It's a Boy!
Lately, I have been reading more and more single POV books featuring male protagonists, and since I am not a guy, I find it interesting to see things from their point of view. The following is a list of books I have read in the past year or so starring young men, which gave me a peek into a boy's mind.
Stacie Ramey
Series: n/a
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Dylan was dealing with a great loss and a lot of guilt. I found him so interesting and real. I thought he had a great voice, and I appreciated the time Ramey gave me in his head. I also loved hiking the Appalachian Trail with him, and he taught me a lot about conquering the outdoors.
Kathryn Berla
Series: n/a
Publisher: Amberjack Publishing
Hudson took me on this crazy journey, and I was thrilled to tag along. He was also dealing with some grief, but also with trying to find his future. His homeschooling and multiple businesses facilitated some new friendships, which ultimately helped him find his voice and some peace with his past.
Arvin Ahmadi
Series: n/a
Publisher: Viking Books for Young Readers
Scott was awesome! Scott struggled with chasing his own dreams and living up to the expectations of his parents. He also grappled with identity, and I loved that this quest to find "grit" led him to figuring out a lot about himself.
Jared Reck
Series: n/a
Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers
This book crushed my soul, but I really did love it. Matt was on the younger end of YA, and he really experienced a ton of growth in the book, as a young man his age is bound to do. He was this "guy", but then he would play Candy Land with his little brother and openly admit how much he loved his mom.
Andrew Smith
Series: Winger, #1
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Ryan Dean is one of those characters that has stuck with me for years. I first encountered him in 2014, and things about him still stand out in my head when I think of male protagonists. He is also on the younger end of YA, and I liked getting a second book with him to see how much he changed. He is smart and hilarious and I adored him.
A.E. Kaplan
Series: n/a
Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers
How could I not love Tom, a teenaged boy, who drew a loyal following of senior citizens in his neighborhood. They loved him, and so did I. His affection for his mother and desire to preserve her memory also tugged at my heartstrings, and I applauded his effort to protect and reconnect with his dad.
Jeff Zentner
Series: n/a
Publisher: Crown Books for Young Readers
Zentner knows how to make me cry, and he did it once again with Carver's story. Carver was the one left behind, left to struggle with the grief and loss, and I was happy to share his pain. The flashbacks were wonderful too, because I always enjoy a good bromance.
David Arnold
Series: n/a
Publisher: Viking Books for Young Readers
I was invited to grieve with yet another character in this book. I was overjoyed to take this healing journey with Vic, and helping him retrace his parents love story and find his father's final resting place.
Sarvenaz Tash
Series: n/a
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
This book was all sorts of sweet and cute. Graham was the geek, who I would have given my heart to in a hot minute. Watching him stumble through his crush tugged at my heart. He reminded me how hard it can be to be brave and take a chance, and it was extra special getting to go to NYCC with him.
Adi Alsaid
Series: n/a
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Carlos was smart and he could cook, but he was still reeling from his brother's murder. He had these conversations with his brother, endeared him to me, and his enthusiasm for food was another plus for me.
I read a fair amount of YA books w/ female POV's and enjoy them, but it is nice to see the male POV sometimes too- I particularly like it when we get boh, like in Top ten. I think I LIKE the female POV better usually, maybe cause it's different for me, but male is nice too.
ReplyDeleteI love the sound of Short History, and The Secrets We Bury too. I wish more teen guys would read YA, both female and male POV.
I think I am seeing more male protagonists, but it is definitely a female dominated field when I consider single POV books.
DeleteOmg, that Modern Family gif is the best. That episode was hilarious. :D I haven't read too many YA books featuring The male protagonist's solo POV. Erin Bowman's Taken trilogy was okay. Also I believe Reborn by Jennifer Rush is written in Nick's POV. I haven't read Reborn but I loved Altered and Erased. 😍😍😍 Great list, Sam!
ReplyDeleteHave a wonderful day. =)
Alyssa @ The Eater of Books!
Cam is the best! I have to check out those books. I really found a ton on my read shelf, but realized most are dual POV.
DeleteGrendel's guide to love and war sounds like a good read! Great list!
ReplyDeleteMy TTT: https://tsundokubooks.blogspot.co.uk/2018/04/top-ten-books-i-wish-would-be-adapted.html
I am a fan of Grendel's Guide. There were so many things to love in that story.
