The Boy Who Wanted To Be A Man

Little Roger, an eleven-year-old boy growing up in northern Maine near the Canadian border, must write a history paper about his small town of Frenchville. As his mother is telling him about growing up in nearby New Brunswick, Canada, she tells him that "Where I'm from, a boy is not a man until he kills a deer." At that point Little Roger sets a new goal for himself, not only does he want to get an A on his history paper about Frenchville but now he also wants to kill a deer and become a man! He knows what he must do but it is something very new to him and he must find a way to reconcile the task with the outcome. With only a couple of days left in the hunting season, will Little Roger kill a deer and become a man?

When life is funny, make some jokes about it. Billy Plimpton has a big dream: to become a famous comedian when he grows up. He already knows a lot of jokes, but thinks he has one big problem standing in his way: his stutter. At first, Billy thinks the best way to deal with this is to . . . never say a word. That way, the kids in his new school won’t hear him stammer. But soon he finds out this is NOT the best way to deal with things. (For one thing, it’s very hard to tell a joke without getting a word out.) As Billy makes his way toward the spotlight, a lot of funny things (and some less funny things) happen to him. In the end, the whole school will know -- If you think you can hold Billy Plimpton back, be warned: The joke will soon be on you!

La Bonne Vache (The Good Cow) is a little restaurant in the south of France. It takes its name from and is famous for its boeuf à la mode, a delicious beef stew. Ten-year-old Pierre longs to follow in the culinary footsteps of his father, Monsieur Valcourt. Monsieur Valcourt is the chef and owner of La Bonne Vache. Pierre spends as much time as possible in the restaurant's kitchen, hoping for a chance to demonstrate his cooking skills. But his parents shoo him away and he is not allowed to cook. One day Pierre meets a visitor who is on his way to eat at the restaurant. This is no ordinary visitor but an important food critic. His experience at La Bonne Vache could bring great honor to the restaurant. At last, Pierre sees his chance to prove himself. Award-winning author Gloria Whelan received the National Book Award for her young adult novel, Homeless Bird. Her books with Sleeping Bear Press include The Listeners, Friend on Freedom River, and Jam and Jelly with Holly and Nellie. She lives in Michigan.

Peter meets lots of interesting children at his new school. He thinks he is so ordinary that he wishes that he could be more interesting.

The idea for the book came about while I was working abroad on a theater show, with a fair bit of downtime. Before leaving, I'd been helping our son, Arlen, as he made first contact with a few instruments: keyboards and synthesizers, guitar, and a variety of tuned percussion instruments. It did not always go well. His intense love of music was matched by an equally intense desire for immediate results. This combination often led to a considerable amount of frustration. To help Arlen cope with this frustration, I decided to write a short rhyming story that would be similar in many ways to those found in his favorite picture books. My initial vision was for the book to encourage practice and sticktoitiveness, enshrining the many virtues of delayed gratification. Mercifully, I came to my senses and abandoned that idea as utter nonsense. It dawned on me that our boy's innocence and earnestness fueled a kind of rock power, that unnamed spark of creative joy that many of us in the music industry have chased in practice spaces and recording studios for decades. It's the very thing that makes a kid, a kid. Our five-year-old boy is Thoreau's "childlike mirthfulness" come to life. He dances like there's no one watching; he doesn't know any other way. He sings with abandon, and sometimes, he roars. In the end, I thought that if he learns something from the book, wonderful, but above all else, I wanted this book to help ensure that he never forgets how to roar.

As twelve-year-old Dan experiences increasing sexual awareness, he wishes he could give birth to a baby like his mother's friend Rosie.

RULES FOR BEING A MAN Don't Cry; Love Sport; Play Rough; Drink Beer; Don't Talk About Feelings But Robert Webb has been wondering for some time now: are those rules actually any use? To anyone? Looking back over his life, from schoolboy crushes (on girls and boys) to discovering the power of making people laugh (in the Cambridge Footlights with David Mitchell), and from losing his beloved mother to becoming a husband and father, Robert Webb considers the absurd expectations boys and men have thrust upon them at every stage of life. Hilarious and heartbreaking, How Not To Be a Boy explores the relationships that made Robert who he is as a man, the lessons we learn as sons and daughters, and the understanding that sometimes you aren't the Luke Skywalker of your life - you're actually Darth Vader.

What is the boy crisis? It's a crisis of education. Worldwide, boys are 50 percent less likely than girls to meet basic proficiency in reading, math, and science. It's a crisis of mental health. ADHD is on the rise. And as boys become young men, their suicide rates go from equal to girls to six times that of young women. It's a crisis of fathering. Boys are growing up with less-involved fathers and are more likely to drop out of school, drink, do drugs, become delinquent, and end up in prison. It's a crisis of purpose. Boys' old sense of purpose—being a warrior, a leader, or a sole breadwinner—are fading. Many bright boys are experiencing a "purpose void," feeling alienated, withdrawn, and addicted to immediate gratification. So, what is The Boy Crisis? A comprehensive blueprint for what parents, teachers, and policymakers can do to help our sons become happier, healthier men, and fathers and leaders worthy of our respect.