Boys Need Book Clubs Love Too! Guest Post by YA Author Mike Spradlin -- Plus Day 3 of My BBAW Giveaways!

The following post comes to us from Michael P. Spradlin, author of, most recently, The Youngest Templar: The Keeper of the Grail and also the Spy Goddess series. In honor of BBAW, this is also giveaway number 3 of the week. Tell us what your son's favorite book is, or about a Mother/Son, Father/Son book group you've been involved in and you'll be entered to win one of 10 copies of a signed first edition of the first book in the Spy Goddess series, Spy Goddess: Live and Let Shop, along with a Book Club Girl mousepad. And just who is this Spy Goddess? Well, 15-year-old rich and spoiled Beverly Hills heiress Rachel is given a choice -- spend 30 days in a juvenile detention center or one year in a mysterious boarding school in rural Pennsylvania. She chooses the latter, and finds, upon arriving, that the school harbors many secrets, the headmaster seems to know a little too much about her and she is required to take martial arts. Rachel becomes determined to solve the school's mysteries in this fab series. But enough about the girls -- let's talk about boys for a moment:

Growing up, my buddies and I had a Book Club. Of course, we didn't call it that. Hanging out in somebody's tree house, or attic hideaway or secret 'no girls allowed' hideout, the discussion often turned to the most recent books we had read.

The Hardy Boys were our obsession. When a new Hardy Boys adventure arrived at our library, we entered into our own version of 'Death Race 2000' in order to be the first one to check it out. Elbows were thrown, bike tires deflated, this was serious stuff.

After we had all read it, we talked about it. Many times we acted out the story (I was always Joe Hardy, the impetuous one, I don't know why). The Mystery of Cabin Island was a particular favorite. With each book, we discussed our likes and dislikes, how it compared to Franklin W. Dixon's previous works, and whether or not his skills as a writer were in decline. Obviously, we were ahead of our time.

Today I hear a lot about Mother/Daughter Book Clubs and I rejoice. Ninety percent of the readers who send me emails through my website are female. And I'm very glad girls are reading, either by themselves or with their Moms. Girls who read rule! But I worry about the boys.

I know boys read. I visit a lot of schools and boys are just as enthusiastic about books as their fellow female students. But I also know there aren't many of them. And that worries me.

I have a twenty-two-year-old son, who loves to read. Heck, he's better read than I am. My daughter loves books as well and there are few better feelings than seeing your child turn off the computer, hang up the phone, shut off the television and pick up a book.

If you're reading this blog you realize how important reading is. If you have a mother/daughter book club, congratulations! What about starting a Mother/Son Book Club? Or better yet, get your husband involved. A Father/Son Book Club works. Or how about inviting your young readers, be they boys or girls to your Book Club? Read a young adult novel that month and invite them to join the discussion. Let them see how it works. Co-ed Book Clubs are a great idea! Face it, in today's world, wouldn't you feel great about your teenagers sitting around talking about the most recent book they'd read? If you're a parent, you know already that kids pay much more attention to what you do, than what you say. So show them the way. Especially the boys.

This brings me to the blatant self-promotion part. Tomorrow, my new novel The Youngest Templar: Keeper of the Grail goes on sale. It's the perfect book to start a Parent/Son or Co-ed Book Club with! Set during the third crusade, it tells the story of Tristan, a young orphan boy, saved from his life of drudgery at a monastery by Sir Thomas Leux, a Templar Knight.

He joins the Templars as a squire and journeys to the Holy Land. During a critical battle he is given the Holy Grail and ordered by his knight to return it safely to England. He undertakes this duty with a heavy heart, knowing he is leaving comrades behind. Along the way he is pursued by Saracens, evil knights and spies of King Richard the Lionheart.

Like the video games your children love so much, it's a story full of action, humor, suspense and lots of explosions. There are plenty of issues to discuss in your next Book Club meeting. What is the real meaning of family? What is the personal price of duty and honor? Who invented liquid soap and why? (Just kidding about that last one!) Sounds like the perfect book for your book club wouldn't you say?

You can read excerpts from Spy Goddess here and the Youngest Templar here.

Tell us about your son's favorite book, or your own experience with a Mother/Son or Father/Son Book Club and you'll be entered to win one of 10 signed copies of Spy Goddess: Live and Let Shop along with a Book Club Girl mousepad. Blog about this contest on another blog and you will have two entries into the random drawing.

Comments

[Bobbi]

I don't have any sons, but I do have 3 daughters - 2 are readers, 1 is not. My youngest - 16 - still lives at home and we enjoy reading together. We are both currently reading THE PROSECUTION OF GEORGE W. BUSH FOR MURDER. I'm reading it because I want to learn more and she is reading for a class project. We are having some wonderful discussions about this book!

[alissa]

My two sons became readers through my love of reading. Their favorite book was an S.E. Hinton book which they always refer to. Now I am reading Codex 632 which I find captivating and enthralling. They will both have their turn at this wonderful novel.

[Jen C.]

My son, who is autistic, does not share my love for reading. I have done everything I can think of to try to develop a love for books that I had at a very young age, but so far nothing.

Lately, he has been in trouble. He lost his game system and TV for back talking to me. The only thing left for him to do is... read.

