Hope you have all been well. Without any of my amusing introductions (this time), I will get straight to talking about some recent great reads:
Charlie Joe Jackson's Guide To Not Reading by Tommy Greenwald - First and foremost Charlie Joe Jackson does not like to read. He is renowned around school for getting reading assignments done without actually reading the materials he is assigned. Charlie has skated through school on reading by using the following method. Read the first chapter of the book and then the last. Next find someone to read the rest for you. What's so funny is that all the reading Charlie puts into reading other people's summaries of what happens in between the first and last chapters and presenting it is more work on Charlie than if he actually read the book. Unfortunately for Charlie all that is about to change because Charlie is found out by his English Teacher and his parents (not a pretty scene). Charlie tells you his story along with his harrowing experiences with this whole not reading thing that really just wants to make you laugh because, well it's just funny. What will Charlie do now that everyone is on to him. Read this extremely funny book and find out. Recommended for ages 9 and up.
Beat The Band by Don Calame -
Blog: Boys Rock, Boys Read!!! (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Joseph Delaney, Pirates of the Caribbean, Rick Riordan, Thor, Swim The Fly, Don Calame, The Last Apprentice - Wraith of The Bloodeye, Add a tag
By: James Preller,
on 5/4/2011
Blog: Fathers Read (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Cameron Pendino, Resources, Swim the Fly, SJ Boys Read, William Allen Middle School, Don Calame, Kyle Thumar, Nikhil Thumar, Beat the Band, Boy Group Spreads the Written Word, Authors & Artists We Love, Add a tag
* Here’s an article that suggests a powerful new motivational tool to get boys reading — naked girls. Meet Don Calame, author of Swim the Fly and Beat the Band.
“I sat down to write a book that would speak to the 15-year-old boy I was,” Calame said. “Be true. Be honest. Make the kids real. Make their thoughts real. If it’s not what they hear, if it’s not how they talk, they’ll put it down. [They will think] it’s like the author is lying to us. You want to get books in the hands of kids. You want them to read the next page, then the next chapter. You want to keep them reading.”
* We’re seeing this more and more — older boys modeling a love of reading for younger boys. Click here to read about these impressive young men, “Boy Group Spreads the Written Word.” You can also visit their website, SJ Boys Read, by jumping up and down on this link.
Add a Comment“Reading isn’t something we should do just because we have to do it. It can be fun,” said Nikhil Thumar, a seventh-grader at William Allen Middle School.
Nikihil isn’t alone in his feelings on the subject.
For the last three years, the 13-year-old has teamed with his older brother Kyle Thumar, 15, and Cameron Pendino, 15, to help run the nonprofit organization, SJ Boys Read.
The teenagers started the organization after learning that more and more young boys aren’t really that thrilled about reading.
“Our goal is to mentor young boys and show the value of reading by selecting a book title and holding events featuring discussion questions, games and prizes,” Cameron said.
And what started as a few boys gathered at a local bookstore has grown into an organization that draws dozens of boys to books and brings in authors, professional athletes and others to talk about the value of the written word.
By: David Elzey,
on 12/8/2010
Blog: The Excelsior File (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: boys, humor, candlewick, don calame, '10, YA, Add a tag
by Don Calame Candlewick Press 2010 (This review is being cross-posted at Guys Lit Wire today, for those of you keeping score at home.) There is no phrase that jolts my skeptical meter into the red faster than "laugh-out-loud funny." When a movie is described this way its almost guaranteed not to make me laugh, but it's worse when this line is used in books because it's so rare that I laugh
By: Alissa Lauzon,
on 7/4/2009
Blog: What I'm Reading Now (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Don Calame, Add a tag
Matt, Coop, and Sean have been best friends since kindergarten. Every summer the trio sets a goal that has to be complete prior to the start of school and this summer Coop has set the bar high as he has decided that this summer each of them will have to see a woman naked, in person- porn does not count. Matt cannot see this challenge ever happening, after all the guys are not remotely cool and