Defeating the Doubting Dragon:
Getting Middle Grade Boys (4th-7th grades) to Read
A resource for parents, teachers and librarians to get their middle school boys reading outside of class, catapulting them into the wonderful world of literacy
Introduction: Girls growing up are much more caught up by the allure of books. Some girls voraciously read everything available to them. But the boy pleasure reader seems nearly extinct. Aside from reading a few series like Harry Potter and Percy Jackson, boys often do not care about reading. Perhaps it is because they feel like there is nothing out there for them. While it is true that many books are aimed at girl readers, there are plenty of possibilities out there for boys, if they just knew where to look. This pathfinder is a guide to connecting the boys to the books.
Index:
Select List of Titles
Fiction
Nonfiction
Readers' Advisory Resources
Subject Headings
Dewey Numbers
Books
Websites
Other Resources
Incentive Programs
Book Clubs
FAQs
Pathfinder URL
Printer Friendly Version
Select List of Titles
(found in the Cuyahoga County Public Library system, CCPL)
Fiction
A Week in the Woods by Andrew Clements
CCPL Link:
Andrew Clements has the ability to capture a reader quickly with his simplicity and his knowledge of how kids think. This book tells the tale of a somewhat spoiled rich kid whose parents are not often nearby. He learns the joys of camping, but because of the way he acts in his new school the first weeks, he is judged a troublemaker and sentenced to being ignored by his new science teacher, who created a program for the students to spend a week in the woods. Boys who enjoy the outdoors will especially appreciate this book. This is a much better starting book for younger middle grade boys as opposed to older ones, who might find the protagonist a bit young.
The Lightning Thief (Percy Jackson and the Olympians: Book 1) by Rick Riordan
CCPL Link:
This series has become a hit, and it has the perfect hero for a boy to relate to. Percy Jackson has ADHD, he is dyslexic, and he cannot figure out why monsters are chasing him. Soon he learns he is half god, half mortal: a demigod, and all the monsters of the Greek mythological world are after him. He next finds himself at a camp that trains and protects other people like him. For Percy, that is just the beginning of this intense and exciting series. Don’t tell them, but the book is also teaching its readers about the characters of Ancient Greek Mythology.
39 Clues series by Various Authors
Book 1: The Maze of Bones by Rick Riordan
CCPL Link:
The first book of the series finds a brother and sister racing against other family members to discover family secrets and power. They face terrible danger and cannot trust anyone to help them, especially their conniving relatives who want them out of the way. Along the way, they discover the “family” they are descended from includes many great leaders and innovators of the world. Boys will like this for the sheer adventure and excitement that the children go through. As a series, it has the added benefit of keeping them reading the whole collection through.
Guys Read: Funny Business edited by Jon Scieszka
CCPL Link:
Given his successful website Guys Read (listed below under websites), Scieszka decided to encourage boys to read with this book of humorous short stories. It is Volume 1 of the GUYS READ LIBRARY OF GREAT READING, the series that will eventually cover stories in other genres. For the first, 10 authors create funny stories that boys will enjoy.
Nonfiction
An American Plague: The True and Terrifying Story of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793 by Jim Murphy
CCPL Link:
This book garnered many rave reviews and awards when it came out in the early 2000s, and it remains a wonderful and horrifying tale of what happened during the yellow fever epidemic, and how disease was treated in the late eighteenth century. It will be sure to fascinate and gross-out upper-middle schoolers.
Phineas Gage: A Gruesome but True Story About Brain Science by John Fleischman
CCPL Link:
Phineas Gage was a railroad worker whose head was impaled with an iron rod. Instead of dying, however, he lived on a normal life, though his personality was completely changed. Boys will find this entertaining and informative, another fun gross-out book to read.
Readers’ Advisory Resources
Subject Headings
Boys -- Books and reading -- United States.
Preteens -- Books and reading -- United States.
Reading -- Sex differences -- United States.
Readers' advisory services -- United States.
Dewey Numbers
025.54
Within 026-028
028.5…
Books
Readers' Advisory for Children and 'Tweens by Penny Peck
CCPL Link:
Though it does not focus specifically on boys, this book is a resource that will help you learn more about readers’ advisory and focus on books for children and tweens, including middle grade boys.
Serving Boys Through Readers' Advisory by Michael Sullivan
CCPL Link:
A book that fully addresses the issues associated with getting boys to read, and why there is such a problem. It also gives ideas for book talks and includes many subject-specific booklists.
Websites
Database of Award Winning Children’s Literature
Link: http://www.dawcl.com/
This site is an index of children’s books that have won one or more of a long list of awards. The search page, http://www.dawcl.com/search.asp, lets you search based on many kinds of criteria, including age range of reader, type of book, sex of protagonist, historical era, when the book was published, and several others. It is one of the best available resources for finding quality children’s literature, and makes it easy to look for books especially catered towards a child’s likes.
Guys Read
Link: http://guysread.com/
Jon Scieszka created this site to help boys and people who care about them learn about why boys do not read. The site gives many helpful suggestions of books and has actual recommendations from real boys.
NoveList K-8 Plus *subscription based
Access through CCPL website: http://www.cuyahogalibrary.org
Go to the research drop down menu and click on Electronic Resources A-Z
Then click on the N or scroll down to the Ns for the site
Login with your library card and PIN
One of the best things about NoveList is that it gives ideas for books based on what a person has already read. It is a trusted source that will help find more books for a boy that has only read one kind of book, such as the Harry Potter series, for example.
Other Resources
Incentive Programs
Book Adventure
Developed for children to improve literacy, this site is supported by Sylvan Learning Centers and the Sylvan Learning Foundation. It awards points that give kids incentives for correctly answering reading comprehension questions about the books they read. This is an excellent way to get reluctant readers interested at first and then hook them into regular reading.
KeyBank High Achievers Kids Club
The Cleveland Indians teams up with Key Bank to get kids excited about education. The program, in addition to grade and attendance-based incentives, offers a star for reading three books in a semester or trimester. Students win things like game tickets.
Book Clubs
The Garfield Heights branch of the Cuyahoga County Public Library will offer a bi-weekly book club for boys in grades 4-6 titled Guys and Books, beginning in February 2011.
Link to first week of program: http://www.cuyahogalibrary.org/EventDetail.aspx?EventInstanceID=50076
Rocky River Public Library has a Guys Read program that had meetings in this past October and November. It is likely that it will continue next year, but the current children’s programs schedule is not updated to include events in 2011.
Link to program list: http://rrpl.org/children/index.html
FAQs
What is a Playaway?
A Playaway is a small listening device that has an entire audiobook loaded on it. It can be listened to through headphones, which are generally provided by the library, or with a car cable, which connects to the audio input port on newer vehicles.
Pathfinder URL
Printer Friendly Version
© 2010 Jessica C. Williams
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