While gender doesn’t determine if a book is great or not, it does help if children can identify with some of the characters in the stories. This is especially true for reluctant readers. The books in this particular category are noted for the predominance of boys as main characters.
Published: 2013 Theme: Destiny and Inner Power Best for: 9 and up "Maybe destiny isn't something that just happens. Maybe destiny is something you do. Maybe destiny is like a seed and it grows. I wasn't powerless." This excellent children's book offers a retelling of Rumpelstiltskin, focusing on the theme of destiny and magic, and how to understand inner power.
Published: 2014 Theme: Friendship, First Chapter Book Best for: 5 to 8 "Under the kitchen sink, where the beetles live, there is an art studio just for Marvin. James gives him paper and ink. He can draw and draw. Marvin loves making pictures. But today he just doesn't feel like it." This children's book succeeds on several counts - imagination (the world as seen by beetles), clear simple writing, and a single message: friendship.
Published: 1953 Theme: Coming of Age Best for: Boys 11-12 "San Ysidro is the patron saint of our village of Los Cordovas...He keeps an eye out special for Los Cordovas...For as long as I can remember, there have been no complaints about how San Ysidro has handled things for our village." Miguel is twelve years old, a middle child in a large family of shepherds who have lived on the New Mexico lands for hundreds of years. Somehow he has a way of muddling everything he tries to communicate...
Published: 1983 Theme: Divorce, Compassion Best for: Boys, 10 and up “Who wants to be friends with someone who scowls all the time? asked Mr. Fridley. “So you’ve got problems. Well, so has everyone see, if you take the trouble to notice.” This book takes us on a journey with a young boy and his feelings towards his estranged dad. The entire story is ...
Published: 1955 Theme: Historical Fiction Best for: ages 10 and up "The troops from Andover appeared in there dashing red uniforms, every button shining, leather gleaming...The church bells chimed. Then a great shout went up. For there was President Washington – a tall, commanding man, riding horseback to enter the town." Here's a children's book that is so informative, it's a little hard not to compare it to a dull textbook that might teach the same subject. The subject matter is navigation, discoveries, and life at the time of the American Revolution.
Published: 2005 Theme: Courage, Immigrants Best for: 12 and up (PG) "How much he missed Rachel. Would he be able to hold out long enough for the revolution? Would he survive? Would he ever devote endless hours to practicing a Brahms concerto? Would he ever play games with his sister again?" Here is a painfully beautiful and difficult children's book that I must recommend particularly because I want my son and grandson to read it...
Published: 2013 Theme: Perseverance Best for: 9 - 12 "Cat laughed again. In case you hadn't noticed, she laughs a lot. That's one of the things I like about her. ...And she doesn't judge people all the time. Cat figures that if someone is always cranky like Grandma Melvyn, it's just who they are. It doesn't mean they are a bad person." Drum roll. Lights. Ta-Da! Applause, as Robbie himself would say in this immensely likeable, creative, and somewhat wacky children's book. I love it...
Published: 1986 Theme: Courage, Destiny Best for: ages 8 and up "Mattias cut a comical little figure as he wobbled his way along the cloisters, with his large sandals flip-flopping, and his tail peeping from beneath the baggy folds of an oversized novice's habit. He paused to gaze upwards and tripped over the enormous sandals." I have to admit I was hooked on this children's book with the opening lines even before I realized this was a book about mice and small animals. One of the amazing features of this fantasy children's book is that it is so real...
Published: 1977 Theme: Friendship, Courage Best for: ages 11 and up "He was angry, too, because it would soon be Christmas and he had nothing to give Leslie. It was not that she would expect something expensive; it was that he needed to give her something as much as he needed to eat when he was hungry." When I put this children's book down, my shirt was dampened with teardrops, and I couldn't do anything but sit quietly for a while. I felt like I had just lost my best friend, as Jess had. The impact was astounding...
Published: 1998 Theme: Loyalty and Courage Best for: Boys 6 and up "He had promised Joseph he'd protect him. But he didn't. They were best friends. Best friends were supposed to stick together. Even if it meant being called names...Even if it ruined the sport you loved more than anything in the world. Even then." This first chapter book delighted me from beginning to end. It places the dilemma of friendship front and center...
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