DeleteLove this list and there are definitely some I need to check out. I liked Kids of Appetite and Goodbye Days. I loved Denton Little's books that are from a male POV.
ReplyDeleteI have the first Denton book, but have not read it (yet). I did not know if was told from his POV.
DeleteI so adored geeks guide. It wa so much fun. Loved kids of appetite too. Have not read any of the others yet. Great top ten. Fun.
ReplyDeleteGeek's Guide really delivered for me, and KOA was my gateway to David Arnold. No regrets with either of these books.
DeleteI do really like books in the male POV. I've only read Goodbye Days from your list, but I did really enjoy that one. Other favorites of mine? Simon Vs. the Homo-Sapiens Agenda, Perks of Being a Wallflower, etc.
ReplyDelete-Lauren
www.shootingstarsmag.net
Simon and Perks were both top notch. I went with more recent reads, but I would have included them if we were doing deep cuts.
DeleteWhat a great topic! I agree I enjoy reading the male protagonist books since they are not as many. Also, I really enjoyed Kids of Appetite it was such a journey that the author took the reader on.
ReplyDeleteKOA was a fantastic journey. I loved like every second of that book.
DeleteFor some reason, I'm not very keen on reading books from male POVs, but I have read a few that have blown me away! I can't say I've read any from your list, but I do love Simon, The Piper's Son, and also Emma Chase's Tangled! I'll have to check some of these out.
ReplyDeleteTangled was so awesome. That narrator was fantastic!
DeleteI always think it's fun when I find books from the boys perspective. There are too few around. Great topic!
ReplyDeleteThere are not a ton, but I think I am seeing more and move male narrated books these days.
DeleteI LOVE boy POV books!!! WINGER is one of my forever ever faves. I didn't realize some of these were narrated by boys, so I'm definitely pushing them higher on my TBR. Kids of Appetite was one I always meant to read!!
ReplyDeleteOMG, Smith tweeted that Ryan Dean will be making a return. I almost cried. KOA was so good. I adored that book. It made me fall in love with David Arnold.
DeleteDown and Across and The Geek's Guide to Unrequited Love look great! It's a nice change of pace to have a male narrator, especially in YA.
ReplyDeleteHere is our Top Ten Tuesday. Thanks!
Both were full of feels, laughs, and fantastic characters. I hope you get to read them.
DeleteI haven't read any of these! Usually I read from the male perspective when it comes to romance like Nick said.
ReplyDeleteI feel like my romances are usually dual POV, which is awesome, because I like getting in the hero and heroine's heads.
DeleteI read so few books from sole male POV, it's usually either female or mixed and whilst both of those are fine, it would be nice to occasionally read more books from a male POV, just for a change!
ReplyDeleteMy TTT: https://jjbookblog.wordpress.com/2018/04/17/top-ten-tuesday-155/
I would say my read shelf is dominated by dual POV or female single POV books as well, which is why I was excited to find a bunch from a male POV.
DeleteI was *just* commenting on a book review about how much I enjoy reading from a male POV so this is pretty timely. :) I haven’t read any from your list (how is that possible?!) but a couple of my favorites are Simon vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda and The Serpent King (multiple POV).
ReplyDeleteI had quite a few books on my list, so I picked more recent reads and lesser loved books (except Winger - that had to be on the list), but Simon is a fabulous book, and I did love his voice so much.
DeleteThis was such an amazing topic and i'm so happy you did it because i'm always looking for books with more male MCs since we don't really get to see a lot of that in YA and it's nice to see what it's like through their POVs sometimes. I'm also super happy that you included the Secrets We Bury since that's actually on my TBR for this week and that just made me even more hyped to read it! Lovely post :)
ReplyDeleteI was really surprised by how many I found on my read shelf. I had so many, I just went with my more recent reads (and Ryan Dean, because he's the best). The Secrets We Bury surprised me in the best way. I loved it more than I thought I would.
DeleteI haven't read any of these books, but I'll be adding them to my list because I love books with male POVs, especially since I tend to write boy main characters in my own work :)
ReplyDelete- louise ☆
There are some fabulous male MCs up there for you to study. I hope you get to read and enjoy some of these.
DeleteRyan Dean - I loved Winger! Have you tried the sequel yet? :)
ReplyDeleteLauren @ Always Me
I read both the Ryan Dean books, and Andrew Smith tweeted to me the other day, saying he'll be back!!!!!!
