Book Summary
Jon Scieszka has pulled short-stories by well-known authors and created a perfect reading playground for boys and probably girls. The main characters in the book are all males and this may make girls feel uncomfortable. Some of the stories are downright scary, like "Nate Macavoy, Monster Hunter." Nate has to rescue a friend from the clutches of the pukwudgies. There are benign ghost stories like "The Old Dead Nuisance" and "Thad, the Ghost, and Me." The first one takes place in an old house where a reality television show about paranormal activity is being filmed. A young boy, Paul, is the only one who can really see the ghost and understand the background of the story. The second is supposed to be in a haunted house on Halloween, but the narrator makes a mistake. He intended to scare his cousin, Thad, to prepare him for middle school next year. Instead, he is terrified wdAmont the others, Anthony Hordts him superpowers. be torn down. The boys have to face down a gang and an arch-enemy, but they manage to save the house. Some of them are silly like "The Double Eagle Has Landed," a story about the world's worst (dumbest) detective. Others are serious like "Pirate" by Walter Dean Myers. It is a realistic story about a young Somalian boy who embarks on his first pirating expedition. Boys will find something to please their taste in this book.
My Impressions
I think Scieszka has done every school teacher and librarian a great favor by concentrating on bringing good literature for boys which will actually be read. Short stories have always been one of my favorite genres, because-well- they are short. You can finish a story in one sitting. You don't have to read for 400 pages only to discover the wrong person wins a.nd it just makes you sick. All of the authors are well-known excellent writers in their own right. They include Margaret Peterson Haddix, James Patterson, and Walter Dean Myers. I would like to have the whole series of Guys Read in my library.
Professional Review
Cart, M. (2011). Guys read: thriller. Booklist, 108(2), 66.
Scieszka serves up the second volume in his Guys Read Library, and the spotlight this time is on thrillers. As he did in Guys Read: Funny Business (2010), Scieszka has commissioned new stories from 10 luminaries, such as Margaret Peterson Haddix, Walter Dean Myers, Gennifer Choldenko, and other including Krosoczka, who has contributed a graphic story about a boy whose snack of fried pudding grants him superpowers. Among the others, Anthony Horowitz offers a witty story about a boy whose older brother is the worst detective in the world, and Matt de la Pena supplies a moving tale about a wishing machine. Although six of the stories find their thrills in the real world, three are ghost stories. There are more frissons than thrills her, yet boys will surely find these stories to be compelling reads, and that's the point, isn't it?
Library Uses
1. Challenge students to read the novels written by these authors and report on them.
2. Take time to collect and put in one place books with a special appeal to boys (not just sports books).
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