Boys, 15: Weird and Funny

The first of this pair has been a bona fide teen hit for a couple of years, so I was beyond happy to see the followup this past fall.

Swim the Fly
by Don Calame
Candlewick Press
ISBN: 978 0 7636 4157 3
Audience: teens 13 and up, especially boys

Three friends have had a tradition of a summer goal every year, and this year is no exception. Being young teen boys, it should come as no surprise that the goal is to see a real live naked girl, in hopes that it will lead to some day touching one. The boys are also on the swim team, and the arrival of a new hot girl on the team spurs one of them to stupidly volunteer to swim the butterfly, which he really can’t swim as of yet.

Over the summer, the friends cook up schemes to reach their goal, goof off a lot, and cook up schemes to get Matt out of making an idiot of himself at swim meets. Oddly, though, he finds himself trying to learn how to do the fly, and wants to prove himself – not just for that hot girl, but for himself.

There is in this book a lot of talk of girls, sex, and masturbation, but, well… did I mention young teenage boys? The redeeming factors for parents who might be a little weirded out by that are the appreciation of a nicer girl in the end, learning about perseverance, and even better, a major sense of humour.

This first book is now in paperback, too.

Beat the Band
by Don Calame
ISBN: 978 0 7636 4633 2

The school year is starting, and out of the gate, Coop’s dreams of making actual contact with girl flesh may be sunk before he starts when he gets paired for a semester-long project with the school pariah, Hot Dog Helen. His only hope? <s>Force</s> Convince his friends to join the battle of the bands and actually learn to play. Nothing is cooler than a rock star, right?

Things are not going so well with Helen, though, as Coop is at first more concerned about damage control for his reputation than with her feelings, and the band is not going as well as he hoped, either. It’s when he starts to see Helen as a person that things start to come together – and the boys discover that she is exactly what the band needs.

No spoilers here, but the ending sees Coop stand up for something without being unrealistic in how high these boys can climb. Again, plenty of talk about girls and fantasizing about them, and yes, Coop learns a little something and becomes a better person, but the real prize is that this book is hilarious. One interesting twist on this sequel to Swim The Fly is that while it stars the same three boys, the perspective has changed, and after hearing about the summer from Matt’s perspective, Coop tells this story. now I can’t wait for book three, which I’m guessing we’ll see through Sean’s eyes.