Handbook for Boys

Ages 13 And Up, Grades 8 And Up

Kevin and Jimmy narrowly avoid juvenile detention; instead, they end up working for Duke in his Harlem barbershop, where it seems like everyone has a story to tell them and a philosophy to share. A reissue of the novel by award-winning author Walter Dean Myers, now with striking updated cover art!

Jimmy and Kevin could use a guide to life. When each of the boys gets in the kind of trouble that almost lands them in juvenile detention, their neighbor Duke steps in and offers them jobs in his Harlem barbershop.The regulars at the barbershop seriously get on Jimmy’s nerves. Duke, Cap, and Mister M all seem determined to give the two boys a hard time. Still, it seems like everyone who walks through the door and sits in Duke’s chair has a story and a philosophy—whether they know it or not—and Jimmy is listening.It drives Jimmy nuts when the adults in his life assume he doesn’t know anything—and he’s got a lot of anger to go around. But it might turn out that listening to the conversations in Duke’s shop could be the education on living that Jimmy needs.

About the Author

Walter Dean Myers was the New York Times bestselling author of Monster, the winner of the first Michael L. Printz Award; a National Ambassador for Young People's Literature; and an inaugural NYC Literary Honoree. Myers was recognized by every single major award in the field of children's literature. He was the author of two Newbery Honor Books and five Coretta Scott King Book Award winners. He was the recipient of the Margaret A. Edwards Award for lifetime achievement in writing for young adults and a three-time National Book Award finalist as well as the first ever recipient of the Coretta Scott King–Virginia Hamilton Award for Lifetime Achievement.