(Michael Gurian) convincingly illustrates…the peculiar pain and potential loneliness of being a boy in America today. —Time Magazine
Latah Books is proud to announce the publication of The Stone Boys by Michael Gurian, New York Times bestselling author of The Wonder of Boys. We hope you will use it in your classrooms and homes as a way of engaging both boys and girls in conversations about trauma, bullying, and American boyhood.
The story: Ben Brickman, 17, and Dave McConnell, 16, become friends and gradually learn of each other’s hidden sexual abuse trauma. The boys decide to confront their demons by abducting a dangerous high school bully, but their plan for revenge takes a shocking turn, leaving the boys to grapple with good and evil and what it means to be a man.
Drawn in part from the Gurian’s personal experience as a sexual abuse survivor, The Stone Boys is both a dramatic page-turner and a profoundly emotional read—not to mention timely as our society contends with #MeToo, bullying and trauma, and a crisis of childhood sexual abuse.
In one scene, Ben says,“You know why we can’t tell other people about these things? Because people who haven’t been there, they can’t understand.” Courageous and the first of its kind, The Stone Boys is intended to help readers understand. This work of fiction contains sensitive material. Parental guidance recommended.
Michael Gurian is widely considered one of America’s leading advocates for boys. He has briefed members of the 114th Congress on the boy crisis in America, provided information on boys’ educational needs to two White Houses, and written thirty-two books, including two previous novels and the bestselling The Wonder of Boys, The Minds of Boys and Saving Our Sons. The Stone Boys, appropriate for high school and adult readers, is his first young adult novel. Find out more about the author at www.michaelgurian.com
Schools and Teachers can bulk order the novel for their classrooms by emailing logan@latahbooks.com
Teens, Parents, Counselors, Clergy and Other Readers can order the book on www.latahbooks.com, amazon.com, or at their local bookstore
Words of Praise for The Stone Boys:
“The Stone Boys is a uniquely powerful novel by one of America’s leading experts on boys. Protagonist Ben Brickman’s journey to deal with his deepest emotions is relentlessly and authentically written…unforgettable.”
– Terry Trueman, Printz Honor Author of Stuck in Neutral
“The Stone Boys makes it safe for boys to deal with experiences and topics not usually verbalized. This book will be part of their shaping journey to becoming good men.”
– Gregory Jantz, Ph.D., founder of The Center, A Place of Hope and author of Healing the Scars of Emotional Abuse
“(In The Stone Boys), Gurian incorporates autobiographical elements into a story built not around easy answers but anguished inner arguments . . . of use for discussing the cycle of abuse.”
– Kirkus Reviews
“The Stone Boys dives deep into the trauma of bullying and abuse and comes out just as our culture is taking the lid off the pain too many have buried for too long. Compelling and profound.”
– Pastor Tim Wright, Community of Grace Lutheran Church