GUYS WRITE FOR GUYS READ: Boys' Favorite Authors Write About Being Boys
Jon Scieszka
Viking Children's Books
Teen Anthology
ISBN: 0670060070
288 pages

• Read an Excerpt

As a woman, I've heard and confirmed a lot of rumors about guys. Most of them really do think with everything but their brains. They can have entire conversations revolving around three questions: "What's in the fridge?" "What's on TV?" and "She's hot, isn't she?" After years of dating guys and being friends with guys and eventually marrying a guy, I was ready to throw my hands in the air and shout from the rooftops, "It's true! Guys really are from Mars!"

Except that it's not true. Guys aren't from another planet any more than girls are. Guys are complex, funny, thoughtful, and sometimes downright hysterical. And no matter what kind of guy you are, there's a story in GUYS WRITE FOR GUYS READ that you will like and a guy writer who probably, in one way or another, felt a lot of the things you feel right now.

Jon Scieszka's anthology brings together the best male writers and artists around to write (or draw, or paint) about everything from dangerous books (Neil Gaiman) to the inability to resist danger in the form of the neighbor's homemade electric chair (Jack Gantos), to a very secret Lettermens' club initiation that involved raw oysters, olives, and shoes (Chris Crutcher). Every piece in this book, whether humorous or heartbreaking, conveys the spirit of what it means to be a son, a father, a friend, a hiker on the trail of self-discovery, and most importantly, a guy.

Even if you're a guy who normally hates to read, check out this book (you can read it one essay at a time if you're busy with sports, girls, or raiding the fridge), and take a look at Jon Scieszka's website, GuysRead.com.

I'd comment more on the book, but the guy in my life has stolen it and won't return it.

   --- Reviewed by Carlie Webber

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