We’ve become much too litigious.
P.S. Seeing Eye® dog, registered trademark; guide dog, generic term.
P.P.S. I’ve actually read that novel.
Frank Buck’s “Bring 'em Back Alive” should be on that list.
Blood, guts and class heroes were the criteria, eh? And yet, no Watership Down? Or Taran Wanderer or other books from The Prydain Chronicles by Lloyd Alexander? Whatever.
And let’s not forget The Princess Bride (the “good stuff” version of course). As the grandpa says in the movie version, Are you kidding? Fencing, fighting, torture, revenge, giants, monsters, chases, escapes, true love, miracles….
I nominate My Side of the Mountain
I give the list props for including a Calvin & Hobbes book.
Brian
Seconded (thirded?) Considering there’s a lot of new books on the list, I’d add The Lightning Thief, by Rick Riordan, if not the entire Percy Jackson series.
Seeing all the Neil Gaiman on the list made me smile, but I would have liked to see some E. B. White. “Charlotte’s Web”, “The Trumpet of the Swan”, and “Stuart Little” are all great books for kids that age.
Jack London is a glaring omission to me.
I would choose Danny, Champion of the World over the other Dahl book which I’ve never heard of. Matildaand The BFG are outstanding. I would think a young boy could relate to the female protagonists in those books. I know I did.
I don’t how much more I can contribute to the list because I started reading Harlan Ellison and Isaac Asimov in sixth grade and went from there. Not exactly stuff that appeals to a broad audience.
Same here, but I couldn’t have remembered the title for anything.
Do they not have Hot Rods in the UK?
There should be about five Heinlein Juveniles on there, for sure. I’d also add My Side of the Mountain and The Mad Scientist’s Club. Those were my favorite books as a boy.
Did I mention the Heinlein Juveniles? Put them ALL there. In fact, put them there twice, because the boys will want to re-read them.
Other omissions:
Where the Red Fern Grows - Wilson Rawls
The War of the Worlds - H.G. Wells
The Time Machine - H.G. Wells
Earth Abides - George R. Stewart
Something from Kurt Vonnegut.
The Red Pony - John Steinbeck (Sure, technically it’s a short story, but it’s a 100-page short story, and is available as a stand-alone papaerback.)
To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
The Outsiders - S.E. Hinton
The fact that this seems to be a British list explains a lot of the omissions. (But not H.G.Wells!)
No Dickens??? WTH?? A Brit list and they don’t list Dickens??? The article blithely says, “The list contains no Dickens…” It should say, “The list contains no Dickens, and should therefore be burnt, irradiated, buried under a mountain, and forgotten.”
They’ve got some Twain, but one of my favorites as a boy was A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court. Yeah, I know the critics don’t like it. Well, screw 'em. I still like it.
1point618: Heart of Darkness? Really? I’m 56 years old with an English minor, and a lifetime of reading behind me, and I find that thing only slightly less impenetrable than Finnegan’s Wake.
Its a list for teenage boys, yet a Captain Underpants title is on there. Those are great when you are six. (They are poop humor, so probably always funny, however).
Definitely Pat McManus, & not only for boys. Try reading one of his crazy Eddy Muldoon stories quietly, while lying in bed next to your sleeping dear heart. Can’t be done. You’ll explode.
I’d like to add The Tripod books by John Christopher.