For Boys Only


For Boys Only: The Biggest, Baddest Book Ever is a non-fiction book by Marc Aronson and HP Newquist. The book has 100 short articles on subjects that appeal to boys, such as biting spiders, Easter Island, invisibility cloaks, and fake blood. It also includes a set of 39 codes for the reader to solve, which vary in difficulty.

Reception

A Booklist review stated that “In a tone both light and humorous, Newquist and Aronson aim to please by assembling a tantalizing assortment of codes, puzzles, best lists, brief history and science facts, instructions for fake blood and the ultimate Frisbee, and even advice about facing up to a shark ... this offers lots of good fun, and with so much chick lit available, it’s nice to see special attention being paid to boys. In fact, there’s nothing here to keep girls away but the title.”
A New York Times review says, "The overall problem with all this mountainous stuff, thunked helter-skelter into these boy books, whether Roarke’s Drift, Andrewsarchus Mongoliensis, the invention of the juice-box or strategies for winning at rock-paper-scissors: It all cooks up into a saltless stew that won't offend the palates of kids or chickens".
It was also reviewed in School Library Journal.