Male Protagonists - Are An Essential Part Of My Reading Diet

Most of the novels I've read recently feature female protagonist.  I love stories with female leads but I can not exist on that diet alone, and I am experiencing a bit of a burn out. In the beginning of the year I read a some excellent YA novels featuring male protagonist

In Darkness by Nick Lake

The Knife and the Butterfly by Ashley Hope Perez
Froi of the Exiles by Melina Marchetta
Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Saenz 
Boy21 by Matthew Quick

I loved all of the above, unfortunately the last one was published in March,  and I would very much like find more young adult or middle grade novels  with male protagonists to enjoy.  However there's just not a large selection especially when I disregard the ones I have no interest and the others that end up in my DNF pile because they couldn't keep my attention.

However I think my slump is finally ending. I recently read two good YA debuts, A Beautiful Lie by Irfan Master and Before You Go by James Preller.

A few more I am very much looking forward to reading
Nothing Special by Geoff Herbach - I loved the author's debut Stupid Fast, it was one of my favorite debuts of 2011
Thou Shall Not Road Trip by Antony John - The author's last novel Five Flavors of Dumb was made me break out my old Nirvana MTV unplugged CD  awesome. 
 Lucky Fools by Coert Voorhees - I loved the author's 2009 debut, The Brothers Torres and I have been impatiently waiting for a new novel by the author ever since. - (July)
The Quick Fix by Jack D. Ferraiolo  - This is the long awaited follow up (for me anyway)  to The Big Splash, the first and still the best, humorous middle grade mystery (Oct)
Street Dreams by Tama Wise - This one I found thanks to author Malinda Lo. I've never read a Maori author , and I like the cover so there's no way I could pass this one up
The Drowned Cities by Paolo Baciqalupi  - This is the companion to Ship Breaker, which I enjoyed but not as much as most people, but I liked it enough not to pass this one up

Alien on a Rampage by Clete Barrett Smith was also on this list but I finished it the other day. It really enjoyed it, it was as good as the first one.   And with that my slump is officially over.

The Knife and The Butterfly - Ashley Hope Perez

The Knife and The Butterfly by Ashley Hope Perez
16 yr old Azael lives in Houston and is a member of the MS-13 gang. The day after a fight with another gang, Azael wakes up in lock up and he can't remember how he got there. The chapters alternate between now and then. In the now Azael is in jail trying to remember the fight. He finds himself thinking about his girlfriend Becca and worry about his brother Eddie and the other MS 13 members. In the now Azael is also introduced to Lexi, a White girl he swears he doesn't know. Though Azael quickly learns Lexi might be the key to understanding what happened. In the then, we learn more about Azael, including his passion and love for graffiti art and why he joined a gang in the first place. Azael and Lexi are two very different people, who find themselves in a similar situation. As the story develops both are forced to make life changing decisions.

This is only Perez's second novel though it's clear she already has a talent for creating three dimensional main characters. The reader is allowed to see the many sides of Azeal has he contemplates his future. Then there's Lexi, I didn't know what to make of her at first and by the end I was moved by how the two characters stories intersected. As you can probably already tell I really enjoyed The Knife and the Butterfly and its a wonderful follow up to the author's excellent debut, What Can't Wait.

Read Chapter 1

I will be posting an interview with Ashley Hope Perez tomorrow as a part of her ongoing blog tour. The interview is on the long side but this couldn't be helped because I took the opportunity to ask Perez's her opinion on the recent events in Tuscon. For that question I told Ashley length was not an issue.