Boyhood Resurrected: Igniting a Revival of Daring and Heroic Boys

by Rebekah Lovell, John Lovell (Foreword)

Rescued boys grow into brave men. We must resurrect the boyhoods of old to allow our sons to reach their full potential and fulfill God’s calling on their lives.

Boyhood Resurrected is a passionate call to revive the noble, rough-and-tumble days of forts, dragons, and skinned knees. Boys aren’t broken—they’re wired for conquest and built to become protectors and providers. Crafted from a mother’s decade of raising two sons, this book champions untamed masculinity and rejects the push to make boys docile.
Readers Gain confidence to trust family over “experts” who miss boys’ true hearts.Embrace their sons’ wild energy with adventures, risks, and building backyard kingdoms.Forge heroes through challenges, service, and stories that build Spartan-like strength.Discover the radical power of a strong family—reading and living together—to shape a boy’s future.Join Rebekah Lovell in resurrecting the bold, free boyhoods of old, one daring adventure at a time.

Genres: Parenting, Nonfiction

205 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 16, 2025

Reviews

[Amanda · Rating 2 out of 5]

Homeschooling manifesto/diatribe against public schools or book about raising strong boys?

Some great homeschooling ideas for younger boys in particular, but overall missed the mark for me. Homeschooling is a great option for a lot of people for many reasons, but it also has its challenges. This book idealizes homeschooling while demonizing public school, and it's never that simple. Families must do their best before God in deciding how to educate their kids, and then entrust them to the shaping hands of the Potter.

I am hopeful to read this author's opinion in say, ten more years of life, parenting, and schooling to see fruit of experience and grace.

Some editing would also be helpful as the author repeats herself and makes generalizations that sound like they come more from echo chambers than actual life experiences.

[Libby Valerio · Rating 2 out of 5]

I appreciate her heart for boys and how she addresses certain topics like outdoor play, reading stories of heroic men, and raising our boys to be providers, protectors, leaders and lovers. While I liked some parts of this book, most of her points seemed heavy handed and even a bit harsh in how she communicated 😕

[Ethan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Although I agree with pretty much everything the author passionately says, I felt like there was some bias and overstatement here.

[Kelsey Mangeni (kman.reads) · Rating 3 out of 5]

I heard of this book from an interview with the author on the 1000 Hours Outside podcast and purchased it because I really enjoyed the interview! But I was very surprised by a lot of the content in this book. This author is so openly anti-feminism, anti-structured school system, and I'm pretty openminded, but there were many things she wrote that were quite shocking to me. She is not afraid to offend anyone, so if you share her beliefs about raising your sons, you might really enjoy this one, but most of it was just not for me.

*2.5 stars rounded up

[Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Boyhood Resurrected” by Rebecca Lovell was a transformative read that I wholeheartedly loved, and it gave me a deep appreciation for the boyhood stage my sons are currently experiencing. As a self-described girly girl, reading this book helped to open my eyes even more to the world of BOYS and emphasized that boyhood isn’t just about noise and wild energy—it’s a beautiful, vital stage that deserves celebration and support, not correction or repression.

She champions a vision where boys are encouraged to be daring, heroic, and adventurous, painting boyhood as a gift to nurture, not a problem to fix.

Reading it helped me understand my boys in a way that shifted my perspective from simply managing them to truly advocating for their hearts. Recommending to ALL the BoyMoms 💛 #LongLiveBoyhood

[Gaby Pierson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Okay, this book was wonderful! I discovered this book and author at the Wild + Free conference a few weeks back and was initially hesitant as most parenting books or “here’s how to give your boy/girl their identity back” kinda thing hasn’t ever been my jam. However, the second half of this book was remarkable! I don’t think there’s a single page I didn’t highlight her words throughout. This book approaches fostering boyhood in a Biblical sense, and is an incredible reminder of the value and necessity of whole-family and God-centered homeschooling. There is great encouragement for fathers of boys throughout and ways as moms we can encourage and guide our husbands to become more involved if they are not in raising our boys. Reading this through the lens’s of only having one boy and a gaggle of girls I can see clearly the difference in the needs and investment levels in their lives. This was a good, good, good read!!!!! I think it would be great for any mom to read!

