Best Holiday Gift Books For Boys

Swords is one of the most amazing non-fiction books for boys that I have ever read. I'm purchasing Fantasy this weekend for my personal collection. PLEASE read more about Ben Boos below. The world has lost an incredible artist, way too soon!

The son of an artist, Ben Boos was born in San Jose, California in 1971 - into a world filled with paint and art. From the earliest years, Ben's imagination was fueled by a love of history and fantasy; swords and adventure. He compulsively doodled his way through elementary school, high-school, and seven years of University study at SJSU. During all these years, Ben enjoyed many world-wide wanderings and adventures, and the resulting exposure to fine art was to have lasting effects on his style.

Ben grew up surrounded with computers and electronic games, so it was a natural fit that he wound up making computer games. Working for Blizzard North as a senior artist, he had the opportunity to paint and create for an audience of millions (The Diablo series sold over 17M units worldwide). "Working on the Diablo franchise for all those years was a delight. It allowed me to have fun and to illustrate in an eclectic, old-fashioned style." Ben said, "It also taught me a lot, and braced me for what I wanted to tackle next...books."

After 8 years of creating swords, monsters, and elaborate scroll-work for several award-winning and top-selling digital games, Ben made a switch to writing and illustrating his own books. He took his love of old-fashioned ornament, arms, armor, and whimsical illustration, and turned it into a 96 page book entitled SWORDS: An Artist's Devotion and later FANTASY: An Artist's Realm. "The making of this book," he says, "was a childhood dream come true."

Ben passed away in 2011 and is survived by his wife and four young children.

Click here to buy books that help support Ben's family.

Three Boy-centric Titles

Below are three new Boy-Centric titles.

1) The Eleventh Plague
By Jeff Hirsch

“The Eleventh Plague hits disturbingly close to home…An excellent, taut debut novel.” – Suzanne Collins, author of The Hunger Games

In the aftermath of a war, America’s landscape has been ravaged and two thirds of the population left dead from a vicious strain of influenza. Fifteen-year-old Stephen Quinn and his family were among the few that survived and became salvagers, roaming the country in search of material to trade for food and other items essential for survival. But when Stephen’s grandfather dies and his father falls into a coma after an accident, Stephen finds his way to Settler’s Landing, a community that seems too good to be true, where there are real houses, barbecues, a school, and even baseball games. Then Stephen meets strong, defiant, mischievous Jenny, who refuses to accept things as they are. And when they play a prank on the town bully’s family that goes horribly wrong, chaos erupts, and they find themselves in the midst of a battle that will change Settler’s Landing forever.

Click here to view a shocking trailer of The Eleventh Plague.


2) Underdogs
By Markus Zusak

Before The Book Thief, Markus Zusak wrote a trilogy of novels about the Wolfe brothers: The Underdogs, Fighting Ruben Wolfe, and Getting the Girl. Cameron and Ruben Wolfe are champions at getting into fights, coming up with half-baked schemes, and generally disappointing girls, their parents, and their much more motivated older siblings. They’re intensely loyal to each other, brothers at their best and at their very worst. But when Cameron falls head over heels for Ruben’s girlfriend, the strength of their bond is tested to its breaking point.

At the age of 30, Zusak has already asserted himself as one of today’s most innovative and poetic novelists. With the publication of The Book Thief, he is now being dubbed a ‘literary phenomenon’ by Australian and U.S. critics. Zusak is the award-winning author of four previous books for young adults: The Underdog, Fighting Ruben Wolfe, Getting the Girl, and I Am the Messenger, recipient of a 2006 Printz Honor for excellence in young adult literature. He lives in Sydney.

3) iBoy
By Kevin Brooks

Before the attack, Tom Harvey was just an average teen. But a head-on collision with high technology has turned him into an actualized App. Fragments of a shattered iPhone are embedded in his brain. And they’re having an extraordinary effect on his every thought. Because now Tom knows, sees, and can do more than any normal boy ever could. But with his new powers comes a choice: Seek revenge on the vicious gangs who rule the South London housing project where he lives, and who violated his friend Lucy? Or keep quiet and move on? Not even the search engine in his head can predict the shocking outcome of iBoy’s actions. A wifi, thriller by YA master Kevin Brooks.

Click here for a very cool iBoy trailer.

To win a copy of all three books, enter our FREE BOOK drawing by clicking here to access our home page. Look for the FREE BOOK entry link. Drawing only valid for the month of November.

Click here to order these three boy-centric books.

The Last Great Wizard of Yden

After his father is kidnapped, sixteen-year-old Jon stumbles across a closely guarded family secret--one that will challenge everything he has ever believed about his father and himself. A magical ring his father leaves behind unlocks a portal to another dimension, but in using it, Jon unwittingly unchains the forces of evil. A crisis develops when a malevolent wizard transports to Earth to kidnap one of Jon’s friends. With the help of some unlikely schoolmates, and a warrior princess from Yden, Jon embarks on a dangerous quest to free his friend and his father from the most vicious wizard the magical world has ever known. In the end, Jon will be forced to fight for his life as he attempts to rescue the last great wizard of Yden.

The Last Great Wizard of Yden is a full length fantasy novel. E-book available now through Astraea Press, Amazon, BN.com and other fine outlets ($2.99). Click here to learn more.

Tips for Engaging Male Readers

Below are tips from a solid article from Vernon, NJ on how to engage reluctant male readers.

Parents and guardians can encourage boys in their households to read by keeping in mind that:

Most boys love non-fiction.

Most boys love magazines. They’re easy to read and informative.

Encourage online literacy. Monitoring your boy’s reading of tweets, blogs, and other on-line texts not only ensures his online safety but helps the adults in his life to engage and keep connected. Tweets and blogs are short, fun, and topical.

Survey your boy for his personal interests. Pick selections based on those interests.

Males need to have guy role models who like to read.

Graphic novels and comic books count as reading too!

Click here for the full article.

Choose Your Own Adventure (Chooseco)

Widely commended for its appeal to reluctant readers, the interactive, multiple-choice multiple-ending series is among the most popular series for children ever published, with more than 250 million copies sold in 38 languages. Chooseco has sold over 2 million copies since the series re-launch in 2006. Each story is written from a second-person point of view, with the reader assuming the role of the protagonist and making choices that determine the main character’s actions in response to the plot and its outcome.

For every Facebook fan Choose Your Own Adventure receives in November, they will donate one book to a child in need, up to 50,000 books. Click here for more details.

Click here for Chooseco website.