In need of a chap. book for boys?

[TeacherCarrie]

I teach 4th grade...sorry, forgot to put that in my original post.

I have read two books to my class now that have awesome community themes such as bullying and respecting diversity. Both book's main characters are girls.

I want to find a book or two or more that have a strong male character that can teach my boys and the class the same things those two books did. I have books such as "My Side of the Mountain" but that book just doesn't cover what my kids need to know about bullying and such.

Do you think "Freak the Mighty" would be perfect? I just realized as I was typing this that I do have that book and it does have a really good theme to it. Are there any others?

I have so many books with these themes for good character...but just thinking about it the other day, I realized they all have female main characters.

 

[apm]

You didn't mention what grade you teach. "The Chocolate War" by Robert Cormier is a great book on bullying, but does have some sensetive material in it (it's about a 14 year old boy!). Or, "The Outsiders" by SE Hinton. Fabulous book that my students (from 8th through 11th grades) have always loved and asked me to read year after year. I'm currently reading "Who the Man" by Chris Lynch to my 7th graders as our read-aloud book, and they are pretty into it.
Good Luck!

 

[anna]

Try "There's a Boy in the Girl's Bathroom"

This is a story of a boy who bullies and an offbeat counselor at school who helps the boy begin to see his self-worth. It has humor and lots of realistic school yard scenes. A very fun read aloud!