BEST BOOKS FOR BOYS Grades 5-8 Polly Gilbert Library Director & US Librarian Cinda Thoma MS Librarian St. Marks School of Texas September 2007 A good book for a boy is one he wants to read. - Moloney Selection Criteria High Interest for Boys Notable Award Winners Student Choices Professional Colleague Recommendations Currency (post 2000 publication) Tried and True Best Books for Young Adults 2006 and 2007 Booklist Young Adults 12-18 2006 Top Ten Best Books for Young Adults Hitler Youth: Growing Up in Hitlers Shadow Bartoletti, Susan 2007 Top Ten Best Books for Young Adults The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing Anderson, M. T. 2007 Top Ten Best Books for Young Adults The Book Thief Zusak, Markus 2007 Top Ten Best Books for Young Adults The King of Attolia Turner, Megan Whalen 2007 Top Ten Best Books for Young Adults Samurai Shortstop Gratz, Alan 2007 Top Ten Best Books for Young Adults The Trap Smelcer, John 2007 Alex Awards Books for Young Adults Black Swan Green Mitchell, David 2007 Alex Awards Books for Young Adults The Blind Side Lewis, Michael 2007 Alex Awards Books for Young Adults The Book of Lost Things Connolly, John 2007 Alex Awards Books for Young Adults The Thirteenth Tale Setterfield, Diane 2007 Alex Awards Books for Young Adults The Whistling Season Doig, Ivan 2006 Booklist Editors Choice The Long Run Lee Furey 2006 Booklist Editors Choice Non-Fiction Miracle in the Andes Parrado, Nando Michael L. Printz Award Excellence in Young Adult Literature Booklist Sponsored 2007 Michael L.Printz Award for Young Adults American Born Chinese Yang, Gene Luen 2006 Michael L. Printz Award Honor Book Black Juice Lanagan, Margo Readers Choices Student Suggestions Faculty recommendations Readers Choices Across the Nightingale Floor Hearn, Lian Readers Choices Bad Boy: A Memoir Myers, Walter Dean Readers Choices Balzac And the Little Chinese Seamstress Sijie, Dai Readers Choices Beatles Art Edited by Webb, Linda & Jeffrey Readers Choices The Boy Who Fell Out of the Sky Dornstein, Ken Readers Choices The City of Ember DuPrau, Jeanne Readers Choices Code Orange Cooney, Caroline B. Readers Choices Crossing the Wire Hobbs, Will Readers Choices The Dangerous Book for Boys Iggulden, Conn Iggulden, Hal Readers Choices Duty: A Father, His Son, and the Man Who Won the War Greene, Bob Readers Choices Emperor The Gates of Rome Iggulden, Conn Readers Choice Essential Manners For Men Post, Peter Readers Choices Eldest Paolini, Christopher Readers Choices Feed Anderson, M. T. Readers Choices Fighting Ruben Wolfe Zusak, Marcus Readers Choices Friday Night Lights Bissinger, H. G. Readers Choices The House Of the Scorpion Farmer, Nancy Readers Choice How To Be A Gentleman Bridges, John Readers Choices The Human Body Book Parker, Steve Readers Choices Immersed In Verse Wolf, Allan Readers Choices Its Not About The Bike Armstrong, Lance Readers Choices The Kite Runner Audio Version Hossein, Khaled Readers Choices The Life of Pi Audio Version Martel, Yann Readers Choices Maximum Ride Patterson, James Readers Choices Noughts and Crosses Blackman, Malorie Readers Choices The Road McCarthy, Cormac Readers Choices Shadow Divers Kurson, Robert Readers Choices Social Graces Town &Country Edited by Jim Brosseau Readers Choices Whale Talk Crutcher, Chris TRIED AND TRUE! Readers Choice All the Pretty Horses McCarthy, Cormac Tried and True! Angelas Ashes Audio Version McCourt, Frank Tried and True! Beau Geste Wren, Percival Christopher Tried and True! The Count of Monte Cristo Dumas, Alexander Tried and True! The Killer Angels Shaara, Michael Tried and True! MAUS Spiegelman, Art Tried and True! Old School Wolff, Tobias Tried and True! The Power of One Courtenay, Bryce Tried and True! Quo Vadis Sienkiewicz, Henryk Tried and True! The Robe Douglas, Lloyd C. Tried and True! The Silver Chalice Costain, Thomas B. Tried and True! A Soldier of the Great War Helprin, Mark Books in a Series Douglas Adams Douglas Adams created all the various and contradictory manifestations of The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy: radio, novels, TV, computer game, stage adaptations, comic book and bath towel. Douglas Adams lectured and broadcast