Comments on: What Sarah Said: Episode 3: Authors, Boys, and Literacy

By: KathyS

KathyS — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 23:00:45 +0000

I second the recommendation for checking out guysread.com (edited by author Jon Sczieska). Another good site is http://www.boysread.org/, whose “mission is to transform boys into lifelong readers”. You can check out what these sites are doing, and then see if you can build on them, or do something different. You aren’t be the only one with the mission to reach teen boys!

Also check out the books, “Guys write for guys read” (edited by Jon Sczieska) or “Connecting Boys With Books 2: Closing the Reading Gap”by Michael Sullivan to see what they are doing and recommending. “Connecting boys to books” made a big impression on me and has guided my work as a librarian since I read it.

Good luck!

By: Josh

Josh — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 16:03:17 +0000

Sarah,

Thank you so very much for taking the time to answer my question. The answers are very helpful! Jane, thank you for your input as well. I’ll keep you posted as things progress.

Best wishes to both of you!

Josh (J.R.)

By: Jane

Jane — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 22:55:28 +0000

Hey JR, as a former teen librarian but still teen librarian at heart, I understand the struggle for finding books that appeal to the male demographic in this age. I actually think as YA lit becomes more mainstream, there is less division along the gender lines. I used to worry about trying to sell books with girl main characters to boys, and vice versa. Now there are just tons of great stories. Look at Hunger Games. Girl character, but definitely bad ass! (I just had an 11 year old boy ask for it yesterday).
If you are trying to specifically reach boys, check out http://www.guysread.com. See if there’s a local chapter in your area, start one, and talk with your area teens to see what types of books they’d be interested in. I think literacy is much more achievable these days if we can just get the interesting subject matter into their hands, and thankfully, there’s tons of good stuff out there!
Good luck!