Boys read too is a blog about books for boys. We hear time and time again that boys are reluctant readers and if we as a society, and as parents and teachers become more aware of this issue, and are armed with quality books that boys will really enjoy, we may be able to turn those reluctant readers into avid ones.
This blog will include news about readership, book reviews and I encourage, whole-heartedly, for you to share your experiences with boys reading (or as a boy reading).
Boys Read Too! (a blog of books for boys) 
A Yellow Watermelon is a book set in the deep South in the summer of 1948 and examines the relationships of a 12-year old white boy strikes up with a black sawmill worker and a young black boy. A secret involving his new friends and “the richest, meanest man in town” set the stage for a dramatic conflict in a racially segregated community still reeling from the effects of the Great Depression.
Kirkus Reviews gave the book an excellent review in their DEC 1 issue, and The Horn Book Guide plans a review in their spring issue.
Please find the Kirkus review and author blurbs pasted in below my signature.
Your time and consideration in posting shall be greatly appreciated.
Best regards,
Ted M. Dunagan
NewSouth NewSouth Books • Junebug Books • Court Street Press
Praise for A Yellow Watermelon by Ted Dunagan
Kirkus Reviews
Twelve-year-old Ted Dillon is an innocent white boy in rural Alabama in 1948, but his
new friendships with a black boy named Poudlum Robinson and an escaped black
convict named Jake introduce him to a world where greed and racism intersect.
Ted “reverse integrates” the cotton field so he can work next to Poudlum, and he finds
a way to rob evil Old Man Cliff Creel in order to finance Jake’s passage to California
and pay off the Robinsons’ delinquent property taxes. He likes this new role of latterday
Robin Hood, once Jake explains to him who Robin Hood was. It’s a fine, well-told
tale of friendship between two smart, likable boys—one white, one black. In a scene
akin to Deborah Wiles’s Freedom Summer (2001), anticipating the Civil Rights
movement, Ted tells Poudlum, “And someday you gonna be able to walk in that drug
store, sit down and have yourself some ice cream. You know what else, one day we’ll
be able to go to school together, too.”
A memorable, generous-hearted tale.
Billy Moore, author of Little Brother Real Snake and Cracker’s Mule
Ted Dillon’s discovery of the racial double standards of South Alabama during the 1940s
and the way he makes tough choices to deal with it reminds me of To Kill a
Mockingbird and Huckleberry Finn. Like these two classics, A Yellow Watermelon is a
great read with memorable characters that also tells volumes about the small town
South of the past.
Adrian Fogelin, author of Crossing Jordan
Readers of A Yellow Watermelon will be steeped in the rich and contradictory world that
was south of the 1940s. Twelve-year-old Ted Dillon, who has never seen more of the
world than the scant few miles around his home, experiences local pleasures like
plunging his feet in the icy waters of Mill Creek, the rub of a handful of nickels in his
pocket, and Mama’s home cooking. But he also carries the fear that his father will soon
lose his job at the mill, along with the growing realization that for the black members of
his community there is little hope and no equality. With deft and precise language Ted
Dunagan tells a story that is both beautifully wrought and unstinting in its portrayal of
all that was good and bad in Dixie.
Anne Chancey Dalton, author of Massacre Island and Dream Ghost
Suspense and danger scar the peaceful landscape of rural Alabama as we view it
through Ted’s twelve-year-old eyes. In 1948, life should be simple and easy-going, but
greed and racial unfairness threaten to destroy his community. A Yellow Watermelon is a
touching story. It portrays ordinary individuals who take extraordinary measures to
battle evil. Maybe it will also help young adults identify dangerous Mr. Creels among
them!
Aileen Henderson, author of Hard Times for Jake Smith
In A Yellow Watermelon, Ted refuses to be an observer of life in rural Alabama of 1948.
He learns secrets that force him to take a courageous stand against long-established
customs that are unfair and dishonest. What can an ‘almost twelve year old’ do to make
a difference? With the help of forbidden friends, Ted’s inventive solutions will surprise
the reader and keep the pages turning to the end of this tasty story.
Faye Gibbons, author of Night in the Barn
Ted Dunagan convincingly captures the South of the late 1940s. In his moving story he
shows through the experience of a young boy how friendship can triumph over
prejudice. Good reading!