around the world. He was born in Cambridge, UK and lived with his wife and daughter in Santa Barbara, California, where he died suddenly on May 11, 2001. The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy TERRY BROOKS A writer since high school. He published his first novel, The Sword of Shannara in It became the first work of fiction ever to appear on the New York Times Trade Paperback Bestseller list, where it remained for five months. His novels, Running with the Demon and A Knight of the Word were selected as two of the best science fiction/fantasy novels of the twentieth century. He has published thirteen consecutive bestselling novels since. A practicing attorney for many years, he now writes full-time. Terry Brooks The Sword of Shannara THUS BEGAN THE SEEMINGLY HOPELESS QUEST OF A SIMPLE MAN AGAINST THE GREATEST POWER OF EVIL THE WORLD HAD EVER KNOWN. Terry Brooks: The Heritage of Shannara Orson Scott Card One of the coolest Sci-Fi wirters of the 1980s. He won the Hugo and Nebula awards Enders Game and its sequel, Speaker for the Dead, two years in a row, in 1986 and Born in Richland, Washington, Card grew up in California, Arizona, and Utah. He lived in Brazil for two years as an unpaid missionary for the Mormon Church. He currently lives in Greensboro, North Carolina. He and his wife, Kristine, are the parents of five children: Geoffrey, Emily, Charles, Zina Margaret, and Erin Louisa (named for Chaucer, Bronte and Dickinson, Dickens, Mitchell, and Alcott, respectively). Orson Scott Card: Ender Wiggin Ender Wiggin is a very bright young boy with a powerful skill John Christopher John Christopher" is a pseudonym for Samuel Youd, a prolific author whose full bibliography runs to around 70 novels under seven different names. As a student he was devoted to Science Fiction and published a magazine in his teens, Fantast. He admired Aldous Huxley and Arthur Clarke. In 1966, a publisher suggested he try writing Sci-fi for children. In 1967 he published the first tripod trilogy, The White Moutains. The BBC series, The Tripods, was one of the longest adaptations on British television. He lives in Rye, England. John Christopher - The Tripods Trilogy Three evil beings, called Tripods, will change life on this planet forever. Eoin Colfer Eoin Colfer followed his parents into teaching and soon began to invent stories for his pupils. His first novel, BENNY AND OMER, was a bestseller in Ireland. ARTEMIS FOWL, was written after a day's teaching and after his young son's bedtime. Eoin lives in Wexford, Ireland. Artemis Fowl Eoin Colfer describes Artemis Fowl as Die Hard with fairies. Bernard Cornwell The author of the acclaimed Richard Sharpe series, set during the Napoleonic Wars; the Nathaniel Starbuck Chronicles, about American Civil War; the Warlord Trilogy, about Arthurian England; and, Stonehenge 2000 B.C.: Raised in Britain, Cornwell now lives with his wife on Cape Cod. Bernard Cornwell The Sharp Novels Nathaniel Starbuck Chronicles Bernard Cornwell The Saxon Chronicles The Warlord Chronicles Stephen Donaldson Stephen Donaldson was born in 1947, in Cleveland, Ohio. From the age of three until he was sixteen he lived in India, where his father worked as an orthopedic surgeon. It was after hearing one of his father's speeches on leprosy that he conceived the character of Thomas Covenant. He lives in New Mexico. The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever Thomas Covenant and Linden Avery begin their search for the One Tree that is to be the salvation of the Land, but fate decreed that the journey was to be long, the quest arduous, and quite possibly a failure.... Anthony Horowitz Anthony Horowitz was born in North London in He decided he wanted to be a writer at the age of eight and had his first book, Enter Frederick K Bower, when he was 23. He has written lots and lots of television programs, mostly about murder! He created the detective dramas Midsummer Murders and Murder in Mind, and he's also written episodes for Poirot and Murder Most Horrid. Alex Rider Series - a must-have for fans of adventure/mystery series Erin Hunter Erin Hunter is inspired by a love of cats and a fascination with the ferocity