The Secret Lives of Boys: Inside the Raw Emotional World of Male Teens

by Malina Saval

Teenage boys have come a long way since the staid 1980s when they were all lumped into the Breakfast Club categories of Brains, Druggies, and Jocks. Crisscrossing the country -- meeting with boys from different cultures, and socioeconomic backgrounds -- journalist Malina Saval introduces readers to the next generation of male teens by creating new archetypes and redrawing the ever-expanding social map. The Secret Lives of Boys offers an uncensored look into boyhood that reveals the spine-tingling confessions, heartrending sadness and isolation, unbridled optimism, and seemingly boundless resilience of male teens today. Saval asks the pertinent Who are these boys? What do they think of themselves? A compelling and candid look at male adolescence in the twenty-first century, The Secret Lives of Boys uncovers what our young people want you to know.

272 pages, Paperback

First published March 20, 2009

Reviews

[Justin Wu · Rating 4 out of 5]

10 teenagers. 10 distinctly different lifestyles and personalities. Here you meet boys who are proud of being different, or boys who are afraid of showing their true self. It's a very interesting read as people generally tend to focus more on adolescent girls more than boys. What the book lacks is probably some concrete analysis of the 'despair' felt by these boys. Overall, easy read.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book, very interesting insights.

[Rosa · Rating 2 out of 5]

Definitely written by a journalist. Fine, but lacking in depth or analysis.

[Becky · Rating 4 out of 5]

True stories of 10 very different high school boys. Maybe they aren't so bad after all! :)