Jon Scieszka
Jon Scieszka is the author of several books for children, and the founder of guysread.com, a Web site designed to help raise young boys’ interest in reading. His most recent book is Hey Kid, Want to Buy a Bridge? (Viking Children’s Books, $15), another installment in the Time Warp Trio series. His book selections are taken from guysread.com votes.
Frog and Toad Are Friends by Arnold Lobel (HarperCollins Juvenile Books, $4). Usually shelved in bookstores as “Early Reader” fare, these stories are really Zen koans on friendship for everyone. Frog helps Toad look for his lost button. Toad tells stories to Frog. Why? What did your face look like before your parents were born?
The Wreckers by Iain Lawrence (Laureleaf, $6). Fast-moving, cliffhanging, seafaring adventure. Believable characters that Robert Louis Stevenson would have loved, in a swashbuckling yarn that hooks both the “10 and up” reader and parents.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Holes by Louis Sachar (Yearling Books, $7). Would it help to know that narrator Stanley Yelnats is sent to a juvenile detention center to dig holes in a dry lake bed? Or that the Yelnats family suffers from a long-standing curse? Probably not. Crazy, funny, dark humor.
Farewell, My Lovely by Raymond Chandler (Vintage Books, $12). After seeing so many movie variations and parodies of the hard-boiled detective story, you owe it to yourself to check out the original. Chandler’s sarcastic, wiseguy, internal-monologue detective, Philip Marlowe, is the original.
Run Silent, Run Deep by Edward L. Beach (out of print). W.W. II submarine warfare as told by a veteran submarine commander. Heroic suspense. Fascinating history in the offhand details. Don’t read this if you are afraid of confined underwater spaces, because with Cmdr. Beach—you are there.
Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett (Ace Books, $7). You will never read a wilder, funnier, wiser book about the apocalypse. Two great writers for the price of one, alternating passages of prose that will make you grab perfect strangers and read aloud to them.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
-
'Time-honored political tactic: Throw your wife under the bus'
Today's Newspapers A roundup of the headlines from the US front pages
By The Week Staff Published
-
Best non-alcoholic spirits for summer cocktails
The Week Recommends As hard liquor takes a backseat for many, the ingredients for the perfect mocktail are dryly delicious
By Ellie O'Mahoney, The Week UK Published
-
Will Biden's tariffs hinder China's EV dominance?
Today's Big Question Climate change goals and American jobs in tension
By Joel Mathis, The Week US Published
-
Cynthia Carr's 6 favorite books that explore social issues
Feature The former culture writer recommends works by Ling Ma, Olga Tokarczuk, and more
By The Week US Published
-
Tom Crewe's 6 favorite works that challenge societal norms
Feature The novelist recommends works by Margaret Oliphant, Patrick White, and more
By The Week US Published
-
Daniel Wallace's 5 favorite books that should not be forgotten
Feature The author recommends works by Italo Calvino, Evan S. Connell, and more
By The Week US Published
-
Sarah Langan recommends 6 women-centric horror books
Feature The horror novelist recommends works by Stephen King, Gillian Flynn, and more
By The Week US Published
-
Amanda Montell's 6 favorite books that will expand your knowledge
Feature The linguist recommends works by Mary Roach, Alice Carrière, and more
By The Week US Published
-
Rowan Beaird recommends 6 compelling books from the 1950s
Feature The author recommends works by Patricia Highsmith, Shirley Jackson, and more
By The Week US Published
-
Stephen Graham Jones' 6 scary books with deeper meanings
Feature The best-selling author recommends works by Stephen King, Sara Gran, and more
By The Week US Published
-
Keith O'Brien's 6 must-read books about significant moments in sports history
Feature The best-selling author recommends works by Laura Hillenbrand, Jonathan Eig and more
By The Week US Published