Cool Boys from Kid Lit

In late May and early June, with much help from visitors to this site, I compiled a list of 200 Cool Girls from Children's Literature. Since then, several people have asked "what about the boys?" So, I thought that it was about time to start working on the list of Cool Boys from Children's Literature. The criteria for inclusion is the same as it was for the girls. We want boys who are brave and independent and smart, and who, ideally, have a sense of humor. Here is my first pass list.

1. Alfred Kropp from The Extraordinary Adventures of Alfred Kropp by Rick Yancey.
2. Art from The Invisible Detective series (Double Life, Shadow Beast, etc.) by Justin Richards.
3. Artemis Fowl from the series by Eoin Colfer.
4. Arthur Duncan from the Maida books (Maida's Little Shop, etc.) by Inez Haynes Irwin.
5. Atreyu from The Neverending Story by Michael Ende.
6. Bastian Balthazar Bux from The Neverending Story by Michael Ende.
7. Bean from Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card.
8. Bobby Pendragon from the Pendragon series (starting with The Merchant of Death) by D. J. MacHale.
9. Bud Caldwell from Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis.
10. Charles Wallace Murray from A Wrinkle in Time (and sequels) by Madeleine L'Engle.
11. Charlie Ashanti from Lionboy and sequels by Zizou Corder.
12. Charlie Bone from the Children of the Red King Series (starting with Midnight for Charlie Bone) by Jenny Nimmo
13. Charlie Bucket from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl.
14. Ralph from The Mouse and the Motorcycle and sequels by Beverly Cleary.
15. Doon Harrow from The City of Ember and The People of Sparks by Jeanne Duprau
16. Edward Cullen from Twilight by Stephenie Meyer.
17. Encyclopedia Brown by Donald J. Sobol.
18. Eragon from the Inheritance Trilogy by Christopher Paolini.
19. Felix Piloto from Free Baseball by Sue Corbett.
20. Finn from Flight of the Doves by Walter Macken.
21. Finn from The Kingdom Keepers by Ridley Pearson.
22. Fletcher Moon from Half-Moon Investigations by Eoin Colfer.
23. Frank and Joe Hardy from the Hardy Boys series by Franklin W. Dixon.
24. Gregor from the Gregor The Overlander (Underland Chronicles) books by Suzanne Collins.
25. Harold from Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson.
26. Harry Potter from the series by J. K. Rowling.
27. Henry Huggins from the series by Beverly Cleary.
28. Huck Finn from The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain.
29. James Bond from Silverfin by Charles Higson.
30. Jamie from From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E. L. Konigsburg.
31. Jeffrey Lionel "Maniac" Magee from Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli.
32. Jess Aarons from Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson.
33. Jim Hawkins from Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson.
34. John Gaunt from The Akhenaten Adventure (Children of the Lamp series) by P. B. Kerr.
35. Johnny Tremain by Esther Forbes.
36. Jonah Wish from Thieves Like Us by Stephen Cole.
37. Jonas from The Giver by Lois Lowry.
38. Kit from the Young Wizards series (starting with So You Want to Be a Wizard ) by Diane Duane.
39. Klaus Baudelaire from the Series of Unfortunate Events books by Lemony Snicket
40. Matt Cruse from Airborn and Skybreaker by Kenneth Oppel.
41. Max from Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak.
42. Milo from The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster. (Not so much at the beginninng of the book, but he improves.)
43. Nathaniel from The Bartimaeus Trilogy (starting with The Amulet of Samarkand) by Jonathan Stroud.
44. Nick from Frindle by Andrew Clements.
45. Oliver Melendy from The Saturdays and sequels by Elizabeth Enright.
46. Percy Jackson from The Lightning Thief and The Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan.
47. Peter Pan by J. M. Barrie (also cool as portrayed by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson in Peter and the Starcatchers).
48. Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi.
49. Ron Weasley from the Harry Potter books by J. K. Rowling.
50. Scipio from The Thief Lord by Cornelia Funke.
51. Stanley Yelnats from Holes by Louis Sachar.
52. Stuart Little by E. B. White.
53. Tom D. Fitzgerald (The Great Brain) from the series by John D. Fitzgerald.
54. Tom Sawyer from The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain.
55. Tony Malone from Escape to Witch Mountain by Alexander Key.
56. Turner Buckminster from Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy by Gary D. Schmidt.
57. Will Parker from The Tripods series by John Christopher.
58. Will Parry from the His Dark Materials Trilogy by Philip Pullman.
59. Will Stanton from The Dark Is Rising Sequence by Susan Cooper.
60. Zane from Pretties and Specials by Scott Westerfeld.

Most popular names so far: Charlie and Will. I'm sure that there are boys that I'm missing, and I welcome your feedback. Make your suggestions in the comments, or email me directly. Thanks!