Here are some upcoming books that may be good reads for boys. Let us know if you know of others, or if you're going to be publishing one.
Annotations are mostly from publishers

There's no stopping to sequels is there?

The third book in Will Hill's excellent Department 19 series will be coming out in April. "Dracula is on the verge of coming into his full power. Department 19 is on the back foot. Ladies and gentlemen: welcome to war."
I'm sure Mr. Hill will continue to wipe sparkle vampires off the planet with this book.



Marcus Yallow's high tech rebellion continues in Homeland, the sequel to Little Brother, by Cory Doctorow. Marcus, now a webmaster for a politician, has to figure out what to do with a thumbdrive full of Wikileaks-type evidence and how to rescue his kidnapped ex-girlfriend.
I should get a hold of the first book soon.





One of our favourite series for preteens and teens is ending. The third book in Brandon Mull's Beyonders series, Chasing the Prophecy, will be coming out in March 2013.  Jason and Rachel will be heading off onto their separate quests to "become the heroes Lyrian needs".








Other sequels:
Nano wars continue in BZRK book 2 by Michael Grant.
And of course, a yet-to-be named Miss Peregrine by Ransom Riggs.

Now for some non-sequels:

Crap Kingdom by DC Pierson caught my eye because the premise is similar to Magic Kingdom For Sale SOLD!, the Terry Brooks' book I'm reading right now. Tom Parking is whisked away from Earth because he is the prophesized Chosen One to restore a magical kingdom to its former glory, but there is nothing desirable about this kingdom: "The kingdom is mostly made of garbage from Earth... the king hates Tom. Also, the princess likes to wear fake mustaches. And being Chosen One seems to consist mainly of cleaning out rats' noses at the Royal Rat-Snottery."
The smart thing to do of course is to turn down the job, but when Tom finds out the kingdom just replaces him with his best friend Kyle, he wants it back.

Mojo by Tim Tharp looks like a good one for mystery fans. Dylan is trying to solve a missing rich girl case so he can get some respect at school, but attaining "mojo" is not that easy and Dylan will find himself suck into a dangerous underground club.







It's nice to see a ghost story with a male protagonist. Far Far Away by Tom McNeal is about Jeremy who "can hear voices. Or, specificially, one voice: the voice of the ghost of Jacob Grimm, one half of the infamous writing duo, The Brothers Grimm." But will Jacob be able to protect Jeremy from the "unhappy ending" that Grimm fairy tales often end in?






Others:
Eoin Colfer is starting a new series called WARP: The Reluctant Assassin, which Publishers Weekly called "Oliver Twist meets The Matrix time-travel adventure series".
Catherine Fisher has a new sci-fi / fantasy series Obsidian Mirror.
Boy Nobody by Allen Zadoff, "starring a teenage boy with no name or history - the perfect soldier-assassin" (from Publishers Weekly)

What books are you looking forward to read this winter? 

It's that time of the year to go through the Winter catalogues and see what we have in store for the guys this season. Here are a few titles that jump out so far, and descriptions included are from publishers. What have you seen that looks like it's got potential? Please leave us a comment. 

Ripper by Stefan Petrucha
March 2012 Penguin Young Readers Group
Nice cover! Sophisticated and mysterious. And Jack the Ripper. Need I say more.
Carver Young dreams of becoming a detective, despite growing up in an orphanage with only crime novels to encourage him. But when he is adopted by Detective Hawking of the world famous Pinkerton Agency, Carver is given not only the chance to find his biological father, he finds himself smack in the middle of a real life investigation: tracking down a vicious serial killer who has thrown New York City into utter panic. When the case begins to unfold, however, it's worse than he could have ever imagined, and his loyalty to Mr. Hawking and the Pinkertons comes into question. As the body count rises and the investigation becomes dire, Carver must decide where his true loyalty lies. Full of whip-smart dialogue, kid-friendly gadgets, and featuring a then New York City Police Commissioner Teddy Roosevelt, Ripper challenges everything you thought you knew about the world's most famous serial killer. 

