From School Library Journal
One of the things that many boys give up on their way to manhood is a love of reading," states Odean in her introduction. This thoughtfully compiled annotated bibliography gives parents, teachers, and librarians strategies to help prevent this loss. Titles are organized by reader age and genre. Each entry provides a bibliographic citation, suggested age range, and brief annotation. Readers of Odean's Great Books for Girls (Ballantine, 1997) will note that a different sociological agenda underlies Great Books for Boys. While the former focused exclusively on titles with assertive, active female characters, this one includes those with strong protagonists of both sexes, as well as nonfiction. Odean urges adults to provide boys with literature that reflects the widest possible range of emotions and experiences, from swashbuckling adventure to peaceful daydreaming. A list of magazines for young readers acknowledges the importance of nonbook reading material. Graphic novels and comic books are not included. An excellent resource.AConstance Vidor, The Cathedral School of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, New York City
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
Children's books are frequently used to proselytize. Luckily, resources like these help sort out the good from the dogmatic, the mediocre, and the bad. As former Caldecott and Newbery Award committee member Odean reminds us in her introduction to Great Books for Boys, boys have different challenges growing up than girls do. In this companion to her Great Books for Girls (LJ 1/97), she summarizes over 600 books, from picture books to novels, arranging them by reader age from two to 14 and providing short, descriptive synopses. She chooses stories with characters of both sexes that reflect the complexity of boys' lives?a family's flight from domestic abuse, a sixth grader's struggle to understand a beloved but bigoted father?as well as stories about children who use creativity to solve problems. She also lists tips for reading aloud, magazines that review children's books, and a special section for books on sexuality and growing up. Cooper-Mullin and Coye, who have six daughters between them, have gathered books whose heroines are smart and strong-willed. Nontraditional roles, interesting plots, meaningful character development, and rich language were some of their criteria for inclusion. Organized from "early readers" to "young adults," their book includes a resource list for finding the books mentioned. It also features quotes from women like Ruby Bridges and Janet Reno. As with Great Books for Boys, all children can enjoy these selections. A single drawback of both these titles is the absence of author and title indexes. Both books are recommended for all school and public libraries. Introduced by Marian Wright Edelman, Strong Souls Singing focuses on African American literature for girls and women and is the companion to Spirited Minds: African American Books for Our Sons and Our Brothers (LJ 9/1/97). Covering 110 books, it is the narrowest of the three titles reviewed here. Each chapter covers a particular genre (i.e., poetry, drama, fiction, biography, and history) and contains page-long entries with suggested reading levels. These mini-book reviews are nicely illustrated and accompanied by book excerpts, but many of the recommended books, such as Alice Walker's The Color Purple, are already well known and are certainly found in other bibliographies. Recommended for large public libraries and African American collections.?Glynys Thomas, Suffolk Univ. Lib., Boston
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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by Laura Backes
by Jim Trelease
by Shireen Dodson
