Gary Wilson - Raising Boys' Achievement

BOOKS FOR BOYS: TOP JUNIORS TO LOWER SECONDARY

Collected by GW from 200 Children’s Library Service heads and workers at their annual conference in 2006, using a series of mindmaps. Many books and authors could of course have appeared in more than one category.

Boys like books that are in a series:

Artemis Fowl, Young Bond, Captain Underpants, His Dark Materials, Series of Unfortunate Events, Mortal Engines, Edge Chronicles, Windsinger, Narnia, Lord of the Rings.

Boys like books that have an edge to them:

Weirdo's War, Creeper, Jake’s Tower, Martyn Pig, The Crew, Boy Kills Man, and works by authors like Benjamin Zephaniah, Anthony Horowitz, Malorie Blackman and Bali Rai.

Boys like books that are about powerful ideas:

Such as Bloodtide, Millions, I am the Cheese, Warriors of the Raven, Wheel of Fire, Feather Boy and works by authors such as Keith Gray, David Almond and Philip Pullman.

Boys like books that draw on myth, legend and fantasy:

The Wizard of Earthsea, Keys to the Kingdom, Beowulf, Arthurian Legends and Norse Sagas and works by authors such as Alan Garner, Susan Cooper, D. Wynne Jones, Christopher Paolini and Peter Dickinson.

Boys like books that appeal to their sense of mischief:

The Legend of Spud Murphy, Horrid Henry, Jiggy McQue and by writers such as Roald Dahl, Terry Pratchett, Roddy Doyle, Maurice Gleitzman, Jeremy Strong, Ian Ogilvy, Philip Ridley and Louis Sachar.

Boys like books that are funny:

The Discworld series, Jiggy Stories, Adrian Mole, Little Wolf Stories, Joey Pigza stories, Justin, Just William, Jennings and books by writers such as Douglas Adams, Philip Ardagh, Paul Jennings and Pete Johnson.

Boys like books that are plot driven:

Harry Potter, Holes, Eagle of the Ninth, Stravaganza, Hatchet, Abhorsen, Sharpe and books by writers such as Theresa Breslin, Cornelia Funke, Charlie Higson, Conn Iggulden, Robert Swindells, Graham Joyce, Jonathan Stroud, Caroline Lawrence, Robert Muchamore, Keith Oppel, Chris Ryan, Darren Shan.

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