Guys Write for Guys Read
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What is a typical guy moment, anyhow? Daniel Pinkwater remembers thedisappointment of meeting his Lone Star Ranger hero up close and personal. Gordon Korman relishes the goofy ultra violence of the old Looney Tunes cartoons. Stephen King realizes that having your two hundred- pound babysitter fart on your five-year-old head prepares you for any literary criticism. And that's just a sampling from Guys Write for Guys Read, a fast-paced, high energy collection of short works: stories, essays, columns, cartoons, anecdotes, and artwork by today's most popular writers and illustrators. Guys Write will feature work from Brian Jacques, Jerry Spinelli, Chris Crutcher, Mo Willems, Chris Van Allsburg, Matt Groening, Neil Gaiman, the editors and columnists from Sports Illustrated,The Onion and Esquire magazines, and more. Selected by voters at the Guys Read Web site and compiled by Jon Scieszka, this wide-ranging collection of authors and illustrators shows that guys do read . . . and will read more if given things they enjoy reading. A Note from the Author Too many boys struggle with reading. I grew up with five brothers, taught elementary school for ten years, and have been writing books for kids for the last fifteen years. I started writing books like The Stinky Cheese Man and the Time Warp Trio series in part to inspire my second-grade boys to want to read. Now I'd like to do more. So I've started a nonprofit literacy initiative called GUYS READ. The basic idea is to help boys read by connecting them with books that will motivate them to want to read. Recommendations to the original GUYS READ website provided hundreds of titles boys like to read. I asked one hundred of these authors and illustrators to write about being a guy, and their contributions made the anthology, Guys Write for Guys Read. Now the money from the anthology has built a new interactive website at www.guysread.com. Check it out. Let's look into what's going on with boys and reading. And let's help our guys read. Jon Scieszka Author Bio: Former teacher, Jon Scieszka, founded the Guys Read literacy initiative in response to the struggle many boys face with reading—a struggle that can have a negative impact on their self-esteem, their success in school, and their futures. He is the enormously popular author of the Time Warp Trio series as well as Science Verse and the Caldecott Honor winning book The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales. Jon lives in Brooklyn, New York.Publishers WeeklyAn outgrowth of Scieszka's Guys Read Web-based literacy initiative to encourage boys to read, this volume reveals a rich array of voices, styles and approaches. The 90 children's authors' and illustrators' pieces reveal memories that defined their boyhoods and, in many cases, launched them on their career paths. Anticipating their audience, the contributors keep their works succinct and enticing, allowing boys to skip about, and dip in and out. What emerges is an affecting, articulate composite of the humiliations and triumphs of youth, touching on themes of sports, girls, school, fathers, brothers and the creative process. Terry Davis and David Klass share moving recollections of their fathers; Jack Prelutsky presents a lively poem about boys as well as a harrowing tale of his close encounter with a zoo lion; Gordon Korman offers a snappy enumeration of "Guy Things"; David Shannon recalls creating the first version of No, David! at the age of five (a reproduction of that early attempt is included); and Scieszka relays a comic-kid-pleasingly graphic-account of a family car trip on which the pet cat's upset stomach sets off a chain reaction. Though the tone of the entries ranges from comic to poignant and will resonate with readers to varying degrees, all convey a remarkable candor and eagerness to reach out to boys. Lloyd Alexander, Avi, Eoin Colfer, Jack Gantos, David Macaulay, Dav Pilkey, Walter Dean Myers, Peter S s, Jerry Spinelli and Laurence Yep are among the others who enrich this inspiring revelation of what it means to be a guy. Ages 11-up. (Apr.) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.
Foreword11The Truth about the World13My Maturity, in Flames1519Stone = Throw22Superpatriot25The Crossing28Reading Can Be Dangerous30My Entire Football Career33Only a Game36Gondwanaland38E, A Minor, B742My Brilliant Invention45A Real Guy48My Life of Crime51Triplets54The Legend of Tripod58"O" Foods61What I'm Telling You Is the Truth65The Rules69Any Questions, Class?71Guide for Guys72Why Books Are Dangerous7477The Follower79The Red Fire Engine84There Must Be a Mistake86Thwacked88My Superpowers91My Dad Is Better Than Your Dad9497Let's Go to the Videotape100Boys, Beer, Barf, and Bonding105Shooting the Breeze108Principals and Principles112A Great, Big, Beautiful World114My French Teacher Tried to Kill Me117Learning How to Be a Boy119Lightning Man122A Casualty of War124Wrestling with Reading127130from On Writing133Pop135Guy Things137Role-Playing and Discovery141Busted144Copies146When All Bicycles Were Black149The Pellet in the Paint Can152Unfinished Business156161Daydreams163Lucky Dave166Anything Can Happen169No, David!174Dead Body176It All Began with Books180from How Angel Peterson Got His Name183The 1928 Packard185Lone Ranger188191A Day at the Zoo192Boys Are Big Experts195"Funny You Should Ask" from The Life of Reilly196200The Death of a Writer202Sweet Dreams204Maybe Yeah, Maybe Nah207Bufos209212Brothers214Guyifesto-Who We Are!217The Day I Threw the Trivia Bowl221Bringing Up 'Saur Subjects224Roy G. Biv228The Hammer and the Bullet230The Masque of the Red Death233Reading and Relating236The Dragon in the Big Glommy Castle238Bombs, Girls240Conduct243The Fire Escape246My First Step to the White House248Give a Guy a Newspaper251Eat Dirt254Training the Bear256Pals Forever: Me, Bobby Fisher, and the Hardy Boys259Aw, Nuts!262"Puzzle Pieces" from The Lost Garden264Heartbeat266I Was Young in the Old Days270