[Kellee Schmidt · Rating 4 out of 5]

For the most part I really enjoyed this book - it's not a lot of new concepts for me personally. I listen to Rebekah and John often and they speak boldly about this topic for which I am grateful because I do agree with a lot of what they say.

I would give it 3.5 stars if I could. I feel there was a bit of a lack of understanding and empathy towards people who may not be able to do exactly what was described in the book. This was very much a book about resurrecting boyhood through homeschooling and while I myself homeschool, I believe there are a lot of situations in which this is not possible or may be very difficult. I think the one line about sending your boy to daycare where he is not loved was a bit of a dagger and could be very bold and hurtful to someone who very much loves their child but may not have another path during this season of life.

I wish there were more tips on how to resurrect boyhood in many different walks of life and maybe not just geared towards homeschooling. As someone who deeply values what homeschooling is doing for our family I think more people who aren't homeschooling need to read this and understand how they can change the trajectory of their boys lives without feeling guilty they may not be able to homeschool. But once people understand and have the knowledge it's ultimately on them if they implement the changes. Being a parent vs a friend.

I admire Rebekah and John and appreciate that they are standing up for boys and speaking about what's normal for boyhood. And as a fun sidenote, while it's true my little girl can already sit still longer than her brother, she can certainly keep up with him on his energy levels too 🤪😂. She doesn't have a choice haha so there are concepts that apply to girls too (outside time, reading, gross motor skills, make believe etc).

[Rachel Davis · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had such high expectations for this book! My husband is a Warrior Poet and we are huge fans of the Lovells. The beginning of this book was somewhat discouraging and a let down. Polarizing is how I would describe it. My take was that if you do life any way other than the one described…. you have failed your sons.

The second half was way better than the first half in my opinion. The author spoke more from grace and descriptive more than prescriptive. There’s more hope for the homeschool mom (even if she does it differently than the author). My favorite chapters were the last 3 or 4 and the book list at the back is invaluable! I bought several for my boys for Christmas.

If the beginning of this book has you discouraged… persevere!

[Virginia Foster · Rating 2 out of 5]

While I am all for a pro-masculine positive boy book, I did feel like this book had an almost condescending tone toward anyone or anything that was opposite the author’s opinion. Nearly every chapter had good points but strong opinions. Would have loved it more if there had been a little more grace toward other ways of raising boys.

[Matthew Pleger · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m a nearly 32 year old man with a 9 month old son who does not like what he sees society doing to young men and boys and who has been looking for answers to his own lack of fulfillment as of late. I read this hoping to learn how to keep my son from some of the mental, physical, and spiritual struggles I’ve dealt with as of late. Many concepts in this book apply to anyone with that Y chromosome denoting male. In the recent years a love for reading and the outdoors and a hatred of couch vegetation with television has helped bring my imagination and ability to dream back.

The phrase “you’re mature for age” kills me when spoken to children. A 20 or 25 year old man should hear that and be proud to be considered wise beyond his years but a child should not be concerned with maturity. Our society has pushed children to grow old far too soon, it is happening to boys and girls, and it hurts to see.

