Books About Boys
The Haverford School's Severinghaus Library curates an extensive collection of resources relating to educating boys. The collection offers the latest in research and reflects the current thinking about boys and their lives -- their development, their learning, and their experiences as they navigate towards adulthood.
Books by subject
- Educating & Raising Boys
- Gender Differences
- Masculinity
- Men of Color & Learning
- Bullying & Hazing
- Sexual Identity
Educating & Raising Boys
The Courage to Raise Good Men
Olga Silverstein and Beth Rashbaum
A Fine Young Man: What Parents, Mentors, and Educators Can Do to Shape Adolescent Boys into Exceptional Men
Michael Gurian
Speaking of Boys: Answers to the Most-Asked Questions About Raising Sons
Michael Thompson
Reaching Up For Manhood: Transforming The Lives Of Boys In America
Geoffrey Canada. Beacon Press, 1999.
Smart Boys: Talent, Manhood, & The Search for Meaning
Barbara A. Kerr, Ph.D. and Sanford J. Cohn, Ph.D.
Boy Oh Boy: How To Raise and Educate Boys
Tim Hawkes
Real Boys : Rescuing Our Sons from the Myths of Boyhood
William Pollack, Ph.D.
200 Ways to Raise a Boy's Emotional Intelligence: An Indispensible Guide for Parents, Teachers & Other Concerned Caregivers
Will Glennon, Jeanne Elium, and Don Elium
Gender Differences
The Essential Difference: The Truth About the Male & Female Brain
Simon Baron-Cohen
Boys and Girls Learn Differently: A Guide for Teachers and Parents
Michael Gurian, Patricia Henley, Terry Trueman
Why Gender Matters: What Parents and Teachers Need To Know About the Emerging Science of Sex Differences
Leonard Sax
Sex on the Brain: The Biological Differences Between Men and Women
Deborah Blum
Masculinity
Christopher P. Mason
In a Time of Fallen Heroes: The Re-Creation of Masculinity
R. William Betcher
Boys Will Be Men: Masculinity in Troubled Times
Richard Hawley
The Purpose of Boys: Helping Our Sons Find Meaning, Significance, and Direction in their Lives
Michael Gurian
Men of Color & Learning
Raymond A. Winbush
Understanding Diversity Through Novels and Picture Books
Liz Knowles & M. Smith
The Children Are Watching: How the Media Teach about Diversity
Carlos E. Cortes
Boys Into Men: Raising Our African American Teenage Sons
Nancy Boyd-Franklin
Beating the Odds: Raising Academically Successful African American Males
Freeman A. Hrabowski III, Kenneth I. Maton, & Geoffrey L. Greif
40 Ways to Raise a Nonracist Child
Barbara Mathias & Mary Ann French
Bullying & Hazing
M. Thompson & G.C. O’Neil
Bully-Proofing Children: A Practical, Hands-On Guide to Stop Bullying
Joanne Scaglione & Arrica Rose
Lost Boys: Who Our Sons Turn Violent and How We Can Save Them
James Garbarin, Ph.D.
Challenging Macho Values
Jonathan Salisbury
Among the Thugs: The Experience, and the Seduction, Of Crowd Violence
Bill Buford
Sexual Identity
Kelly Huegel
What If Someone I Know is Gay? Answers to Questions about Gay and Lesbian People
Eric Marcus
Dramatic Changes: Talking About Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity with High School Students Through Drama
Paula Ressler
Lower School titles:
And Tango Makes ThreeThe Family Book
Horace and Morris but Mostly Dolores
It's OK to be Different
William's Doll
Featured Books

Deep Secrets by Niobe Way was the 2012 summer reading for faculty and staff. Professor Way studied boys' friendships in the context of the crisis of connection men face in our society. The study uncovers the natural empathy and emotional depth of boys and explores the importance of friendships in the development of boys. Way's work is valuable in its review of the literature on boys and in its efforts to contest gender stereotypes.

Two kids with the same name, living in the same city. One grew up to be a Rhodes Scholar, decorated combat veteran, White House Fellow, and business leader. The other is serving a life sentence in prison for felony murder. A story told in alternating dramatic narratives that take readers from heart-wrenching losses to moments of surprising redemption, The Other Wes Moore tells the story of a generation of boys trying to find their way in a challenging and at times, hostile world. Author Wes Moore was the featured guest for the 2013-14 Joseph T. Cox Leadership Series.