6 Action-Packed YA Novels With Positive Role Models for Boys
By Jonathon Reed
I recently got a text from a friend of mine. “Our librarian asked me if I knew what young boys were reading,” she said. “I told her you would have a suggestion.”
One of the things that I like most about young adult fantasy and science fiction is its capacity to use an action-driven narrative to present nuanced characterizations of young masculinity. An exciting and fast-moving plot can capture almost any boy’s imagination, but boys who are immersed in a good book are not just along for the ride. They are following and identifying with characters who offer opportunities to reflect on the characteristics, choices and actions that define boys and young men.
I’m particularly interested in authors who view their protagonists with depth, range and emotional complexity. The characters in these books are role models for boys who do not always make the right decisions but do always strive to treat others—and themselves—with courage, compassion and integrity.
Renegade X
By Chelsea M. Campbell
I tear myself away from him, stumbling backward into traffic, which is conveniently still stopped, with everyone gaping at me.
“Damien, wait! I—I didn’t know! You didn’t tell me you were afraid of heights!”
“I’m not afraid of anything!” It’s obviously a lie, but it sounds good to me.
16-year-old Damien Locke is 50% superhero, 50% supervillain and 100% kid with all the tough choices, uncertain relationships and self-discoveries that come with adolescence. I was caught off guard by Campbell’s exploration of how to do the right thing in the midst of social pressure, and the unforgettable tension of a teenage boy handling both a flying superpower and a fear of heights.
Nyxia
By Scott Reintgen
You lose yourself to anger and that’s it. It’s a lonely road, and a long one. But if you find a way to control your feelings, if you can take that anger and make sure you’re the boss of it, then you won’t be so bad.
Emmett Atwater is one of 10 teenagers recruited by the powerful Babel Corporation to begin the colonization process of a new planet. Sort of a mashup of Avatar, Hunger Games and Ender’s Game, it effectively and capably explores feelings of determination, loss, helplessness, anger and mercy. Remarkably diverse.
The Reckoners
By Brandon Sanderson
“I trust you with their lives,” Prof said, still writing, “and them with yours. Don’t betray that trust, son. Keep your impulses in check. Don’t just act because you can; act because it’s the right thing to do.”
18-year-old David Charleston is on an unrelenting quest for vengeance that was precipitated by his father’s death and catalyzed by his involvement with a cell of vigilante freedom fighters. Cinematic fight scenes and an appreciable attention to themes of loyalty, sacrifice and purpose. More supervillains.
In Other Lands
By Sarah Rees Brennan
Violence was like that, Elliot had noticed. One move toward it and all at once everything was allowed: anyone could be hurt, out of a mix of pride and anger and stupid disregard for the fact that you could be hurt as easily as someone else.
Elliot Schafer is an intelligent, insecure and unapologetically antagonistic pacifist who spends his adolescence challenging the eager violence and romantic tropes of typical fantasy fiction. Delves into patriarchy, the military-industrial complex, sexuality and emotional self-growth without losing the laugh-out-loud perspective of a gutsy kid on the run. One of my favourite narrators of all time.
Seafire
By Natalie C. Parker
Remember, when they call you girl, they’re trying to tell you something. They’re trying to tell you that they’re more than you, that the body you’re in makes you less. But you know, and I know, that you’re exactly what you need to be.
Daughter-turned-pirate Caledonia Styx captains an all-girl crew whose purpose is to evade a bloodthirsty warlord’s better-armed fleet until they’re ready to take it down entirely. I wish the book tagline wasn’t ‘sisterhood is survival’ because boys who judge a book by its cover might end up missing a striking story of togetherness in the face of adversity, and an intriguing cast of powerful female characters.
Six of Crows
By Leigh Bardugo
“You'll get what’s coming to you someday, Brekker.”
“I will,” said Kaz, “if there’s any justice in the world. And we all know how likely that is.”
Teenage criminal prodigy Kaz Brekker is the self-made lieutenant of one of Ketterdam’s ruthless gangs and the leader of a ragtag group of misfits on an impossible heist. Far be it from me to include assassins and thieves on a list of role models, but Bardugo’s impeccable character development illuminates the complex loyalty, resilience and hit-first mentality of young people immersed in violence.
ICYMI This Week
Mothers and Sons program helps women raise boys to become non-violent, respectful men (ABC News)
Written by Next Gen Men Program Manager Jonathon Reed as part of Learnings & Unlearnings, a bi-weekly blog reflecting on our experiences working with boys and young men. Subscribe to Future of Masculinity to get Learnings & Unlearnings delivered to your email inbox.