Bobby Ellis-Chan. Henry Huggins. Alex Rider. Peak Marcello. A bunch of random names? Hardly! These guys’ monikers are all featured in book titles! And, of course, they’re all featured in our latest podcast, all about books with boys’ names in the titles:

  (13:20) 
Download the MP3 (6.4 MB)
• Call Nancy “Nate,” call Karen “Beck,” and call Alex Rider when you need a teen spy — aka our mystery book revealed
• Boy vs. girl, boy vs. guppies, and boy vs. mountain — aka our Boy’s Name picks, plus one from YOU (Bobby vs. Girls [Accidentally], Henry Huggins, and Peak)
• Even MORE kid-submitted reviews (The Hunt for the Seventh and the Babymouse series)

Also, don’t forget: our new theme is author memoirs and autobiographies! So send us a review of your favorite author memoir and check out these awesome author memoirs and autobiographies.

— Nancy and Karen

This book trailer for the Alex Rider series was originally the Mystery Book Theater video for our Titles with Boys’ Names theme. For more on Alex Rider, check out our “What’s In a Name?” podcast.

Meet Alex Rider. In this series by Anthony Horowitz, he’s a regular old kid being raised by his uncle — and then one day his uncle is murdered. Why? Well, it turns out he’s a spy for the government, and he knew more than his enemies wanted him to. And not only that, now the government wants this regular old kid to fill his uncle’s shoes and go undercover.

Facing a series of dangerous missions as a 14-year-old? It’s no wonder our hero has a whole series named after him! Watch our video for a briefing on the schoolboy-turned-spy.

Tell us about a male character you admire (and wouldn’t mind being named after):

Submitted by Bat:

I’d probably want to be named after Felix (or is it Helix?) from the Divide Trilogy. Reason: I like cats.I’d probably want to be named after Felix (or is it Helix?) from the Divide Trilogy. Reason: I like cats.

In our last theme, we honored the ladies. So this time around, it’s all about the dudes. And not just any dudes — these guys all have books named after them! Okay, fine, they’re all fictional characters and that’s why their names are in the book titles. But that doesn’t make them — or their stories — any less awesome.

So check out this collection of books named after bros (in no particular order):

1. Bobby vs. Girls (Accidentally) by Lisa Yee (Karen’s pick)
2. Henry Huggins by Beverly Cleary (Nancy’s pick)
3. The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg by Rodman Philbrick
4. Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis
5. Crispin: The Cross of Lead by Avi
6. Joey Pigza books by Jack Gantos
7. The Haunting of Derek Stone series by Tony Abbott
8. Simon Bloom series by Michael Reisman
9. Harris and Me by Gary Paulsen
10. James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl
11. Tom Trueheart series by Ian Beck
12. Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher by Bruce Coville
13. Marvin Redpost series by Louis Sachar
14. Darnell Rock Reporting by Walter Dean Myers
15. The Flunking of Joshua T. Bates by Susan Shreve
16. Abraham’s Battle: A Novel Of Gettysburg by Sara Harrell Banks
17. …And Now Miguel by Joseph Krumgold

If you’ve read any of these, send in your book review. Or send in a review of your favorite book with a boy’s name in the title.

UPDATE 4/13/10: We revealed the answer to our Boy’s Name Mystery Book Theater in the “What’s In a Name?” Podcast, so take a listen if you want to know the answer. Or just tune in to hear Nancy announce that she’s great (uh, stuck-up much?).