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

224 pages, Paperback

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 😕

[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!

[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

[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.

[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).

[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.

[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.

[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.

[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.

[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.

[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

[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!