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My husband picked a number between one and seventeen, Heidi’s name was written next to number 17, and so, she is the winner of the copy of The Secrets of the Cheese Syndicate by Donna St. Cyr.

Congratulations to Heidi S. I sent you an email, so respond and send me your snail mail address soon! margodll [at] aol [dot] com

Now on to my Maniac Monday topic–Books for Boys. If you look under the comments section of the Friday, August 21st post about The Secrets of the Cheese Syndicate, you will see a long list of recommendations of books for boys to read. This got me thinking. Why must we always discuss this topic of books for boys? Yes, we need to discuss it because there are many mothers and fathers and teachers out there who are complaining that boys aren’t reading or don’t like to read. We also must discuss books for boys and recommend some to each other in spite of the fact there are hundreds of books for boys–new, old, and everything in between. But why is it such a hot topic?

I guess my main point is. . . Why don’t we discuss books for girls as much? Why does it seem like girls will read anything–girl or boy main character, sci-fi or romance? It almost reminds me of babies–it’s okay when the girl baby wants to play with her brother’s firetruck, but people worry or think it’s weird when the boy baby wants to play with his sister’s Barbie dolls. Why is this?

Do we get the same look on our faces when we see a boy reading Junie B. Jones? I’ve seen boys read The Babysitter’s Club or Judy Blume books. Are they weird? Of course, not. But I do think we assume that boys don’t want to read about princesses or girls’ friendships or even an adventure book with a girl main character. Believe me, I am not blaming here–I am pointing the finger back at myself, too. I have a stepson, and I am always looking for “books for boys;” and at the library if there’s a girl on the cover, I don’t pick it up for him. UGH!

Here are a couple of great suggestions from my friends who left comments about books for boys. Boys will love these books.

But girls will love them, too. And that book that you see a girl reading over there might also be enjoyed by a boy. I’m going to start trying to remember that, and I hope you will join me.

This year we'll be putting out 4 books here at CBAY. My editorial assistant has been hard at work trying to get them all copyedited. And I have been working hard to get covers and interiors done.

Now, I feel the need to show off my progress so far. Here are the books releasing in August:

The highly anticipated, at least by me, sequel to last year's Book of Nonsense, The Infinite.

Briefly, this book picks up where the last book left off -- the twins still have to fulfill The Council's mission and destroy the Book of Nonsense. Unfortunately, it's in the hands of the badly burned but still deadly Emmett. What's worse, Rash's ledger of containing lists of words of power have turned up at the dump where someone is wreaking havoc. If the twins work together, they might have a chance. The problem is, they might not actually be working together.

Curious to know more? I'll be posting an excerpt from the book next week.

This is CBAY's debut paperback release, The Secrets of the Cheese Syndicate, by Class of 2k9 debut author, Donna St. Cyr.

In this book, Robert Montasio did not think his day could get any worse until his sister drinks a bizarre soda that causes her to start shrinking. Robert's only hope is a mysterious organization known as the Secret Cheese Syndicate. Unfortunately, they cannot help without a special cheese that has been lost for years. Now, with a tiny little sister in his pocket, Robert has to travel the world to find the Mystic Cheese of Eliki and, perhaps, discover secrets from his family's past.

© Copyright 2006-2009 Madeline Smoot. All rights reserved. May be excerpted and duplicated for educational purposes.