Okay.
Yesterday's YA in Bloom event sponsored by Bridge to Books was huge.
Trust me. Bridge to Books knows what's up. If you are an author, teacher, librarian, blogger, reader, or anyone in Southern California who's interested in improving literacy and getting more books into the hands of more kids -- and delivered by people who know and care about what they're doing -- this is a group to keep your eyes on.
I think everyone was a little overwhelmed by the number of people who turned out at Vroman's.
Now, let me talk about isolation.
You know, I have been left all alone at el rancho de drew and have to mope around doing all these dumb chores: feeding horses and dogs, picking cherries, watering stuff that isn't supposed to "die" (why can't we GMO lawns, plants, and livestock with zombie DNA so they never die?).
And don't even get me started about how I'm supposed to "clean my room."
Anyway... it's a rather isolated life up here where I live, which is good for writing -- even though I swear, I swear! I am not going to start on anything new.
So... yesterday. It was a blast. I got to sit with some of the coolest, funniest people you could ever sit by.
Okay, picture this. No... really... picture. This.
Me. Cindy Pon. Lisa Yee. Katie Alender. Gretchen McNeil. Nancy Holder. Jessica Brody.
Did I mention I was sitting there? And there was lunch involved. And really really nice cake.
Are you still picturing?
Let me help.
Well, I'll admit I stole this from Lisa Yee (I think it's rather obvious who took the photo). She stood up on her chair during lunch (a gymnast, that woman!) and pointed the camera out from where we sat. It looked like this:
And that's only part of the crowd.
Notice something?
You would if you were The Great Big Giant Me.
You would notice that there were, like 300 women present, and three or four guys. One of them is off camera below Peepy's ears. That would be me.
There's nothing wrong with this picture.
There's something very wrong with what isn't in the picture.
Guys.
Time to step up.
As writers, readers, teachers, mentors, and dads.
I've written plenty of posts (and included data from academic studies, no less) about the declining literacy rate among boys, and how a BIG part of the problem is the perception we "sell" to boy readers: that reading and writing are fundamentally feminine pursuits.
Just look at the picture.
So, I've got a few things to say about this (when don't I?), and a lot of it is going to come back around to a kind of mass-buy-in, self-fulfilling prophesy that MAKES boys into non-readers.
And that's an issue we can all do something about.
Speaking of issues, think about "issues" in YA. I heard some of them mentioned by booktalkers yesterday. Um.
Books that deal with issues -- at any age level -- are important because they help readers make connections between their lives and experiences and the rest of the world. Sometimes, those books are the only floatation devices available for kids who feel totally adrift.
The thing is, there are issue books for boys. Just not too many people talk about them, fewer know about them, and big brick-and-mortar booksellers won't allocate shelf space to them because... look at the picture.
Boys don't care about reading.
This is what we've been making real in America in the last 30 years.
And that's a pretty serious issue for everyone.
Oh... I'm just getting warmed up. There will be more on this subject.
And, Cindy Pon: you better believe I've been following your Diversity in YA movement, and I have to give you a LOT of credit for consistently having male authors and books dealing with guys presented on your tour (thought I wasn't lurking/stalking, didn't you?).
Because, at its most obvious and elemental level, diversity begins with gender.
Come on, guys.
Let's say we're 50% of the population.
Look at the picture. I'm not asking for half -- I wouldn't really want to lose my table mates, but maybe just a few more footsoldiers to prove that guys write and read and love books?
Time to represent for the benefit of our sons.
22 comments:
I'd estimate that 80% of the readers and writers I know are women--despite knowing *many* guys who read through Borders & Vromans. The young ones I know (we don't have kids yet) have about the same ratio. If I think of the 10 children I know best who read, only 2 are boys and one of those is pretty reluctant to do so. He's on Jeff Smith's BONE now (he's read it about 4 times at this point) and we're working on the next step up.
My mom claims she married my dad because he was the only man he'd met who read as much as she did. My husband is a reader too, but outside of YA Book Council meetings at our apartment and the occasional author signing, he's not the type to get out and socialize as a reader--he tends to keep to himself.
Male readers exist--maybe it's just that they're not as social and vocal as women tend to be? And when they help mentor another boy who reads, maybe they also pass on that attitude of reading alone.
Thanks for the call out to them--I hope they answer, and we'll keep casting out the lures of books, lunch, and delicious cake :)
I don't blame guys for not wanting to come to these things. They're usually sycophanty. (Yes, I made up a word.) But there ARE readings and panels that are just for guy books, and dads should be showing up with their sons. MEN! MEN! MEN!
Except I want to be on those panels too, because those are the novels I'm writing. This is a conundrum.
Andrew - Thanks for the lovely comments about Bridge to Books & YA in Bloom. The challenge seems to be how to keep boys reading from Elementary to Secondary. I see a lot of boys interested in books as younger children but something changes. The challenge is out there. Now let's take it on!
But, I'd rather catch a beer with an author. I'm afraid of crowds. Yup.
Although, I am hoping to get to Chicago in the fall. No doubt.
