Edgy world of reading boys

IN NEARLY 30 years of teaching English and being a librarian, boys’ favourite book choices never ceased to amaze me. Given the freedom of choice (age-appropriate, of course) they would always take edgy literature, which explored character-building and social development.

This was true across the board from the so-called “at-risk” schools to YTC and prisons and in the International School with boys from 40 different countries.

I have stood before 100 rowdy teenagers who have never read a book or in small groups of 15 students (girls and boys) in these schools and seen the room swell with students when the word got out about a second reading of Wishing for Wings, my book about teenagers studying for the CXC English exam and incarcerated in YTC for violent armed robbery and murder studying for the CXC English exam.

Curiosity hooked students in “prestige” schools and seeing their culture reflected in a book grabbed other students’ attention. There can be multiple entry points to a book.

Here are some other favourite books, equally appreciated by boys and girls, which target ten to 14-year-old students:

1. Doll Bones, by Holly Black: This is the book that shocked me the most about boys’ favourite books. I thought sometimes boys should listen to a book that would resonate more with girls, but boys loved Doll Bones, the story of three 12-year-old friends – two girls and a boy– who enjoy playing with action figures.

When the boy’s father insists his son play boys’ sports because he’s too old to play with action figures, the boy abruptly ends his friendship with the girls, who don’t understand his sudden aloofness. They create a mystery to get him interested in their games again.

Doll Bones explores that turning point when children question what is childish and begs the question of who gets to make that decision – you or your parents?

2. The Winter Horses by William Kerr: Set in Ukraine during World War II, this survival story captured students’ attention and offered many research opportunities. When a young Jewish girl escapes a Nazi invasion and heads for the Ukrainian wilderness, she discovers the kindness of strangers and their determination to save the Przewalski's horses – small, wild horses on Hitler’s extermination list.

World War II stories were always a hit with my students because they presented clear lines between good and evil; fairness and unfairness; empathy and hatred.

3. The War that Saved My Life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley: Knowing students’ interest in World War II stories, I chose this book about a girl with a club foot who escapes her cruel mother by sneaking into a government programme that sends London’s children to homes in the countryside to avoid the Nazis' bombing. The mother sends her son to the programme but has no intention of saving her daughter.

The mother’s cruelty baffled students. It was difficult to get students to leave library class – even knowing they would get in trouble for being late to their next class.

4. Save Me a Seat by Sarah Weeks and Gita Varadarajan: This humorous story of an immigrant boy from India trying to fit into an American school explores every angle of school prejudice and bullying. Humour offers a safe way for students to absorb literary messages.

5. Cracker! The Best Dog in Vietnam by Cynthia Kadohata: Nearly everyone likes a good animal story, and this novel about a family pet who becomes a war dog was the ultimate survival story for students. Would Cracker survive the war? Would he come back to the boy who had to give him up?

6. Early in my teaching career, my students loved Harriet’s Daughter by Tobagonian-born writer Marlene NourbeSe Philip. The story of a Tobagonian girl sent to Canada to live with her grandmother was the ultimate immigrant story that captured the reality of some students and debunked the daydream of others who believed immigration would offer a carefree life. This novel explores the difficulty of fitting into a new culture.

Lisa Allen-Agostini’s novel The Bread the Devil Knead and Rabindranath Maharaj’s novel The Amazing Absorbing Boy offer the same riveting themes of alienation, identity and culture shock.

7. Goodbye Stranger by Rebecca Stead: This book tests teens’ beliefs about friendship, self-identity and socially appropriate behaviour. A girl who survives a car crash questions her purpose in life; another girl begins taking risque selfies… Students in my daughter Ijanaya’s library class in Antwerp, Belgium, are just as excited about this book as my students were.

There’s nothing like the feeling of getting boys and girls into reading. Their confidence and self-expression soar.