Kill Switch by Chris Lynch
April 2012 Simon & Schuster
Cover looks kinda boring, but the espionage plot sounds pretty good, and Chris Lynch is a pretty good writer.
All Daniel wants to do is spend one last summer with his grandfather before he moves away for college and his grandfather’s dementia pulls them apart. But when his dear old Da starts to let things slip about the job he used to hold—people he’s killed, countries he’s overthrown—old work “friends” show up to make sure he stays quiet. Was his grandfather really involved in a world of assassinations and coups, or are the stories just delusions of a crumbling mind? On the run from the police (and possibly something worse) before he has time to find out, Daniel may have to sacrifice everything to protect his grandfather from those who would do him harm. 


Lexapros and Cons by Aaron Karo
April 2012 Simon & Schuster
By a stand-up comedian, and film rights have been sold already.  Hopefully it's good funny and not the unnatural kind.
High schooler Chuck Taylor knows his OCD is out of control. The weird routines that he relies on to keep himself together are scaring everyone off. Yes, he shares a name with the icon behind the coolest shoes in the world—but even he knows his complicated system for which pair of "Cons" he’s going to wear on which day is completely nuts. The shrink his parents make him see isn’t helping, partly because her patient only pretends to take the drug she’s prescribed, and partly because he doesn't like the fact that she wears sneakers in their sessions.
Bad things are definitely going to happen to Chuck. But maybe that’s a good thing. Because in order to get a handle on his life, win back his best friend, and have a chance with the amazing new girl at school, he’s going to have break some hardcore habits, face his demons . . . and get messy.

Playground by 50 Cent
November 2011 Penguin Group
Thirteen-year-old Butterball doesn't have much going for him. He's teased mercilessly about his weight. He hates the Long Island suburb his mom moved them to and wishes he still lived with his dad in the city. And now he's stuck talking to a totally out-of-touch therapist named Liz.
Liz tries to uncover what happened that day on the playground - a day that landed one kid in the hospital and Butterball in detention. Butterball refuses to let her in on the truth, and while he evades her questions, he takes readers on a journey through the moments that made him into the playground bully he is today. 

The Final Four by Paul Volponi
March 2012 Penguin
Four players with one thing in common: the will to win
Malcolm wants to get to the NBA ASAP. Roko wants to be the pride of his native Croatia. Crispin wants the girl of his dreams. M.J. just wants a chance.
March Madness is in full swing, and there are only four teams left in the NCAA basketball championship. The heavily favored Michigan Spartans and the underdog Troy Trojans meet in the first game in the semifinals, and it's there that the fates of Malcolm, Roko, Crispin, and M.J. intertwine. As the last moments tick down on the game clock, you'll learn how each player went from being a kid who loved to shoot hoops to a powerful force in one of the most important games of the year. Which team will leave the Superdome victorious? In the end it will come down to which players have the most skill, the most drive, and the most heart.

  
Of course there are going to be sequels:
Fugitives (Alexander Gordon Smith's Escape from Furnace series. See review)

Seeds of Rebellion (Brandon Mull's The Beyonders series. See review)
Invisible Sun (sequel to David MacInnis Gill's Black Hole Sun. See review)
Ruins (Orson Scott Card's Pathfinders series)
Run (sequel to James A. Moore's Subject Seven. See review)
The Dragon's Apprentice (James A. Owen's Chronicles of the Imaginarium Geographica series. See review)
A Million Suns (sequel to Beth Revis' Across the Universe. See review)
The Rising (sequel to Will Hill's Department 19. See review)


More to come in the next few weeks...

