Meet 30 positive male role models from throughout history. From activists like Mahatma Gandhi and Frederick Douglass to creative innovators like Prince and David Hockney, these men have fought conventional stereotypes to prove that modern-day masculinity can be defined freely.

Instead of a single model of how a boy can grow into a man, this book offers 30 stories of people whose lives demonstrate that there are endless possibilities—that boys and men can do and be so much more than what we think of when we say things like “boys will be boys.”

Discover a world of inspirational change-makers, teachers, peacemakers, artists, scientists, and more who have defied the expectations, care deeply about others, stand up for what is right, and express themselves in creative and exciting ways.

Inspiring a new generation of boys:

David Hockney; Muhammad Ali; Nelson Mandela; Prince; Richard Loving; César Chávez; Thurgood Marshall; John Muir; Lebron James; Frederick Douglass; Patricio Manuel; Hayao Miyazaki; Oscar Wilde; Ta-Nehisi Coates; Ezra Jack Keats; Freddie Mercury; Grandmaster Flash; Luther Christman; Mahatma Gandhi; Bruce Lee; Carl Sagan; George Washington Carver; Jaime Escalante; Carlos Acosta; Bayard Rustin; Edward Enninful; John Dewey; Alfred Nobel; Kit Yan; and W.E.B. Du Bois.