While you may not use all the suggestions offered in this book there are a few that I believe every parent of boys can apply. Your son learns from you, spend more time with him. Let him run, shout, fight, get dirty, explore, and cause havoc (where appropriate). Don’t stifle his natural curiosities and let his imagination carry him on wild adventures. READ TO HIM! READ WITH HIM! Encourage a love for reading and learning. Let him grow and learn at his own rate. I don’t know where the standards and the “your child is beyond” nonsense came from but it feels like a scare tactic I don’t appreciate. If you spend your whole life learning, why does so much need crammed in 18 years? So much of what is taught in schools isn’t used by the majority of people but we had to learn it or risk “falling behind”. I digress. Don’t let anyone dictate to you what is best for your son, he is your blessing/gift from God to steward. Ultimately he belongs to God, it’s your job to raise him with that in mind. He is on loan from God and God has plans for him, prepare him to be used by his Creator. Above all, love him in the example Christ provided. I’m sure I’ve forgotten something, this book is full of ripe fruit to be picked and enjoyed.

I’m encouraging my wife to read this as we think through future decisions to made with how we raise our son. Lord help us do it well and in a way that honors You.

[Rebekah Snyder · Rating 1 out of 5]

I’ll sum this up so you don’t have to read it: Homeschool your kids. Public school is where manhood goes to die, so homeschool your kids. Oh, and did I mention you should homeschool your kids?

Even as someone who distrusts the public school system and plans to homeschool my children, I was annoyed with the way the author carried on (for 100 pages!) about the virtues of homeschooling, painting it as the only option even as she claimed to understand not everyone is called to homeschool. (If not everyone is called to homeschool, where are the resources/suggestions for resurrecting boyhood in those boys?)

Another thing I struggled with in this book is that it isn’t really as gendered as the author believes it is. I find this is a common occurrence is mothers who are the parent of only one gender—they make generalizations about things their child does/needs, assuming it’s gender specific, but it’s really something all children do/need. The boy mom belief that girls are basically born domesticated never fails to amuse me because my boy happens to be easier to manage than either of his sisters.

Lovell criticizes the public school system for turning boys into girls when what she really means by this is that the public school system creates obedient little sheep who can’t think for themselves. I guess she thinks that’s okay for my daughters? Maybe she thinks one of her big, strong boys will be able to rescue one of these sheepish schoolgirls and teach them how to think, but… I know enough people trying to find spouses in this current culture and it’s rough out there.

Ultimately, I would be really interested to read a book about raising boys vs raising girls by someone who has raised both. It’s easy to say, “Your boys need *this* so get out there and do it” when you only have boys, but how do I focus on encouraging the gendered strengths of my child if he remains my only son and his playmates smother him in estrogen all day long? And what truly is gender differences that should be cultivated vs cultural expectations that we’ve created over decades that may or may not serve our children anymore?

I think this subject is fascinating to explore, but I don’t believe this book does it well.

[Kayla · Rating 4 out of 5]

I feel like I'm a rare example where I have two men in my life that are the manly men she is trying to raise: my father and my husband. I agree wholeheartedly with everything she said regarding boys, how they learn differently, and should be expected to be totally different than girls (obviously). Unfortunately, our culture really does want to kill the manly man. I totally appreciate this book and what it is trying to encourage.

I rated it 4 stars because there were certain points I felt like would have been more useful if she would have expanded on it. For example, she mentioned one of her boys was head strong and she struggled during a certain season with him. What did she do with him? What worked? What didn't? I understand she may be trying to protect her sons' privacy, but real life examples and real life stories would have been very helpful.

[Chelsey Roush · Rating 5 out of 5]

This took me a little more time then my usual reads, but when I’m reading a book that I feel is more of an “ investment” , for lack of better words, I try to slow down.

I have 2 boys 9&11 and am always looking for books of encouragement , ideas, and support in raising them in the world we are today. This touched on so many points, gave me so may ideas, and encouraged me not only in parenting these boys, but in our homeschool as well. The confidence in Rebekah’s voice on the pages, felt like she was giving me a kid in the butt , a “ you can do this, trust in this process!” It’s definitely one I will be recommending to all my boy mamas.