He has been reading Harry Potter (which supposedly he has read before) but I really see him getting excited about it now. He keeps bringing me the book to point out things that are not in the movie. I talk tohim about these differences and have been trying to tell him, See - Look at all that you are missing by not reading. And there is only more left out of each move as the series progresses.

Maybe this time it will work.

[Kelly]

My son is 23 and is a big reader. He read alot as an elementary school student--he was big into series such as Goosebumps and Boxcar Children. Then I saw a big dropoff by the time he got to high school. He was pretty involved in sports and theater in high school so didn't make time for reading in his schedule. In college, though, he participated in an Honors program that required a lot of heavy reading. He blossomed into a fabulous reader--he reads much more dense and heavy stuff than I do, and I'm so proud of him for being so well-read and knowledgeable. I like to think that all the hours I spent reading to him when he was little have had some effect--plus I modeled an awful lot of reading behavior his entire life at home!

[Ruby]

Since my little boy is only two, he is still in love with Bob the Builder and any books that have him in it. So as of right now, LOL, his favorite book is 'Muck Reads a Map.'

Thnks for a great giveaway!!!

[Heather J.]

I tried to enter this once, but it disappeared. :(

My son is 6 and we already have a Mom & Son Book Club! I even have a section of my blog where I write about our meetings. It's been LOTS of fun for both of us.

If you want to check it out (since I'm not able to post a link here) come visit me at

age30books.blogspot.com

and click on the tag "Mother/Son Book Club" on the far right.

Thanks for the great contest, and for putting some focus on the boys for a change. :)

[Karina]

I have five sons, ages 5, 8, 10, 13, and 15. All are readers, some more than others. The 15 yo would read more but is very busy with school. The 10 yo reads EVERYTHING including cereal boxes. He reads on a high school level.

Favorite books at my house include the Artemis Fowl series, Kenneth Opel's books, Fablehaven, Hatchet, Rick Riordan's books, T.A. Barron's books, and so forth.

I will definitely look for the Youngest Templar, because I know that will appeal to several of my guys. Unfortunately, Spy Goddess won't, although I would love to read it, and if I leave it lying around the 10yo will most certainly read it!

[Ti]

My son (10) is finally, FINALLY discovering the joys of reading and the book that did it? Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson.

We don't have a mother/son group but we do discuss the books he reads informally.

[Jenn]

I have two boys, John is 9 and Justin is 3. John has been a little behind with reading but slowly but surely is keeping up. He LOVES the Magic Treehouse books (he and I read this book together). His new latest favorite book is the first in the 39 Clues series.

[Book...Spot]

I don't have a son but my brother's favorite book seems to have been the Cirque Du Freak books by Darren Shan...Hopefully he'll read some more he likes now that he's in college (his HS really didn't...at all almost)
-Lucile

[Tracy]

My four year old loves to read. Our favorite right now are the Little Bill books and No David No.

[Booklogged]

I don't have a son only 4 daughters. I hope I can still enter. Katie and I and her father had lots of good times reading Harry Potter books together.

[theDizzy ;}]

I don't have any sons, but my brother in fact just finally started to actually read more than a book per decade. His favorite book is probably the Artemis Fowl series... he's really into that and the Pendragon series... he was so excited to get the newest book, I was shocked.

;}

etwilight @ yahoo .com

[Stacie Gorkow]

Since I have 2 boys ages 8 and 7, our favorite books to read together are the Magic Tree House series of books. We are only up to number 13, so we have a way to go to get through all of them, but we are sure enjoying the journey the the magical world of Jack and Annie!
Staciele @netins.net

[Liviania]

I've never participated in a Mother/Daughter or Father/Daughter bookclub, but my parents were essential to making me into a bookworm. They took me to the library every week and introduced me to their favorite authors.

[Lenore]

No sons but I am continually looking for books that my brothers will read. They will read, but it has to be a book that really grabs them, so it's been tough - but worth it!

[Edward M. Krauss]

Dear Book Club Girl:

Please allow me to recommend two of my three novels to you and your readers.

SOLOMON THE ACCOUNTANT is a gentle love story set in a middle-class Jewish neighborhood in 1950. It is strictly PG, and would be a fine book for someone 14 years old, perhaps even younger.

HERE ON MOON is the story of a woman who is suddenly confronted with divorce. She tries to save the marriage but fails, and so enters the world of single parenting (a quick-witted daughter in her early teens) and eventually single-again dating.

MOON contains references to adultery, although there is no graphic sex, not even close, and a bit of profanity. I’d suggest it for readers 16-up.

Excerpts and a review are available at http://edwardmkrauss.com/

An author interview is available at http://www.PageOneLit.com/

I am pleased to answer emails addressed to emkraussauthor@sbcglobal.net

Thank you for your consideration.

Ed Krauss

[Kelly]

My son's favorite book is "Hand, Hand, Fingers, Thumb".

I blogged about the contest: http://myutopias.blogspot.com/2008/09/book-giveaway-contest.html

[Jozi Hall]

Reading is so important and I love connecting people (especially children) with that magical book that lights up their eyes when they talk about it!

Check out your rave reviews on Better World: http://www.betterworld.com/The-Youngest-Templar-id-0399247637.aspx

Please feel free to share and enjoy the coupon code JHAL08 for a 10% discount on our inventory of 2 million New & Used Books!!! Free shipping in the USA, $3.97 worldwide. (Coupon good for a one-time use on or before December 31, 2008)

Thanks and Happy Holidays!

Jozi