Boys Books

The Story of a Bad Boy is one of my favorite books. It's interesting, humorous, and touching, and gives you an inside look at the life of a boy in Massachusetts in the early 1800s. I love the author's style of writing. It seems to make the story all the more humorous, and brings you back to those olden days. I also love this book because it's a true story, and this kid led a life full of adventures and mishaps. I would recommend it to anyone who enjoyed Tom Sawyer because these two books are similar, and the two boys have the same type of mischievous personalities. Yet in spite of similarities, Bad Boy is unique because it's true.

This neat little novel is written in the tradition of Tom Sawyer, though it appeared 5 years earlier than Twain's classic. It's about all the mischief, chivalry, loyalty, and pluck of a young boy's life. Aldrich is in love with his material and revels in all the antics his characters get involved in. The snowball fight is a gem. The boyhood dialogue is excellent and rings true.

We live in a world of fantacy and of real life.This book gives you a glimpse into the life of a real American boy.

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A critically important contribution to African-American Father-Son relationships from the heart of a Dad who was raised by a single parent mom in inner city Philadelphia. I'd recommend this book to the whole family as well as any son, especially an "at risk" youth. Each of the 20 chapters presents a father-to-son perspective on earthy life issues in clear, concise narratives, with reasonable discretion and frank integrity...

*** Guns *** Gangs *** Drugs *** The Law *** Homosexuality *** Communication *** Problems & Struggles *** Friendship *** Religion *** Mothers *** Health & Fitness *** Hygiene *** Sex *** The Game *** Tenets *** Education *** Ethnic Origin *** Life & Death *** Words to Live By *** F.Y.I./Poetry ***

The "Father to Son" keynote poem will be an award winner. Reginald Bullock has been there, and his personal troubles-to-triumphs guided tour will inspire more successes.

Reggie is a very powerful writer with the ability to communicate to all ages at the same time. His knowledge and background gives him a flexibility that is very unique. Almost like James Bond, only with an urban flavor. I have read many books in my time, and most writers skirt the truth when it comes to some of the subjects Reggie has chosen; however, this book hits the nail square on the head. I would recommend better critics than myself to read the book and write a review. I see big things happening for this man.

Each chapter in the book is a lesson in itself. OPRAH needs to have this guy on TV for the world to learn from. He hits all the problems straight on and pulls no punches. So many teenagers and single parent mothers need to read this book.

For any animal lover this is a wonderful read. Having been in the healthcare field for many years, do we realize how lucky we are? The problems this family faced at every step of their childs life are very different from what we have in America. We are very fortunate for the help available to American children in the school systems. Once again this story proves how anmals are such a vital and important part of our lives

a friend like henry,written by Nuala Gardner and published by Sourcebooks is a parents' book about autism...with all the fluffy bits removed. Honest, blunt, significant, rewarding. A well written, meaningful and very readable book.

a friend like henry is a book that tells the reader how frustrating, enlightening and magical living with autism can be, both for the person on the spectrum and those that live in the world parallel to ours.
I am happy to say that at no time in this book is it ever implied that Dale should be 'cured' of his autism, it is obvious throughout the book that the search is for coping mechanisms and behavioral modification.

One of the things I enjoyed most was that Nuala does not claim that pet therapy is the only solution to the above dilemma but she does openly and honestly share one way of using an autistic child's obsession to their family's best advantage.

One of the things I disliked the most about this book (besides the use of all lower case for the title and author name), was the way it rewired all my emotions and made me cry every few pages. I found that I had to pace myself through this book by reading it in between several others in order to give my emotions a break. I nearly couldn't continue on reading it at the end but I am not going to tell you why, as it will 'ruin' the ending for you. However, I am happy that I did carry on.

After reading this book I am still convinced that our N3S is still the child most likely to be savaged by a dog but I picked up a few tips encouraging on behavioral modification which we will apply through other mediums.

The section where Dale 'speaks' at the end of the book along with Nuala's afterword are nice twists and are the perfect ending to what I feel is a triumph of literary honesty. This is a very special book.

I speak as both an adult Aspie and a mother of an Aspie child when I say that this book will break your heart into several pieces and then show you interesting new ways to put it back together again.

