Good "Boymanship" Awards

Okay, so I normally try to keep my personal blog and the PM blog separate, but I've had some recent conversations about the topic of what I call "boymanship" and I wanted to run it past everyone over here at PM. So, here goes:

I write "boy" books. Problem is, it seems to take a village to raise the consciousness of the boy sensibility in MG. A while back, I was involved in a great Twitter chat during #kidlitchat and we discussed boy books. I made a comment that I wished more MG books would accurately depict the way boys interact with one another. I went on to explain that the back-and-forth joking between boys, heavy on sarcastic razzing, is a sign of true friendship between boys, and those who don't understand this or want to paint a different picture are not being true to reality. Boys make fun of each other when they're friends (all in good fun), but the moment they need to have each other's backs they do. I equate this to the wartime bond soldiers have. It's a brotherly thing, and I don't see this truly represented in many MG books. Toward the end of the conversation I coined the term "boymanship" and I really think it fits. A perfect example is found in the following scene from the classic movie Stand By Me, and actually, in just about every scene in the movie.

This scene is true-to-life. These boys are the best of friends, but look at how they razz each other. And if you've seen the movie before, you know these kids are 100% "there" for each other (they have each other's backs). This is what I'd love to see more of in MG books of today. Please, give me "real" kids.

I have a great deal of experience with boymanship (heck, I'm a black belt). I am a teacher of junior high kids (for 12 years now), I was a boy once (shocker, I know), and I still see myself as a big kid at 37 years of age. So let me tell you: BOYS ARE LIKE THIS! And the point I made during that chat was the fact that if we can accurately capture this in MG boy books, it helps to educate boys about "boymanship" and also educates adults who've lost touch with this. I'm sick of seeing MG boy books that are treated like after-school specials (corny, cheesy, and just plain unrealistic).

Another movie that I feel accurately portrays the way boys interact with one another is the old 80's flick (dated, but still timely) My Bodyguard (trailer below). Clifford (the main character) and Linderman (his bodyguard) capture the true sense of boymanship in their friendship. And even though the bullies are nasty, their relationship is realistic as well (so is the evil streak they have as bullies). In all, kids are kids in this movie. Real kids. I highly recommend you check out this movie if you haven't seen it. 

Um, why do I find it necessary to refer to MOVIES and not books? Interesting question. Think about why that might be the case.

Okay, tell me, is there any book I might be overlooking that gets your good boymanship award?