Boys & Books: Guys Read

Jon Scieszka's Guys Read web site has been revamped, and it looks terrific. The mission of the "web-based literacy program for boys...is to help [them] become self-motivated, lifelong readers."

Book recommendations include such categories as "Outer space, but without aliens," "Mysterious Occurrences," and "At least one explosion." The book-of-the-month is Jeff Smith's Out from Boneville (#1 in the Bone series). The 10-year-old guy reader here can vouch for that one, having read it 49 times or so.

Scieszka wrote The Stinky Cheese Man, and Other Fairly Stupid Tales, the Time Warp Trio series, and Squids Will Be Squids, among other books. He is also the first (and current) Children's Ambassador for Young People's Literature (but he sounds a lot more fun than that title).

Hat tip to Betsy Bird, at the School Library Journal blog A Fuse #8 Production, for the news of the revamped Guys Read.

Comments

[Candice]

I love Mr Scieszka and I've been sending boys to this site for a while. I'm wondering if you know of anything vaguely as "funky" and in-touch for girls?

[Susan (Chicken Spaghetti)]

Candice, there's always Readergirlz, for teenagers. I'll have to ask around about younger girls. That's a good question (and possibly an opportunity for someone!).

http://www.readergirlz.com

[Susan (Chicken Spaghetti)]

Candice, here's a rec for tweens.

One friend suggests New Moon Girls' Book Club:

http://bit.ly/1K3GeX

and another likes Book Budds, for kindergartners through 8th graders:

http://www.bookbudds.com/

Here is one more, a library-based blog

Girls Read, Girls Rule (The World)

http://girlsreadbetter.blogspot.com/

[Jules]

Thanks for the news! I had missed it at Fuse's site and elsewhere. It looks fabulous, doesn't it?