I kind of feel like I don't even know where to start talking about this book. I knew very little about what families with autistic children go through, and after reading this book, a first hand account of a mother with two autistic children, I feel I can empathize much more with the struggle they go through. And while all the daily tasks and events, the simple communications and learning events most parents take for granted are extraordinarily more difficult, this book is in no way a downer.

First of all, I think the Gardners are fantastic parents. They worked tirelessly to help their son live the most normal life he possibly could. After years of working with him and using his obsessions (such as with Mickey Mouse and Thomas the Tank Engine) to teach him about human emotions and connecting with other people to minimal results, they discovered he loved dogs. And so they researched and searched until they were able to find a golden retriever puppy...the breed they thought would be a perfect fit.

A wonderful testament to the glory of dogs, this dog loved their son and became a companion to him and helped this family "get their son back."

This book is the story of a life...of Jamie and Nuala's life, of Dale's life, and of Henry's life. It's about struggle and triumph...parental love and the love of a dog. It's profoundly moving, inspiring, and educational. I highly, highly recommend it. Just be sure to have a box of tissues nearby when you read....you'll need it.

Full Service's characters feel real. The interactions feel like they matter. There is a plot arc but it doesn't dominate the book - instead the book unfolds a particular summer, a particular lens on how it goes in a small white town and the larger world. This particular lens has a lot to do with sexuality and making sense of the world. There are a couple subtle gay characters but the focus is on heterosexuality - and this is one of the few teen books I've read where the women and girls are just as lusty as the men and boys and aren't made to suffer G-d's wrath for it. This is one of the books where each character is rounded with a virtue and a problem. It reminded me of "Our Town" but less feeling of allegory and more the feeling you could know people like these.

In the summer of 1965, shy Paul Sutton, at the urging of his mother, takes a job at the local Shell gas station in the tourist town of Hawk Bend, Minnesota. Paul is a bit apprehensive about his new summer occupation, but nonetheless leaves the shadow of his family's religious farming community and goes to "meet the public." Paul's stint as a full-service gas attendant quickly becomes anything but a simple summer job.

First, there's Kirk, the angry gas station manager whose frequent "service calls" and narrow-minded opinions soon get him in more trouble than he can handle. Then there's Harry, a kind, older gentlemen who's still trying to escape his gangster past. And beautiful Peggy, whose torrid love triangle between her controlling boyfriend Stephen and dark-haired Dale --- Peggy's on-the-side lover who's headed for Vietnam --- snags Paul into its tangled web.

Along with the great expectations of his community's fundamentalist ministers, the family of hippies visiting Hawk Bend on their way to San Francisco, and the various tourists who pass through Shell Station, Paul finds himself dealing with the prospect of a new independent life or continuing to lead the odd quiet farm life in which he grew up.

FULL SERVICE is about a young man's rite of passage as the world he lives in is undergoing its tumultuous own coming of age. It's a strangely compelling, nostalgic novel that may make readers notice how much the world has changed and how they themselves may have changed as well.

--- Reviewed by Sarah Sawtelle ([...])

" 'No, no, no,' she said impatiently, wiping her hands and turning down her radio, 'a real summer job--full-time. One where you could meet the public.'
"I glanced quickly through the screen door. 'What about Father?'
" 'I'll talk with him.'
"I shrugged. 'Yeah, well, what about the others?'
" 'For once let's not worry about the others,' she said. She turned back to her dishes, and her hands again moved into the soapy water as quick as trout among stones.
" 'The others' takes some explaining. We were a Midwestern family long on religion. Not Lutheran, but sort of. Not Mennonite, but kind of. Not Amish, but a little bit. Not Quaker, but a good part. It was a Christian nondenominational faith, a phrase mystifying to my few school friends who were not in it ('Come on, Sutton, how can a church have no name?'). Farmwork was communal. My family shared the larger machinery--baler, grain combine, corn picker, silo-filling equipment--with several other families in the Faith. Planting, haying, threshing, silo filling, corn picking were done on an orderly circuit: VandenEides, Grundlags, Sorheims, Suttons (that was us), and so on. Unlike the Mennonites in Canada or the Amish in central Minnesota, each family owned its own farm, but the focus was on shared work, worship, and fitting in with the others."