[Rachelle Cobb · Rating 3 out of 5]

I recently attended a homeschooling convention and really enjoyed listening to Rebekah Lovell (who I hadn't heard of before) speak about raising strong sons. So I bought her book and finished it one weekend. She's incredibly passionate about this subject and that shines through her writing. I also think this is a worthy, timely topic and one that I'll be thinking more about as my son grows. I do wish this book had received a little more editing, and it's strongly aimed at parents considering education methods. Other parents may get more out of Wild Things or Raising Emotionally Strong Sons by David Thomas, but I appreciated Rebekah Lovell's look at the data and commitment to boyhood!

[Ash Anderson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was okay. I appreciate a lot of the observations and recommendations in the book, but the two things that really landed it at I think a solid 3.5 for me were: 1) her kids are still young and while what she’s saying seems to make sense it’s hard to really take it to heart when her children aren’t even teenagers yet and there weren’t examples or discussions of other families who raised competent, healthy, thriving adults using these ideas, and 2) it started feeling really repetitive and almost like it should have been a long blog post instead of a full book.
I think I would probably recommend giving it a read, but it’s not in my top ten list or anything.

[Iris · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a mom of 3 boys, I loved reading this book. I've read a couple of books on raising boys, and I anticipated this book to be somewhat similar, but it goes far beyond "allow boys to be wild". So, it's not quite what I expected, but I mean it in a good way. It's eye-opening and tremendously helpful for me, wanting to raise my boys into good men. I also really appreciated her bold arguments and opinions.

[Andrea Langlois · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rebekah, I wish that you had another perspective to draw from. Although I love your overall message, we don’t all have the same circumstance that you have. There are too many nuances in life and personality types that this very narrow approach doesn’t work for everyone, and that’s ok…that’s the beauty of homeschooling. But if you can’t homeschool, that ok too…we can still have godly, strong men. There isn’t one way to raise strong men but I’m glad this is working for you.

[Kristin Davis · Rating 1 out of 5]

Written by a Beta Soy boys wifey

Wow. No articulation, and the "stories" about how boys feel? Are you kidding? What were you thinking when writing this mess?? You're shoveling a masochistic narrative that will be detrimental to everyone who reads this drivel. I wish you could post no stars.

Do not read this book.

[Jordan Griffin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good for raising boys especially in this modern age. Didn't give it a full 5 because it reads like a blog (which is fine), but all the content in it is a 5. Harps on public school quite a bit in the beginning, which I agree with all her points, but it did feel as if she was yelling at me haha.

[Ella Wilken · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow, so good and relatable! The forward was amazing, too! I love the idea of reclaiming traditional boyhood (and manhood). I don't have any sons yet, but I've already seen a lot of this play out for my younger brother. Very thought-provoking and helpful.

[Bree · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quick, informative, and lots of great thinking points! Does seem to be particularly biased in most ways that is very normal for the wild & free type people, but I see the points she’s trying to make.

[Morgan · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent encouragement for a mom of boys! It challenges us to do better with raising our sons. For someone who only grew up with sisters, it was an insightful read. I will definitely revisit it as my sons grow.

[Richard Evans · Rating 5 out of 5]

Let them be wild

It is a great read to justify homeschooling your children, especially the boys in our world. They are adhd labeled as they should just be labeled boys finding their courage and fighting for a better world.

[Lanelle D. Stumf · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great Book!! even from. public School teacher

As I started the book I became nervous about the content. I am a public school teacher. The more I listened the more I Agreed with everything Rebekah statements. We need to rethink how we teach boys. Thank you for your writing!!

[Caitlin Giles]

Mixed feelings on this one. I think I need to ruminate a little longer before giving a review.

[Nikki Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

Everything I feel about boyhood put in a book! I loved this book so much and it was super encouraging and challenging!

[R Wayne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredible book bringing forward the challenge of raising boys in an increasingly feminine world. Offering hope and encouragement and real examples for boys as they grow into men.

[Amber Mangum · Rating 5 out of 5]

10000% recommend to anyone with a boy!

[Brianna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent and very inspiring!

[Jordan Dahl · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great for raising boys