Thursday, August 11, 2011

Top ten funny teen boy books

Don Calame's first YA novel is Swim the Fly.

About the book, from the publisher:
Fifteen-year-old Matt Gratton and his two best friends, Coop and Sean, always set themselves a summertime goal. This year's? To see a real-live naked girl for the first time -- quite a challenge, given that none of the guys has the nerve to even ask a girl out on a date. But catching a girl in the buff starts to look easy compared to Matt's other summertime aspiration: to swim the 100-yard butterfly (the hardest stroke known to God or man) as a way to impress Kelly West, the sizzling new star of the swim team.
For the Guardian, Calame named his top ten funny teen boy books, including:
Election by Tom Perrotta

Not specifically written as a YA but it's a quick, fun, witty and sometimes disturbing read. A high school election meltdown told from various points of view. If you haven't seen the movie, read the book first. Both are excellent, though.
Read about another book on the list.

Also see Patrick Ness's top ten "unsuitable" books for teenagers and Melvin Burgess's top 10 books written for teenagers.

--Marshal Zeringue