Sure-fire hits to get you reading
Not sure what to read? Start with this teacher/librarian-tested list of titles for boys of all ages.
BIZARRE / GROSS
- Ripley’s Special Edition 2010 by Scholastic Inc.
- Tales of the Cryptids: Mysterious Creatures That May or May Not Exist by Kelly Milner Halls, Rick Spears, and Roxyanne Young
- Oh, Yuck! The Encyclopedia of Everything Nasty by Joy Masoff and Terry Sirrell
- Encyclopedia Horrifica: The Terrifying TRUTH! About Vampires, Ghosts, Monsters, and More by Joshua Gee
- Grossology by Sylvia Branzei and Jack Keely
- Totally Gross (Ripley’s Believe It or Not!) (series)
COMIC BOOKS
- The Essential Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson
- The Simpsons by Matt Groening
- Star Trek by J. J. Abrams, Robert Orci, Alex Kurtzman, and Tim Jones
- The Amazing Spider-Man
- The Far Side Gallery by Gary Larson
NONFICTION (MISC)
- Guinness World Records Gamers Edition 2010 by BradyGames
- Star Wars: The Complete Visual Dictionary
- Dragonology: The Complete Book of Dragons by Ernest Drake and Dugald Steer
- The Dangerous Book for Boys by Conn Iggulden and Hal Iggulden
- MythBusters: Don’t Try This at Home by Discovery Channel and Mary Packard
- The New Way Things Work by David Macaulay and Neil Ardley
- Extreme Dinosaurs by Robert Mash
- Pirate (DK Eyewitness Books) (Series) by Richard Platt
HUMOR
- The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales by Jon Scieszka
- Immature Pranks by editors of Klutz
- Jokelopedia: The Biggest, Best, Silliest, Dumbest Joke Book Ever
- Giant Children by Brod Bagert
- Encyclopedia of Immaturity by editors of Klutz
GRAPHIC NOVELS
- Diary of a Wimpy Kid (series) by Jeff Kinney
- Star Wars: Vector Volume 1 by John Jackson Miller
- Naruto by Masashi Kishimoto
- Shonen Jump (magazine)
- The Battle Brawlers (Bakugan, Book 1) by Tracey West
- Rave Master, Book 1 by Hiro Mashima and MashimaHiro
- Bone Volume (series) by Jeff Smith
- Alchemist (series) by Hiromu Arakawa
- Dragon Ball Z by Akira Toriyama
SPORTS – NONFICTION
- On the Court with…LeBron James by Matt Christopher and Stephanie Peters
- Extreme Sports Stars (High Interest Books) by Philip Abraham
- A Little Giant Book: Football Facts (series) by Michael J. Pellowski
- Street Skateboarding: Endless Grinds and Slides by Evan Goodfellow and Doug Werner
- BMX (Extreme Sports) by Chris Job
MILITARY / WARS / WEAPONS
- World War II by Simon Adams
- B-2 Stealth Bombers by Jack David
- Frontline Marines: Fighting in the Marine Combat Arms Units by Simone Payment
- Weapons of World War II (Blazers) by Doeden and Matt
- Main Battle Tanks: The M1A1 Abrams (War Machines) by Michael Green and Gladys Green
VEHICLES
- Wild About Lowriders by J. Poolos
- Custom Cars by Matt Doeden and Chuck Vranas
- Choppers by Marx and Mandy R.
- Sport Bikes (Motorcycles) by Jack David
- Hot Rods (Motor Mania) by Eric Braun
SURVIVAL
- Man vs. Wild: Survival Techniques from the Most Dangerous Places on Earth by Bear Grylls
- Survive!: Essential Skills and Tactics to Get You Out of Anywhere – Alive by Les Stroud
- Amazing Stories of Survival by editors of People Magazine
OUTDOORS
- The Scout’s Outdoor Cookbook by Christine Conners, Tim Conners
- Camping Made Easy by Michael Rutter
- The American Boy’s Handy Book by Daniel Carter Beard
SCARY
- The Demonata (series) by Darren Shan
- The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean
- Stormbreaker (Alex Rider Series #1) by Anthony Horowitz
- Cirque du Freak: A Living Nightmare by Darren Shan
- Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark (series) by Alvin Schwartz
SPORTS FICTION
- Travel Team (series) by Mike Lupica
- The Great Quarterback Switch by Matt Christopher
- Football Genius by Tim Green
MISC. FICTION
- 39 Clues (Series)
- The Lightning Thief (series) by Rick Riordan
- Spider Boy by Ralph Fletcher
- Hatchet (series) by Gary Paulsen
- Crossing the Wire by Will Hobbs
- Joey Pigza (Series) by Jack Gantos
BIOGRAPHIES / AUTOBIOGRAPHIES
- Knucklehead: Tall Tales and Almost True Stories of Growing up Scieszka by Jon Scieszka
- Marshfield Dreams: When I Was a Kid by Ralph Fletcher
- Escape!: The Story of the Great Houdini by Sid Fleischman
- Boy: Tales of Childhood by Roald Dahl
PICTURE BOOKS
- No, David! (series) by David Shannon
- Amazing Sharks! (I Can Read series) by Sarah L. Thomson
- Hi! Fly Guy by Tedd Arnold
- Parts (series) by Tedd Arnold
- Giant Children by Brod Bagert
- When I Was a Boy . . . I Dreamed by Justin Matott and Mark Ludy
I think the Michael Vey series should be added to the list.
Dragon Ball z and Naruto!!!
HARRY POTTER SHOULD BE ON THEIR…….yeah they are big i admit that but there is action or humor on every page…..I was reading it during study hall at school and almost burst out laughing……..THE SUSPENSE MAKES YOU WANT MORE!!!!!!!!!!!!
p.s. sorrry for screaming but just give Harry Potter a chance
Rick Riordan is the best
i agree
ya
try the legend of zelda books (it is a graphic novel
i say titanic series should be up there
i have the whole diary of a wimpy kid series!
Me too! Even the new one!
Grade A stuff. I’m unueqstinobaly in your debt.
It needs more Marvel and DC comics but still a great list!!
OK selection but i can think of a better comics list; and i agree with the Chosen One about the dangerous books for boys
The Guaradians of Gahoole series is awesome!!! Percy Jackson is too. Then the Underland Cronicles are way cool too.
i love the movies
How dare they insult Diary of a Wimpy Kid by calling it a graphic novel! A graphic novel is just a big comic book! DWK does have pictures similar to a comic book but it is a true novel!
I’ll be using this list as a place to start my own “boys” bibliography in my library.
They need The Dangerous Book for Boys in this list besides that Awesome!!!
it is on the list
why is the graveyard book in there its not at all scary (to me atleast)
I like The Big Book of Boy Stuff to.
They should have had NARNIA and Lord Of The Rings!
For scary they should add some of Stephen King’s books. He’s a great author, and I practically only read his book’s now.
I think they should have a science fiction section. I’ve read most of the fiction books on this list they need to find more
I didn’t see The Big Book Of Boy Stuff.I WANT IT IN THE LIST!!!! >:( .
I love the big book of boys stuff
how could They not have fantasy like the lord of the rings?
I love LOTR!
Why don’t they have the Lord of the Rings??? They NEED it!!!!
there looks like a lot of cool books i would read i love Diary of a wimpy kid I LOVE HUMOR!
Me too.
Amen to that!!!
How is the 39 clues series not on their
The 39 Clues series is the Misc. Fiction section.
39 Clues is an awesome book!
What are u talkin about? Its on there!