This year’s shortlisted contenders for the prestigious Carnegie Medal are mostly books about boys, which is making some people happy, for example the author Keith Gray:

There seem to be quite a lot of books out there for girls, about what it feels like to be a girl in modern times, whether it’s Jacqueline Wilson or pinker, fluffier books. Whereas a lot of books aimed at boys are about being a spy, fighting monsters, being a vampire. It’s great to have some which are about what it feels like to just be a boy… (from an article in The Guardian)

He’s possibly also a leetle happy his book’s one of those selected for the shortlist.

So if you’re after a classy book about boys you should have a look at one of these (which amount to a pretty good list, all things considered):

Frank Cottrell Boyce, Cosmic
Liam is big for an eleven year old, which can be a pain, but it’s great when you end up being the first eleven year old to ride in the Cosmic rollercoaster. Can he compete with adults for the chance to actually go into space?

Kevin Brooks, Black Rabbit Summer
When a girl goes missing, Pete wonders if one of his old childhood friends, the prime suspect, is actually capable of cold-blooded murder.

Eoin Colfer, Airman
Conor Broekhart was born flying and born to fly. When he becomes embroiled in a plot against the king and thrown into prison on an island he has to use his natural talents to escape.

Siobhan Dowd, Bog Child
It is Ireland in 1981. Fergus’ brother is in prison and on a hunger strike, his A-levels are approaching, he’s a courier for Sinn Fein, and he’s discovered the body of a murdered girl while digging in a peat bog.

Keith Gray, Ostrich Boys
The story of three friends who steal the ashes of their best friend, Ross, and set out on a journey to the town of Ross in Dumfries and Galloway (Scotland). Gah! A road trip book I missed! I’m incredibly miffed.

Patrick Ness, The Knife of Never Letting Go
Book one of the promised Chaos Walking trilogy. A science-fiction, dystopian action packed story. Imagine living on a planet where all the women have been killed and all men’s thoughts can be heard by everyone (known as the “Noise”). But then Todd finds a hole in the Noise and begins to discover that his world is not what he thought. He won the Guardian Children’s Fiction Prize for this last year, and his next book The Ask and the Answer, is in the library catalogue now.

Kate Thompson, Creature of the Night
Spooky. Bobby’s a bit of a nightmare (stealing cars, drinking etc) so his mother moves him from Dublin to a quaint little cottage in the country. Quaint little cottages can be scary places.