Pretty Cool for a While

Jon Scieszka's memoir Knucklehead: Tall Tales and Mostly True Stories of Growing Up Scieszka appears to have been designed from the start for reluctant male readers.

The text is written in short snatches, with lots of photographs and other illustrations. There's lots of action, and generous helpings of a certain kind of humor.

What kind? Well, consider this brief passage from pages 54-55:

Then we would swing them around to attack each other.

And that looked pretty cool for a while.

But eventually it just wasn't cool enough.

Which is why we needed to light them on fire.

You might read that extract and think, "What's 'them'? Who's 'we'? Why are they setting anything on fire?" If so, this book isn't for you.

On the other hand, if you think, "I don't care what they're setting on fire or who they are, I just wish I'd be there to see it!" then you're the right audience for Knucklehead.

Though I must say I can't completely recommend a book for this audience that spells Moe Howard's name wrong.