A while back, Amazon sent a range of
suggestions for books by types of readers. Under "books for girls"
was The Hunger
Games
. Under normal circumstances, I would expect "books for girls" to be books no one expects boys to be interested in. I really don't think that's the case with The Hunger Games. I can't see how it could have sold as many copies as it has if guys weren't interested in the book too. Especially since the plot descriptions sound like something many guys I knew back in school would have loved. {Smile}
I suspect I know what the problem is. Publishers, librarians, teachers, and apparently booksellers who study what children read have been telling each other "boys will only read books about boys, but girls will read books about girls or boys" long enough they believe that's the deciding factor when kids pick books.
That may sound good, but the kids I know, and knew, and the girl I remember being myself didn't care as much about gender as about what the characters did. If they liked mysteries, boys would check out Nancy Drew and the Dana Girls as well as the Hardy Boys. If they liked fantasy, they wouldn't skip the middle book of the Earthsea Trilogy. And so on.
Then I wonder if I'm wrong. I'm up against a pretty large and well-educated group, and my personal opinion fights some of my own education on the subject. So I'd really like to know what you think about this, too. {Hopeful Smile}
Anne Elizabeth Baldwin