DeleteI love reading male-narrated books. I definitely think there are way more female readers of YA and so it's interesting to me that most of these covers are sort of gender neutral - I wouldn't guess they were male POV except that you told me.
ReplyDeleteJen Ryland Reviews
I agree, most of these covers do NOT scream BOY to me. I am not even sure if the synopses reveal that detail. There are some fantastic male authors out there trying to get more boys to read YA. They seem to drop off after middle grades, but there are a lot of great books out there for them too.
DeleteI do really enjoy books that are told from a boy's point of view. I have read a few of the books that made your list and really enjoyed them.
ReplyDeleteIt's a nice change of pace, I think.
DeleteI haven't read many books with male POVs so thank you for this list!! I won a copy of Geek's Guide and now I need to read it. Great post Sam!
ReplyDeleteGeek's Guide was so fantastic! I really loved it. Lots of fun and feels in that book.
DeleteI love this topic! I think there's a lack of YA male narrators too and I can probably count on one hand the amount that I read per year that feature a male narrator, and I'd honestly like to read more to diversify my reading a bit more.
ReplyDelete-Cristina @ Girl in the Pages
I have been seeing more and more male narrated books, and they have been quite impressive. I especially love when a male author writes the book, because if they write a male that way, it gives the character more credibility in my eyes.
DeleteI tend to enjoy alternate POVs. I haven't read a pure male POV in contemporary romance. This may be something to try soon!
ReplyDeleteI find the majority of books I read are dual POV, which is popular for romances, but I am learning that a good story can be told well from a single perspective too.
DeleteI like your topic, Sam! I might steal it a TTT for the mysteries and thrillers I read bc it's an interesting thing to think about -- do I favour make/female POVs and why?
ReplyDeleteI was trying to think of something, and I had just read a book that had a male narrator, and I realized I have read a lot of books with male narrators. My favorite thing about TTT is how it makes me examine my read shelf and really reflect on the books I have read.
DeleteI prefer female POV's in the books I read. I don't think I've ever willingly read a book that was only in a male POV. But I also don't have a problem with alternating POV's in books. It's probably because I like to "see" myself in the story as I read. I'll have to try reading a Male only POV book at some point and see how I feel about it :)
ReplyDeleteI can understand that. I think everyone wants to find something to relate to in a story.
DeleteI must confess, I get a little nervous when I find out that it's a male POV in a book. I don't know why- there are plenty of books with male POVs that I absolutely loved. In fact, I'd even say a pretty decent chunk of my favorite books are at least half male POV. But for some reason, I am still a little wary!
ReplyDeleteThat is an interesting fact about you as a reader. I find I like multi-POV books a little more, in general, but I have great love for many single POV books, and am surprised by all the amazing male characters I have discovered.
DeleteI don't pick up a lot of books from a guy's perspective. I do want to read both Down and Across and North of Happy soon in the future.
ReplyDeleteBoth those book were all sorts of wonderful. I don't look for the books, but I do welcome the change of perspective.
DeleteI went with more recent reads, but I agree, loved Ethan. I read that book a while back, and actually didn't remember it was single POV.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great list! I've actually not read that many YA books with a male protagonist so I'm jotting down all of these titles. Of those I have read, Dear Martin is probably my favorite.
ReplyDeleteI have heard great things about Dear Martin. I hope to get it from the library (someday).
DeleteThe other thing I like are YA books written by guys that have romance in them. I am allergic to romance, but I find that YA romantic moments are much more palatable to me, and funny enough less gropey-feely, which is my major turn off. Ha ha. XD
ReplyDelete"Allergic to romance" XD
DeleteI absolutely adore romance, but it's always nice to get a different perspective. YA romances are all over the place as far as the physical interactions go these days. I have read some that are really graphic and others that are more implied, fade to black, or more subtle. But now you have me wanting to pay closer attention to the romances written by male writers.
I love reading from the male perspective because it intrigues me! As you said, I'm not male so yeah, it is nice and refreshing to have something different and as foreign as a different gender perspective can be. I really want to read Winger and Kids of Appetitie. I also just bought Goodbye Days so I should be reading that one soon!
ReplyDeleteRyan Dean is one of my all-time favorite characters. Smith created something amazing with him. I am big Zentner and Armold fan. Just finished Arnold's newest book, The Strange Fascinations of Noah Hypnotik, and it was another winner for me.
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