Supporting you: additional resources for Malorie Blackman’s Boys Don’t Cry now available
In support of, Boys Don’t Cry, one of our new texts for GCSE English Literature, we have FREE additional resources to aid your teaching.
Written by Malorie Blackman, Boys Don’t Cry explores the ideas of teenage fatherhood, education, family, sexuality and prejudice.
Blackman often writes about racial tensions, but whilst the family in Boys Don’t Cry are black, this is not foregrounded in the novel. Instead, the prejudice is aimed towards teenage parents and sexual orientation. Gender stereotypes are explored in the novel, particularly around societal expectations for males, hence the title’s use of a popular phrase.
The Times has said that this novel ‘should be read aloud in every secondary school’.
First assessment for this text is in summer 2025.
FREE digital resources to support your teaching
In addition to our Knowledge Organiser and Blended Learning resource, you may find the following links useful, when introducing the new texts to your classes:
- The book’s trailer on Blackman’s YouTube channel is a good starting point
- Here Blackman gives a short introduction to the novel
- Blackman talks to Sugarscape about Boys Don't Cry and how it came about
- Blackman reads the first chapter of Boys Don’t Cry in the following video link
- Here a teenager reviews Blackman’s novel, Boys Don’t Cry
- Lit in Colour Malorie Blackman on Boys Don’t Cry Schools Event - Malorie Blackman talks about the plot, themes and characters in Boys Don’t Cry and the discussion explores why the author wanted to write the novel.
Contact the team
If you have any further queries, please contact our English Literature Team today: gcseenglish@eduqas.co.uk
029 2240 4290