My Dad's a Punk: 12 Stories About Boys and Their Fathers

by Tony Bradman

This superb collection of original stories by twelve contemporary male writersexplores the relationship between fathers and sons with thoughtfulness, comedy, and wisdom. There are stories about a boy who wants a different father and others with fathers who are demanding, loving, and absent. There is even a digital father from the future. This unique collection will give boys food for thought on a subject that is close to home.

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction

271 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2006

About the author

TONY BRADMAN graduated from Cambridge University and worked in journalism for many years as an editor and reviewer. Now a full-time author, he has produced several successful anthologies for young readers for Random House Children's Books, including three focusing exclusively on football: the FOOTBALL FEVER titles.

Reviews

[Jimmyly Cricket · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not much some are entertaining and some has a depressing twist to it

[John Bibera · Rating 2 out of 5]

1) What dates did you read the novel? November 2014 January 2015
2) What do you believe the theme of the novel is and why is it important? It’s a science fiction, a few sports, and mystery.
3) Give me a quote from the novel and the significance of the quote.
“I was doomed to have a stepfather with the intelligence of a fruit roll-up” shows how educated his father is and you can tell a lot by this quote on what the book is about if you use your imagination.
4) Would you recommend the novel to others? If so, why and to whom? If not, why didn’t you enjoy it? No, I wouldn’t recommend this book. I didn’t enjoy it because I expected the book to be completely entertaining but there were times when I wish I was already finish reading the book.

[Carrie Rolph · Rating 2 out of 5]

Your basic collection of short stories about fathers and sons, which means most of them were about sons who want to spend more time with their fathers, and they had a nice collection of quirky dads, but really, only a couple good stories. The best one was set in the future, where the son planted an illegal device in his dad's jacket so he'd be stopped a security checkpoint and sent back, and they'd be able to spend more time together. Only it turns out they don't send people back from the checkpoints.

[Quang · Rating 4 out of 5]

So far, I think this is the only the book that I read WITH my dad, since after i let him read a few pages of the book, he decided to read it with me, but at the end, I end up finishing the book and he keeps on reading part of it like 10 times, since he think the author of that short story is a kid just like me, living the same life, have the same kinds of parents (strict mom, chill dad). Me and my dad really had fun when we talked about this book!

[Megan Anderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

A really great little collection of short stories for boys. Some of the stories were a little "meh...," but most of them were brilliant. My favorite was "Workhunter," though only by a little since the rest were great. Highly recommended not only for boys, but for reluctant readers because of the length.

5/5 on here, 10/10 for myself

[Lucian Arana · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book My Dads A Punk is a really great book. This is because it has many great stories some better than others. My favorite one is
My Dads a Punk. It is about a boy who gets tired of his rockstar Dad. Then he realizes how much he loves his Dad and he wants him back.

[Matt Blair · Rating 4 out of 5]

A terrific collection of short fiction on the theme of "dads as viewed by sons". Heavy at times, laugh-out-loud at others, and humbling/inspiring throughout. Some stories are inevitably stronger than others, but there's a lot for every son to empathize with, and every father to learn from.

[Nancy · Rating 3 out of 5]

short stories about relationships between sons and dads...good recommendation for teen boys.

[Andy Song · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think that My Dad's a Punk is a great book about teens with there dads and having fun at the end of the story when the teens started to know how their dad's can be cool in any way.

[SaintAnn's]

Joseph Wallace is a contributor.