It's 1965, and Paul Sutton has spent his first nearly-sixteen years pretty-well sheltered by life on the farm, and living among those families of the Faith. Tumultuous events elsewhere--the Civil Rights Movement, the War--seem like they're taking place in another world as heard through Paul's mom's little transistor radio. But Paul's life is about to get shaken up in a big way thanks to one of his mom's infamous "plans":

" 'All right. I'm listening,' my father said, though he really wasn't.

" 'First, Paul finds a job--a real job, one where he can meet the public--and then we hire someone to take up the slack here at home,' she said.
"My father reached for the bread He began to butter a piece. The silence went on. Finally he said, 'First, I don't know that Paul necessarily wants to work in town. Second, who could we find to take his place? There are no hired men anymore. But third, none of it really matters, because there aren't any jobs in Hawk Bend for farm kids. Town kids have them all.'
"There was silence. I looked down at my food.
" 'It must be nice to be right all the time,' my mother said.
"I sucked in a breath and held it."

"Well, I try my best
To be just like I am,
But everybody wants you
To be just like them."
--Minnesota native, Bob Dylan (1965), "Maggie's Farm"

Thirty or forty pages into reading FULL SERVICE, I found myself thinking back to such wonderful children's books as BECAUSE OF WINN-DIXIE, A YEAR DOWN YONDER, and THE CANNING SEASON. These thoughts did not spring from any belief that Will Weaver's new book is the appropriate next read for the elementary school fans of those award-winning titles.

In fact, FULL SERVICE is a real sex, drugs, rock & roll, told-in-the-first-person, oft-rude, coming-of-age, YA novel that takes place back in '65.

But what Kate DiCamillo, Richard Peck, and Polly Horvath did so well with those books was to create unforgettable, multigenerational, ensemble casts of characters. And in FULL SERVICE, Will Weaver accomplishes this so exquisitely that I could easily imagine him writing another book about any one of, perhaps, a dozen different members of "the public" with whom Paul Sutton comes in contact as the result of landing a job at the Shell service station in downtown Hawk Bend, Minnesota (population 1,750) over that summer that he turns sixteen.

That list of characters begins with Paul's coworkers, Kirk and Bud. Kirk's the former high school jock with a wife, kids, and a rather healthy number of bad habits, as Paul quickly learns when he takes over manning the pumps at that full-service Shell station and starts meeting "the public."

"I met a local housewife with blonde hair piled high and sprayed in place. She seemed annoyed that I came out to wait on her, and she asked for fifty cents' worth of gas. She kept looking toward the office, the back room. 'Isn't Kirk on today?' she finally asked.
" 'Kirk is engaged by a service call.'
" 'I'll bet he is,' she said.
" 'Is there anything Bud or I might help you with?' I asked.
"She gave me a long look. 'Bud--it'd be a cold day in hell. And you--not for a couple of years.'
"My ears reddened like train semaphores.
"Unless you know furnaces, that is,' she said, raising one eyebrow at me.
" 'No, ma'am,' I stammered.
" 'There's the main boiler and then there's the pilot light,' she said, gesturing, drawing a circle with her hands.
"I nodded.
" 'Oh, you do know furnaces after all?'
" 'Well, kind of--I mean I know what a pilot light is,' I stammered. " 'Good. Good. A lot of men go through life never understanding the difference between a pilot light and the main boiler. My first husband, Bill, he never knew where to look. Matter of fact, he couldn't even find the basement.' "

Other notable characters include the "hired hands" Paul's mom succeeds in locating and "The Workers" who are supposed to be assisting Paul in preparation for his transformation into a grown member of their religious community.

Then those distant world events make their presence felt in Hawk Bend in the guise of a family passing through town in their VW bus on their way to joining the antiwar efforts in Berkeley, and a barber in town who lost his son in the Korean "conflict."

Through it all, Paul has to figure out where he stands in regards to his beliefs, his religion, and those world events, and how he fits into "the public."

