The transition from third to fourth grade is a notoriously difficult one for boys in terms of reading. Whether it’s the steep learning curve to master more complex reading material or simply a matter of having more outside interests in newly-available extra-curriculars, this is the time many boys go from reading at grade level to lagging behind.
The books in Jon Scieszka’s Guys Read series for boys in grades 3-7 are here to do something about that, by providing short stories that give kids a steady stream of accomplishment with stories to captivate and keep them reading, all while subtly improving their literacy skills along the way.
Guys Read: Funny Business (4/5 stars, currently priced at $3.99)
It’s here: Volume One of the official Guys Read Library. Jon Scieszka’s Guys Read initiative was founded on a simple premise: that young guys enjoy reading most when they have reading they can enjoy. And out of this comes a series that aims to give them just that. Ten books, arranged by theme, featuring the best of the best where writing for kids is concerned. Each book is a collection of original short stories, but these aren’t your typical anthologies—each book is edgy, inventive, visual, and one-of-a-kind, featuring a different theme for guys to get excited about.
Funny Business is based around the theme of—what else?—humor, and if you’re familiar with Jon and Guys Read, you already know what you’re in store for: ten hilarious stories from some of the funniest writers around. Before you’re through, you’ll meet a teenage mummy; a kid desperate to take a dip in the world’s largest pool of chocolate milk; a homicidal turkey; parents who hand over their son’s room to a biker; the only kid in his middle school who hasn’t turned into a vampire, wizard, or superhero; and more. And the contributor list includes bestselling author, award winners, and fresh new talent alike: Mac Barnett, Eoin Colfer, Christopher Paul Curtis, Kate DiCamillo (writing with Jon Scieszka), Paul Feig, Jack Gantos, Jeff Kinney, David Lubar, Adam Rex, and David Yoo.
Guys Read is all about turning young readers into lifelong ones—and with this book, and each subsequent installment in the series, we aim to leave no guy unturned.
Guys Read: Thriller (4.5/5 stars, currently priced at $4.99)
A body on the tracks
A teenage terrorist
A mysterious wish-granting machine
The world’s worst private detective
The second volume in the Guys Read Library of Great Reading is chock-full of mystery, intrigue, and nefarious activity. Featuring some of the best writers around, and compiled by certified guy Jon Scieszka, Guys Read: Thriller is a pulse-pounding collection of brand-new short stories, each one guaranteed to keep you riveted until the final page.
Guys Read: True Stories (4.5/5 stars, currently priced at $6.99)
Jon Scieszka’s Guys Read anthology series for tweens turns to nonfiction in its fifth volume, True Stories.
The fifth installment in the Guys Read Library of Great Reading features ten stories that are 100% amazing, 100% adventurous, 100% unbelievable—and 100% true.
A star-studded group of award-winning nonfiction authors and journalists provides something for every reader, all aligned with the Common Core State Standards.
Compiled and edited by real-life literature legend Jon Scieszka, Guys Read: True Stories is a mind-blowing collection of essays, biographies, how-to guides, and more, all proving that the truth is most definitely out there.
Guys Read: The Sports Pages (4.5/5 stars, currently priced at $6.99)
A lineman with something to prove
A vendetta against a baseball legend
The rise of a real-life NHL all-star
The luckiest grapefruit in sports history
Open up The Sports Pages, the third volume in the Guys Read Library of Great Reading, and you’re in for all of this and more. From fiction to nonfiction, from baseball to mixed martial arts and everything in between, these are ten stories about the rush of victory and the crush of defeat on and off the field. Compiled by kid-lit all-star Jon Scieszka, Guys Read: The Sports Pages is a thrilling collection of brand-new short stories from some of your favorite authors and athletes.
Guys Read: Other Worlds (4.5/5 stars, currently priced at $10.99)
Note: for some reason this title includes “A Percy Jackson and the Olympians Guide Book 4” on the product page, but while the book includes a Percy Jackson and the Olympians short story contributed by Rick Riordan, it is not a Percy Jackson and the Olympians book.
Other Worlds, the fourth volume in Jon Scieszka’s Guys Read anthology series for tween boys, features ten thrilling new tales of science fiction and fantasy from some of the biggest names in children’s literature.
Prepare yourself for ten trips into the unknown, as ten of your favorite writers—Rick Riordan, who has written an all-new and exclusive Percy Jackson tale, Tom Angleberger of Origami Yoda fame, Newbery medalist Rebecca Stead, Shannon Hale, D. J. MacHale, Eric Nylund, Kenneth Oppel, Neal Shusterman, Shaun Tan, and none other than the late Ray Bradbury—spin tales of fantasy and science fiction the likes of which you have never imagined.
Compiled by National Ambassador for Children’s Literature (and Secret Ambassador for the Intergalactic Alliance) Jon Scieszka, Guys Read: Other Worlds is sure to boldly take you where no reader has gone before.
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