Teen Boys

Kyle Saint-Claire is everything Jonny Fehey wishes to be: A star on the soccer field, a straight-A student, and king of Millburn High's social ladder. Jonny unhappily accepts his position on a lesser rung, until fate steps in and Jonny scores the go-ahead goal in the county soccer championships...and it looks like he will finally make it into the popular crowd. But at the victory party, a classmate is raped and Jonny's world begins to unravel.

Young Nate Lawton is caught between the rigors of the fledgling United States Navy's discipline and the demands of his ambitious Captain. Nate seems doomed to pay the price of his newly appointed rank of Acting First Lieutenant on the USS Hancock, a brig fresh from the shipyard. He becomes the captain's scapegoat, and the target of the crew's hatred. He must choose between his patriotic duty, and the implicit responsibility of his office.

To get away from his chaotic, often violent parents, 17-year-old Jesse has moved into an apartment with his brother. They are both taking community college courses in Fresno. But to pay for them, they must take whatever jobs they can find, even backbreaking field work. The path to a good education isn't going to be an easy one for these two young Mexican-Americans. As Jesse absorbs information in his classes, he learns harsher lessons from the people around him.

Thirteen-year-old Zack disappears in the middle of the night, more than half of the campers become mysteriously ill, and a hurricane takes an unexpected turn in their direction, leaving the group vulnerable.Group leader Chet Harrigan, a former gang leader, is among the sick, but he's in charge as the bad weather hits camp. Join Chet and his group of 10 to 16 year olds on their adventure in the wilds of Florida.

It’s been three long months since Chris’ little sister, Molly, disappeared from the riverbank. His parents are learning to accept the official verdict - death by drowning - and hope that 13-year-old Chris will soon do the same. Their family therapist believes that revisiting the tragic scene and reviewing the video of that fateful day will help. But something about that video is haunting Chris. Watching it for the first time since the fateful day he shot it he comes to an awful realization....

Fourteen-year-old Finn is a loner, living with his dad and his amazing dog, Dylan. This summer Finn is hoping for a job where he doesn’t have to talk to anyone except his buddy, Matthew. Then he meets Johanna, who’s living next door. She’s a graduate student in her 20s, cool and funny, and she treats Finn as an equal. Dylan thinks she’s great too. Johanna’s dealing with breast cancer, and Matthew and Finn help take care of her - and come to care for her.

River and Niko find their dad is missing, and they have no choice but to track him down. But when they discover the clues lead to a shady reptile dealer, they start to think they might have gotten in over their heads.

Twelve-year-old House Jackson, star pitcher and team captain of the Aurora County All-Stars, has been sidelined for a whole sorry year with a broken elbow. He's finally ready to play, but wouldn't you know that the team's only game of the year has been scheduled for the exact same time as the town's 200th-anniversary pageant. Now House must face the pageant's director, full-of-herself Frances Shotz (his nemesis and perpetrator of the elbow break), and get his team out of this mess.

Pinned follows Ivan Korske and Bobby Zane, two high school seniors, as they embark on the most important winter of their lives in a quest for the New Jersey state high school wrestling championship.

In Arcady's Goal, by Newbery Honor author Eugene Yelchin, for 12-year-old Arcady, soccer is life. Sent to live in a children's home after his parents are declared enemies of the state, he plays to win his dinner, and to maintain his sanity. When a visiting inspector decides to adopt him, Arcady questions his motivations. Who could want an enemy of the people as a son?

Althea Carter and Oliver McKinley have been best friends since they were six; she's the fist-fighting instigator to his peacemaker, the artist whose vision balances his scientific bent. Now, as their junior year of high school comes to a close, Althea has begun to want something more than just best-friendship. Oliver, for his part, simply wants life to go back to normal, but when he wakes up one morning with no memory of the past three weeks, he can't deny any longer that something is seriously wrong with him. And then Althea makes the worst bad decision ever, and her relationship with Oliver is shattered.

Chris Brabson hates the Union troops. Yankee riders in the Tennessee mountains have stolen his family's newly harvested crops and their only horse. In spite of this, Chris' brother joins the Union army, and his parents refuse to take either side. But Chris has no doubts, he would fight for the Confederacy. The Perilous Road, a Newbery Honor book, powerfully illustrates the senseless waste of war and the true meaning of courage and tolerance.

David Dahlgren, a high-school senior, finds solace in running with the track team; he's a fast runner, and he enjoys the camaraderie. But team events become a source of tension when he develops a crush on one of his teammates, Sean. Scared to admit his feelings, David does everything he can to suppress them: he dates a girl, keeps his distance from his best friend who has become openly gay, and snaps a rubber band on his wrist every time he has "inappropriate" urges.

Gardner Dickinson is almost 15, and his life is a mess. His bedroom is littered with library books he never reads. He daydreams about building muscles, but never gets around to it. Worst of all, his recently laid-off dad is more interested in playing golf than finding a new job. But one day life starts to click for Gardner. He finishes a few of those library books, begins running after school and starts earning some spare cash - and those muscles he’s craved - by splitting wood for the neighbors.

By her eighteenth year, Maelyn rules over Runa and a family of nine sisters. But some call the princesses frauds and imposters, a handful of urchins raised into royalty. Even Uncle Jarrod, the High King of Grunwold, seems determined to prove that Maelyn no longer deserves to be a princess. With a family losing faith in her, and a kingdom growing dangerously hostile, even Maelyn begins to wonder if she is truly a real princess. And if her riches will turn to rags once again...

Tim's a struggling black kid on the mean streets of Newark. How far can he run? Where can he hide? What is innocence? Where does it go? Tim doesn't read as well as his classmates in an inner-city Newark high school. He's got good street creds, though, riffing strange rap-rhymes and running like the wind. He's packed into a three-flat with his mother, sister, and Uncle Gentrale. His father, a drunk, recently walked out on the family, wanting some "freedom". He says, "Ahgottahandleonit, son". He doesn't. Nor does Tim.

Funny Business is based around the theme of - what else - humor, and if you’re familiar with Jon and Guys Read, you already know what you’re in store for: an hilarious story....

The ad promised you'd be able to see into the spirit world. But they couldn't work for real... could they? A short story from Guys Read: Thriller, edited by Jon Scieszka.

elve-year-old Griff Carver knows a thing or two about fighting crime. Because Griffs not just any kidhes a kid with a badge. And if you are a criminal, he's your worst nightmare. Griff might be the new kid on the Rampart Jr. High Patrol squad, but he's no rookie. And he'll do whatever it takes to clean up the mean hallways of his middle school - even if it lands him in hot water. But when Griff links cool kid Marcus The Smile Volger to a counterfeit hall pass ring, can he and his friends close the case? Or will Griff let down the force - and lose his badge for good?

Nate’s best friend Jeremy is missing, and Nate seems to be the only one worried that he’s been captured by hideous creatures that live in the sewers. A short story from Guys Read: Thriller, edited by Jon Scieszka.