In the long run, one of the characters we see through Paul's eyes who really surprised me is his father. The author sets him up as a rigid man of strict habit who strongly adheres to the rules of his religion, but, in contrast to stereotypes, Paul's father ends up as the rare character who really understands what being a Christian is all about.

As with Will Weaver's previous book, CLAWS, this is not only a book that I'm anxious to recommend, it is also a book about which I'm anxious to sit down with a bunch of teens and have long discussions.

One of the running jokes with NPR is that it produces "Driveway Moments", which are times you sit in your car in the driveway in order to finish listening to a story. When I first heard this segment on NPR it wasn't just a "Driveway Moment", it was a driveway half-hour. Even after the story segment ended, I just sat in my car dumbfounded. I bought the cd as soon as I heard it was out, and it was well worth it. You will not hear reporting like this very often. I would advise getting the book as well, as it is also brilliant.

the boys in this booklive depressing lives in lots of ways.it shows their lives how they lived and the crime associated wit them. the little boy who fell off the building pray for him...
god bless u

This is a moving and powerful radio documetary conduted by two 13 year old boys living in the Ida B. Wells housing project in Chicago's inner city. It is the story of their lives told in a real and honest way that leaves no one unmoved who hears it. Their mentor, David Isay, gives them the opportunity to tell the world what the life of a child growing up in an American ghetto is truly like. Sometmes hard to hear, the efforts of these young men are genuine and accurate and leave listeners with a glimpse into the problems that grip our inner cities. For anyone who wants to understand the lives and realities of families trapped in America's slums, this should rank at the top of the list. I highly recommend Ghetto Life:101 and Remorse. I use it every semester in my university social problems class. My students come away with amazing insight as a result of these powerful documentaries.

Highly recommended reading for anyone interested in the Hardy Boys. The author wrote some twenty volumes (for $125 each ! ) in the extremely popular series.

I stumbled on this 1976, and now out-of-print ,book at the public library. Since I'm one of those Hardy Boys "buffs" as described in McFarlane's book, I decided to give it a read. I was not disappointed, and I don't think anyone who enjoyed the adventures of the Hardy Boys will be either. McFarlane was the ghost writer for the first 20 Hardy Boy books. Writing under the familiar to all of us boys pseudonym, F.W. Dixon, McFarlane quickly wrote the stories from outlines provided by Edward Stratemeyer. Today the Hardy Boys series remains the most popular series of juvenile adventure/detective books ever.

The Ghosts of the Hardy Boys is actually an autobiography of McFarlane and covers more than just his experiences ghosting the Hardy Boys books. Turns out he did a lot more things, but his main "claim to fame" was always as the author of the Hardy Boys.

The book isn't very long, and though maybe not as "easy a read" as the Hardy Boys, it is an easy and enjoyable experience. I defintely recommend it for those who remember fondly the exploits of the brothers Hardy in Baytown.

Leslie McFarlane was the ghostwriter of the early Hardy Boys books and he was also a journalist, pulp writer, novelist and screenwriter.
In addition to all the details behind his writing of the Hardy Boys books, he recounts tales of Canada and his early reporting days on various newspapers in a humorous style that is a joy to read.

It is a shame that this book is out of print. We found it when our baby was first diagnosed inutero with spina bifida. This book gives a realistic impression of what to expect during the first years while still offering hope and encouragement. We have bought many used copies to educate our friends and family on the challenges we face. An easy read that offers hope while still being realistic.

The author Gilbert M. Gaul writes the story of his son who had been born with spina bifida.

From birth Cary Gaul was rushed to a children's hospital where he was operated on several times for problems related to spina bifida. Doctors believed he would not walk at all, but as time went along, Cary proved them all wrong. With the help of braces and walkers, along with a strong will, he was able to gradually take more steps.

His dad also wrote of learning disabilites of these children, but Cary, though slow to learn in some ways, overcame many obstacles, and progressed more rapidly with the loving help of his parents and teachers.

Any parent with a disabled child would enjoy this book very much. It offers hope and envouragement.