of the natural world. As well as having a great respect for nature in all its forms. Erin enjoys creating rich mythical explanations for animal behavior, shaped by her interest in astrology and standing stones. Warriors Series Darkness, air, water, and sky will come together and shake the forests to its roots! Brian Jacques Brian Jacques was born in Liverpool in He left school at age fifteen and found work as a docker, a truck driver, a policeman and a stand- up comic, all before turning his attention to writing. He wrote his first novel, Redwall, for the children at a school for the blind in Liverpool. His books have won international awards and acclaim and have been made into a TV series. Redwall series Forthcoming.October 2007 Forthcoming October 2007 Robert Jordan Robert Jordan was born in 1948 in Charleston, South Carolina, where he now lives with his wife, Harriet, in a house built in He taught himself to read when he was four with the incidental aid of a twelve-years-older brother, and was tackling Mark Twain and Jules Verne by five. He is a graduate of The Citadel, with a degree in physics. He served two tours in Vietnam with the U.S. Army; among his decorations are the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Bronze Star with "V", and two Vietnamese Crosses of Gallantry. He enjoys the outdoor sports of hunting, fishing, and sailing, and the indoor sports of poker, chess, pool, and pipe collecting. He has been writing since 1977 and intends to continue until they nail shut his coffin. The Wheel of Time Series The Wheel of Time turns and Ages come and pass. What was, what will be, and what is, may yet fall under the shadow. Let the dragon ride again on the winds of time. Philip Kerr photo available onPhilip Kerr was born in Edinburgh in 1956, and lives in London. Published his first novel, March Violets, in He has written more than 13 books. Latest novel, One Small Step, published August 2007. Bernhard Gunther Series Gordan Korman Gordon Korman is a Canadian author, of novels for children and young adults. Korman was born in Montreal, Quebec. He published his first book at the age of fourteen. He currently lives in New York City, with his wife and three children. KIDNAPPED SERIES Where is Meg Falconer? Anne McCaffrey Anne McCaffrey was educated at Radcliffe College, Massachusetts, and has a degree cum laude in Slavonic Languages and Literature. She now lives in Ireland and enjoys riding, cooking and knitting. She is a past winner of both the Hugo and Nebula Awards, and has written many novels, short stories and novellas, and various articles. Her most celebrated series is the world-famous Dragonriders of Pern saga. Dragonriders of Pern Saga January 2008 Patrick OBrian Wrote the highly respected Aubrey- Maturin series. Patrick O'Brian's many books include acclaimed biographies of Pablo Picasso and Sir Joseph Banks He passed away in January 2000 at the age of 85. AUBREY MATURIN SERIES The final, unfinishedVoyage ofJack AubreyThe final, unfinishedVoyage ofJack Aubrey THE FINAL, UNFINISHED VOYAGE OF JACK AUBREY Christopher Paolini Christopher Paolini's abiding love of fantasy and science fiction inspired him to begin writing his debut novel, Eragon, when he graduated from high school at 15. He lives with his family in Paradise Valley, Montana. ARAGON/ELDEST Darkness falls Despair abounds Evil reigns! James Patterson James Patterson is a master of suspense and author of many books. He is one of the top-selling writers of all time. He lives in New York and Florida MAXIMUM RIDE SERIES J. K. Rowling About J K Rowling Legend has it that J.K. Rowling was a struggling single mother when she wrote the beginning of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, on scraps of paper at a local cafe. But her efforts soon paid off, as she received an unprecedented award from the Scottish Arts Council enabling her to finish the book. Since then, the debut novel has become an international phenomenon, garnering rave reviews and major awards, including the British Book Awards Chidren's Book of the Year and the Smarties Prize. Our brave foray into Web 2.0! Interactive book and research discussions The Library Loves Lions