I love books written for teenagers, specifically teenaged boys. While there are many books written for teenaged girls, they're a bit of a hit and miss for me. On one hand, you can get excellent literature like The Hunger Games, and on the other, you get something like Twilight. (Sorry Twihards! I tried to like it, but have a very detailed and elaborate argument as to why I don't, but I won't drag it into this, as it's quite a volatile subject on the internet I hear)
I appreciate that currently there is a huge push to have girls continue to read and enjoy reading. As a girl who grew up reading, I totally love that there's currently a huge realm of (usually supernaturally themed) books starring girl characters who may or may not be good role models or interesting character studies.
However, I feel like boys are sort of being left out. Not that there aren't boys who would read books which are geared towards women, there are tonnes! However, for books with interesting male characters written for pre-teen and teenaged boys... I find either they're poorly written, stupid in idea, or sexist. I'm not going to name names. However, there are a few that are not only well written, interesting, and engaging for anyone, there's actually one that came out in October, that is all of those things! I think what makes a book written for boys awesome for me are a few things: 1- good character development. 2- not only a strong central male character, but strong female characters who exist as more than just the romantic or relational foil for the male characters, 3- an interesting story, 4- a smart story that is well written.
The following book, the newest in it's series, is a total win for me since I picked up the first book a few years ago and then just kept reading it. It's smart, funny, a neat idea, has great characters, AND it actually sneaks in lessons about classical mythology, which is always pretty cool in my books.
This is the 2 book of the series "The Heroes of Olympus" which follows a previous series of 5 books, "Percy Jackson and the Olympians." You might recall in the back of your mind a movie that came out a few years ago called "Percy Jackson and the Olympians- The Lightening Thief." Ignore this movie. Go pick up the book of the same name, and read that instead. It's an awesome read. Once you devour that, go pick up the next book, The Sea of Monsters, and keep it rolling, because I tell you, these books are just excellent! (Not just for adults, your kids will love em too! I recommend them for probably 10 and above, 10 if your kid is very mature, above if not!)
Happy Reading!
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