This book was one of the first books that we found after finding out that our son would be born with Spina Bifida. Looking back, I am so thankful we found it when we did. It really put the whole thing into perspective and gave us hope in our most desperate hour.

Fifteen year old Luisa Perez is not going to win any awards for school spirit. In fact, she and her friends make it a point to avoid all activities considered "extracurricular." So when her English teacher volunteers her to be an anonymous columnist for the school paper, Luisa's first impulse is to run. But, unlike her high-school dropout sister, Luisa does want to go to college--it may be her only ticket out of a life spent working at the cowboy-themed diner where she waitresses part time--and it would be nice to have something to put on her applications.

Her first assignment is to cover her high school's latest fund-raiser, which pits the girls against the boys. Luisa will cover the events from the female point of view, while another anonymous writer provides the male perspective--or, at least, that's how it begins. The two columnists soon find themselves engaged in an epic battle of the sexes--a battle that Luisa is determined to win, even if it means risking the best relationship she's ever had.

Girl v. Boy is a wonderful fast read. This was a great battle of the sexes book. The Newshound and Scoop columns added insights into a guy mind and a girl's as well. The book was well-written. The romance in the book gradually grew, it wasn't just an out-of-the blue I'm in love kind of thing, but it was like a really romance which made it seem real. The book was humorous especially when you read the columns and there were some other parts that were funny as well. Luisa was a great character, she was well-developed, she wanted to go to college, no matter what. Luisa was able to set herself apart from the 10 other Luisa Perez in her school and find a great guy.
-Carol
www.bookluver-carol.blogspot.com

I can really only think of one thing to say after reading this book... AH! Yeah, i was THAT good! Haha, now i normally start off my reviews by talking about the plot of the story. And the plot normally is about some lovey-dovey, non-realistic tale of two teens seeing each other for the first time and simultaneously falling in love. But not this time my friends, no siree bob. This time, this is how the story is....
Girl v.s. Boy tells the loving and honorable story of two young teen spirits that basically HATE EACH OTHER! That's right! You see, a High School, Colonel Dunsfield High, is participating in a Literacy Challenge that involves about 120 other school from around the Chicago area. Competing for a month of vacation for having the best team spirit and raising the most money out of all the schools participating. Inside this school walks two anonymous columnists that refer to them-selves as the Newshound and Scoop.
It all started when the literacy teacher, Mr. Sparling, asked Luisa Perez to be a secret columnist for the school's paper. Luisa is a great writer, she is able to go to the Literacy Challenges without being noticed... and it's all because of one thing. She's so PLAIN! She's not the most popular girl at school, that's for sure. And since her sister's horrible reputation for dropping out of high school early and getting pregnant just like her mother lurks in her past, Luisa is proud to accept the oppurtunity to be the smart, successful one in her family.
The book takes you through Luisa's journey as she takes off in the battle of the sexes as the other male columnist writes about the Literacy Challenges from a male's perspective. You feel Lu's maturity after she works so long to raise money for her lacking family, but you also feel embaressed by her when she jumps to conclusions. She can be a character you can love or hate, and the boys she dates through-out the book will have you picking favorites. Even though this book isn't another ordinary teen fiction novel, Lu still ends up with the one true guy that is right for her. =]
Overall it was a great story about great people who you will end up smiling about and looking up to. It teaches you some lessons in a totally non-chessy way (if it was a life lesson's book it wouldn't have recieved five stars in my review... trust me!) and it lets you have a look into both a girl and boy's mind for once. So take a break from whatever you're reading and pick this one up! What's the worst that will happen? You stop reading since you don't like the book (Yeah right!).
I didn't rate it five stars for nothing people! Hope you enjoyed my review! :)
<3 tAyLoR
P.S. (check out my other reviews!)

How do you stand out when there are nine other girls in your sophomore class that share the same name as you do ¨C Luisa Perez? You don¡¯t. At least that¡¯s what Lu Perez has told herself.

However, after the first assembly of the school year at Colonel Dumpfield (excuse me, DUNFIELD) High School in Chicago, things will change for Lu. Principal Buzzkill (excuse me again, Alvarez) announces that the Mayor of Chicago is holding a Literacy Challenge. The prize ¡ú whichever school raises the most money for the cause will have a month off for winter break. Principal Alvarez decides that it will be a girl versus boy battle at Dunfield, and the team that shows the most initiative will receive three bonus days off over the spring holiday.

