How to hook the reluctant boy reader
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Gags, gadgets and adventure -- sure fire recipes to make boys (and
girls) read.
By Denise Hamilton
When not reading to her boys, Denise Hamilton writes crime novels for
adults. She also edited and contributed to "Los Angeles Noir," a short
story anthology.
June 10, 2007
EVERY night at bedtime, I get a firsthand look at the challenges of
engaging the fickle boy reader.
"Bo-ring," my 9- and 11-year-olds chant, if a book doesn't grab their
interest within the first few pages.
They like action, danger, suspense, gadgets, tricks, slapstick and
scary supernatural stuff. Bathroom humor is a sure winner. But they
often don't like books that are supposed to be good for them or the
ones with $100,000 marketing campaigns.
With evidence mounting that boys are falling behind girls in reading
as they hit middle school, I've decided to compile and share the
tactics and titles that have worked at our house. I let my kids play
with Hot Wheels while I read because they enjoy keeping their hands
busy. Often I'll read the first chapter out loud, stop at a
cliffhanger, then hand it over. I also leave books scattered around
the house.
My youngest learned to read by studying comic books. Current favorites
are the French classics "Asterix," a series featuring an ancient Gaul
who outsmarts the Roman legions, and "Tintin," about a boy re****ter
who travels the world having adventures.
Dav Pilkey's "Captain Underpants" series taught my kids the words
"preposterous" and "perilous." A perfect segue from Pilkey is the
trilogy "The Day My Butt Went Psycho," written by naughty Australian
Andy Griffiths. For cleaner humor, David Lubar's books ("In the Land
of the Lawn Weenies") are spooky and funny. Other amusing reads: Jerry
Spinelli's "Picklemania," the "Hank the Cowdog" series by John R.
Erickson and Roddy Doyle's children's books, including the "Giggler"
series and "Rover Saves Christmas."
For a sampler of different styles, you can't beat "Guys Write for Guys
Read," edited by Jon Scieszka, author of the "Time Warp Trio" series.
The anthology contains 80-plus stories, essays, cartoons and memoirs
by cool guy authors.
My boys love R.L. Stine's "Goosebumps" books and K.A. Applegate's
"Animorphs" sci-fi series. For more advanced sci-fi, try Orson Scott
Card's "Ender's Game," about a military-school boy who trains for an
alien invasion by playing computer war games. For spooky, try Neil
Gaiman's entrancing "Coraline" and Joseph Delaney's "The Last
Apprentice" series. Gore and horror fans will embrace Darren Shan's
"Cirque du Freak" series.
Author Sid Fleischman is a master at teaching American history while
engaging kids ("By the Great Horn Spoon!," about the California Gold
Rush). Ditto for Avi, whose medieval-themed "Crispin: The Cross of
Lead" won the 2003 Newbery Medal.
Greg Leitich Smith sends up magnet schools, science fairs, blackmail
and secret crushes in "Ninjas, Piranhas, and Galileo." Cornelia
Funke's "The Thief Lord" unfolds along the canals and bridges of
Venice, Italy, as two orphaned boys join a flamboyant gang of young
thieves.
Rollicking tales in fantasy include the "Molly Moon" series by Georgia
Byng about an orphan hypnotist, the "Charlie Bone" series by Jenny
Nimmo about a boy with magical powers, Eoin Colfer's "Artemis Fowl"
series about a mad Irish boy genius, and Suzanne Collins' "Gregor the
Overlander" series about a boy who falls through a vent in a New York
basement and discovers a world of violet-eyed people, giant
cockroaches, bats, rats and mice.
Boys who like intricate world-building will enjoy Christopher
Paolini's "Eragon" series about a boy and his dragon, Kenneth Oppel's
"Silverwing" trilogy about a young bat on a quest to find his father,
Brian Jacques' "Redwall" series about a medieval animal kingdom and
Jonathan Stroud's superb "The Bartimaeus Trilogy" about a witty,
opinionated ancient Egyptian djinn who wreaks havoc on English
magicians.
Kids who like graphics will appreciate the newly released "The
Invention of Hugo Cabret" by Brian Selznick and last year's "Monster
Blood Tattoo" by D.M. Cornish, a Dickensian tale set in an alternate
world with lovely pen-and-ink drawings.
In nonfiction, Conn and Hal Iggulden's new bestseller "The Dangerous
Book for Boys" is boyish catnip that mixes historical battles,
practical how-to (tie knots, make invisible ink, build a treehouse)
and self-reliance. What boy could resist "Oh, Yuck!" and its
disgusting sequel, "Oh, Yikes!" by Joy Masoff, with clever entries
about maggots, plague, Vikings and guillotines.
Any kid who wants to make the world a better place will eat up "Chew
on This," by Eric Schlosser and Charles Wilson.
But boys are a tough audience; there's no magic wand. There's only the
spell cast by a book itself and the wonderful eerie silence that
descends when it has seized a child's interest.
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