Warning! Short Stories for Middle School Boys Only, Because Girls Have Cooties!

Before smartphones. Before video games. Before the internet told you what to do on a Saturday afternoon.

There was the Delaware River. There were your friends. And there was always, always trouble waiting to happen.

WARNING! Short Stories for Middle School Boys Only, Because Girls Have Cooties! is a collection of fifteen standalone adventures set in Delanco, New Jersey, during the 1960s and 1970s — where a stretch of riverbank could become a battlefield, a backyard could become a kingdom, and one bad decision could turn an ordinary Tuesday into a story you'd be telling for the rest of your life.

Each chapter is its own complete adventure — no cliffhangers required, no series to keep up with. Pick it up, open to any page, and you are immediately inside a world of mischief, camaraderie, awkward moments, and the kind of friendships that only form when you are twelve years old and absolutely certain that you and your friends are invincible.

Written by a retired educator with 44 years in the classroom, these stories are not invented. They are remembered. And that is exactly what makes them feel so real.

Perfect for reluctant readers aged 10 to 14 — and for every adult who once stood at the edge of a river and thought, "What if we just..."

A 2026 Eric Hoffer Award Category Finalist. Top 10 in Middle Level Books out of 3,000+ entries.

If you loved Tom Sawyer, Stand by Me, or The Sandlot — you already know these boys. You might even be one of them.

Each chapter includes a life lesson discussion guide, making this book an ideal choice for classrooms, homeschool families, and summer reading programs.

Available in paperback, e-book, and audiobook.