The battle lines have been drawn, and the school quickly goes to war trying to come up with the best fundraisers. But for Lu, the challenge is a bit different. Her English teacher, Mr. Sparling, has a proposition for her. The school newspaper wants to run anonymous articles chronicling the efforts of both sides. There will be an anonymous writer for the girls¡¯ team, and another one for the males.

What starts out as harmless banter between the two journalists dissing the opposing team¡¯s attempts at fundraising soon turns to a real battle of the sexes. Lu, still in the background, has noticed the popular girls taking up the causes written about in her anonymous Newshound articles. To make matters even more complicated, Lu is convinced that every boy that shows an interest in her is the guys' anonymous author.

Join Lu and the cast of characters that join forces to try and help Colonel Dunfield High win the precious winter break vacation. Lu has many romantic entanglements as well as drama at home to keep the reader interested until the surprise events at the Literacy Gala announcing the city¡¯s winner of the Literacy Challenge.

Ms. Collins & Ms. Rideout write a fun, youthful battle of the sexes. The articles between Newshound and Scoop keep the story entertaining and gives the reader an inside glimpse of what boys and girls are really thinking. The reader gets to see Lu grow in confidence and come out of the anonymity of being one of ten girls named Luisa Perez in her class.

Reviewed by: Jaglvr

My son requests one of these every night. The way they tie the animals abilities/features to a portion of scripture is very cool. We are almost done with this one and I will definitely be passing it around to my son's friends. I hope there is another edition in the works.

I just bought this to use with my 5 yr. old. She LOVES animals & nature. This devotional is perfect for her.

There are 45 creatures discussed in this book. Each devotion starts off talking about a creature and it's habits. Then, that info is used to correlate it to what the Bible says about that particular behavior. The next section asks about that aspect in the child's life. Lastly, a memory verse accompanies each devotion.

Not only are you learning a memory verse, having self reflection, doing character building, and learning what the Bible has to say about various traits and behaviors, you are also getting a lesson in nature and science. Even I am learning things about God's creatures that I didn't know.

This book wins hands down over any other devotional I've looked at. The reading is easily understood by children; it's not too deep for them. I think it's awesome having a book like this that discusses things readily available in our world/environment, and it seems that children can easily relate to the creatures behaviors/traits being discussed. It uses simple, curious traits of God's creatures to grab everyone's attention.

I'm using this along with several readers I have to accent our science lessons, character building, and Bible study in our homeschool curriculum.

I can't rave enough!

I have purchased many devotionals for my son that have not reached him. It is usually like pulling teeth to get him to read the bible or do a devotional. God's Amazing Creatures and Me is the devotional I've been searching for. He looks forward to each session and even begs me to read more than 1 a day with him. It takes an interesting fact about an animal and relates it to the Christian walk. I am amazed how he remembers the point from previous days.

First, let me say that I really like this book. Many of the recipes are excellent and capture the flavor and style of Chef Jim Shirley.

Chef Shirley's Fish House Restaurant in Penscacola is wildly popular and very good... I expect that his newly opened Great Southern Cafe in Seaside, Florida will be even better.

Finally, the photography really adds to what is a fine cookbook. Too bad one cannot buy it over Amazon!

This is one of the best cookbooks I've come across! I received it as a gift and tabbed at least half the recipes as "must try" when reading through it for the first time. I have made several of the recipes and all have been big hits. I look forward to making many more. I've also given this book as gifts for foodie friends who have also enjoyed it. You can't go wrong...especially since Chef Shirley starts each recipe with the appropriate drink to fully enjoy the cooking process.

Good Grits Cookbook was the perfect gift for my mother, who loves the South, loves to cook and loves to read. The book was a combination of all of her favorite things.

Each recipe begins with its own delightful story and according to Mom, they are very entertaining. She prepared the Grits A Ya Ya for us at New Years and it's my new favorite dish.

I would recommend Good Grits Cookbook to everyone.