Last Tuesday, School Library Journal hosted a webinar called "Books for Boys". Jon Scieszka moderated the talk, and representatives from Simon & Schuster, Random House Books on Tape and Candlewick talked about recent and upcoming books for boys of all ages.
Scieszka started the talk by introducing his Guys Read website, which has some pretty interesting booklists (my favourite being "At least one explosion"). They've also got a "start a guys read field office" initiative and their guys read charter.
I've included their slides here (PDF). Thanks for giving us permission to put this up, SLJ!
Which titles are you most excited about? Leave us a comment.
p.s. I know this is not really for teens, but I need to give a shout out to Mac Barnett's It Happened on a Train. It's one of the funniest things I've read.

You've probably ordered your fall books by now, and I'm sure you've noticed that it's once again slim pickings for the guys. Just browse through any catalogue or online bookstore, look at the covers and you'll know what I mean... Thought I'd compile a list of potentials...

The Death Cure by James Dashner
As much as I love The Maze Runner, one of the complaints of the previous two books (for me, the 2nd one especially) is that we still aren't any closer to the truth and finding out just what the heck is going on in Thomas' world. It's always "We'll tell you later..." This is the last book, so how's the author going to end this all?  I'm on the waiting list at my library. Are you?
Book description:
Thomas knows that Wicked can't be trusted, but they say the time for lies is over, that they've collected all they can from the Trials and now must rely on the Gladers, with full memories restored, to help them with their ultimate mission. It's up to the Gladers to complete the blueprint for the cure to the Flare with a final voluntary test.
What Wicked doesn't know is that something's happened that no Trial or Variable could have foreseen. Thomas has remembered far more than they think. And he knows that he can't believe a word of what Wicked says.
The time for lies is over. But the truth is more dangerous than Thomas could ever imagine.
Will anyone survive the Death Cure?


iBoy by Kevin Brooks
Still remember reading Martyn Pig and loving it, but also remember being disappointed by Being. This one's got a bizarre premise, so we'll see...
Book description:
What can he do with his new powers -- and what are they doing to him?
Before the attack, Tom Harvey was just an average teen. But a head-on collision with high technology has turned him into an actualized App. Fragments of a shattered iPhone are embedded in his brain. And they're having an extraordinary effect on his every thought.
Because now Tom knows, sees, and can do more than any normal boy ever could. But with his new powers comes a choice: To avenge Lucy, the girl he loves, will he hunt down the vicious gangsters who hurt her? Will he take the law into his own electric hands and exterminate them from the South London housing projects where, by fear and violence, they rule?
Not even his mental search engine can predict the shocking outcome of iBoy's actions.


The Power of Six by Pittacus Lore
I Am Number Four is still one much sought-over book at the library. Here's the sequel.
Book description:
I've seen him on the news. Followed the stories about what happened in Ohio. John Smith, out there, on the run. To the world, he's a mystery. But to me . . . he's one of us.
Nine of us came here, but sometimes I wonder if time has changed us—if we all still believe in our mission. How can I know? There are six of us left. We're hiding, blending in, avoiding contact with one another . . . but our Legacies are developing, and soon we'll be equipped to fight. Is John Number Four, and is his appearance the sign I've been waiting for? And what about Number Five and Six? Could one of them be the raven-haired girl with the stormy eyes from my dreams? The girl with powers that are beyond anything I could ever imagine? The girl who may be strong enough to bring the six of us together?
They caught Number One in Malaysia.
Number Two in England.
And Number Three in Kenya.
They tried to catch Number Four in Ohio—and failed.
I am Number Seven. One of six still alive.
And I'm ready to fight.



The Project by Brian Falkner
It begins with a book, the most boring book in the world, a book so boring no one could ever read it—the perfect place to hide a dangerous secret.
When best friends Luke and Tommy volunteer to help move books from their library's basement to higher ground during a quick rising flood, they discover the only surviving copy of the most boring book in the world: Leonardo's River, lost for over 100 years. The book is connected to Leonardo da Vinci and is worth millions, so they return that night to steal it. Unfortunately, they're not the only ones with that plan. . . .


What other upcoming titles look good to you? Leave us a comment.