the themes of creativity and self-expression by participating in ELPL's Adult Summer Reading program.  Write a review of each book you read and you will be entered to win a weekly prize drawing.  Reviews* can be submitted online or by picking up an entry form at the Library. 

Reading Lists Prepared by Library Staff:

Appetite for Life : the biography of Julia Child by Noel Riley Fitch.

The Art of Creative Thinking by Gerard I. Niernberg.

The Artist's Way : a spiritual path to higher creativity by Julia Cameron.

Ball of Fire : the tumultuous life and comic art of Lucille Ball by Stefan Kanfer.