When Carrie Gelson asked Kellee and I to join her post about 25 boys who stand out in middle grade and young adult literature, we jumped at the opportunity. Last week, I shared my 25 girls who stand out, and this week, I am excited to share the boys. Kellee and I devour hundreds of books each year, yet we find that there are characters who stick with us through the years. Just like the girls, it was difficult for me to narrow my list down to just 25 boys, but I am very proud of this group of brave, young men. Just like the girls, they don’t always make the right choices, but they really stand out for me. I hope you find (or have found) these boys to be just as as special as I have.
- Arnold “Junior” Spirit from The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
- Aristotle and Dante from Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz
- Theodore Finch from All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven
- Sticky from Ball Don’t Lie by Matt de la Peña
- Karl Stern from The Berlin Boxing Club by Robert Sharenow
- James Whitman from Dr. Bird’s Advice for Sad Poets by Evan Roskos
- Augustus Waters from The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
- Andrew Zanskey from Food, Girls, and Other Things I Can’t Have by Allen Zadoff
- Craig Gilner from It’s Kind of a Funny Story by Ned Vizzini
- Hassan from The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
- DQ from The Last Summer of the Death Warriors by Francisco X. Stork
- Ishmael Beah from A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah
- Miles “Pudge” Halter from Looking for Alaska by John Green
- Marcelo from Marcelo in the Real World by Francisco X. Stork
- Danny from Mexican WhiteBoy by Matt de la Peña
- Steve Harmon from Monster by Walter Dean Myers
- Arn Chorn-Pond from Never Fall Down by Patricia McCormick
- Pierre-Anthon from Nothing by Janne Teller
- Charlie Scorsoni from The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
- Kip from Right Behind You by Gail Giles
- Sam from The Rock and the River by Kekla Magoon
- Shawn McDaniel from Stuck in Neutral by Terry Trueman
- Tyrell from Tyrell by Coe Booth
- August “Auggie” Pullman from Wonder by R. J. Palacio
- Malcolm Little from X by Ilyassah Shabazz and Kekla Magoon
Who makes it to your list?
Again I see books I have loved and books I really want to read. Mexican White Boy is on my TBR list – I so loved We Were Here. I love how both Aristotle and Dante made the list. Putting a few of these on my list to read – It’s a Kind of Funny Story and The Rock and the River. Thanks for an inspiring list!
Great list! I’ve only read 5 of these (for shame!), but I wholeheartedly agree with those choices. I particularly loved Perks of being Wallflower and its narrator.
Sue
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