The numbers were so unbalanced that it struck me, as well, even though I'm usually ignorantly bouncing around in the majority at kidlit events. Even more striking were my conversations with a few aspiring authors who shared advice they'd been given to change their boy protagonists to girls in order to have a better chance of selling their work. It was lovely meeting you yesterday. Let's hope you're not so "lonely" at future events. (P.S., Readers, I can attest to Andrew not wanting to lose his tablemates. He had a prime opportunity to topple Lisa Yee from her photo perch, yet graciously held her folding chair firm for her gymnastic photography instead...)
From what I've read in other discussions on the subject, boys read at a young age tend to transition from MG to adult... I don't know if this is true or not, but I agree that it would be nice to see more teenage boys out and reading.
I wish my best friend had been able o make it with her son because I think you would have enjoyed meeting him. He's 16 and will read pretty much anything--if it's well-written! I also know another teenage boy reader, but it's true, most of the readers I know are female...
Sounds like a mission for Bridge to Books! :o)
Cool. Lots of comments on a Sunday. Rare.
Janelle -- I suspect those boys who skip right from MG to Adult do so because they've looked at what most bookstores display in the YA section.
Just sayin'.
Very pink.
Jonathon -- It would be so great if you, as a teacher and writer, could make it to NCTE in Chicago. I know my friend Sara Zarr is going to be there, and I'd love to get Daniel Kraus (ROTTERS -- one of the best YA for boys out this year) to show up, since it's his hometown.
Read Now -- I know this is a problem with my gender -- the socialization bias. But male readers, teachers, writers, mentors have to consider it a call to arms, a responsibility to fight a war to save boy readers. There's a hidden economic agenda here, too, that seeks to make immutable the intransigent American caste. Fewer boys going to college here (and fewer resources being allocated toward education and LIBRARIES) equals a greater divide between the haves and have-nots.
Lisha -- I have some ideas about the "reading panels" just for guy books -- and it's not going to win me any friends. But you're right -- guys, dads, brothers, etc. need to put down their Bud Lites (is that how you spell it? I don't drink beer) and remotes and get their asses to these things to get their boys to see the value and rewards in literacy.
Alybee -- I agree something changes. It usually happens around the same time that gender roles and posturing external masculinity become part of boys' identities (some researchers say this happens between grades 4 - 7). And, in the same way education redesigned strategies in the 70s to make the holistic educational environment more sensitive to the unique needs of girls, we have seemingly disregarded the possibility that boys may also have unique needs educationally, which, when not addressed creates an environment that is exclusionary and discriminatory.
And Kristen -- Let me tell you how scared I was that Lisa was going to fall and everyone would then be looking at me wondering why the "man" was such a non-hero. Ugh. The pressures of gender responsibility.
I would actually love to do a post someday on the whole girl vs. boy thing in education. In our efforts to support girls (which was/is needed and I am all for it) we lost our boys (which was so wrong). Girls don't have to win over boys and boys don't have to win over girls when it comes to education, college, and learning. All should be winners - society will be better for it. But yes, I for one will continue to find ways to get boys interested in books in any shape or form.
Great post! As a bookseller (non-children's bookseller), I usually have a hard time suggesting books that would appeal to a young man. I have not read a whole lot of YA books, but have read some through my book group YA Book Council http://twitter.com/#!/yabc_la. I usually get asked for a recommendation for a 13-16 year old boy and outside of a few books that I know from discussions, I don't know many that a young man would like. Most of the books that have a male protagonist have been read by the young man and as soon as I start recommending books that have a female protagonist, the parent or boy usually shut down and feel that the book is not for them. I usually try to let them know that the book is still a great read, but mostly they are not excited about their options.
I started reading late in life. I read some of the classics in elementary school, but couldn't tell you the plots of most of them if I tried. Junior High and High School was a period of time when I read nothing for the most part. Aside from a couple of Shakespeare plays here and there, I mostly avoided books like the plague. It was not until I was out of High School that I began to read for my own sake. I went back and read some of the classics that I should have read when I was in High School. Today I love to read, but mostly adult fiction or non-fiction. It is hard for me to make a connection with most plots of YA books and mostly look for authors like Junot Diaz, Carlos Ruiz Zafon, and Cormac McCarthy. There is something about these authors that speak to my soul and get me excited about reading.
In my own experience, my teen years were mostly spent getting into trouble, playing sports, and reading comic books. I had no interest in reading books. Maybe things would have changed if I had books that I could relate to. I can almost say with certainty that most of my close male friends that were with me on the playgrounds and getting into trouble became late readers. Today, we sit around and talk about books (mostly graphic novels, horror, Sci-fi/Fantasy, and History). We had no male role models to encourage us to read and talk about books.
Growing up during the 80's and 90's, YA was not what it is now. There were no real books that were written specifically for young adults. This has all changed with all of those great YA novels that have come out. I know that my girlfriend and I will be encouraging our children to read and participate in literacy campaigns.
One more thing. I don't think that we will be losing boy readers. Boy readers begin late in life. The question should be: how do we get them to start reading earlier? I have been to a number of events and everything always seems to be geared towards female readers. Is it because there are more female readers or is it because there are more books about female protagonist that have been printed?
Alfonso: Thanks. I am now following YABC and would be happy to chime in with rec's for boy readers. The whole issue of male vs. female protagonist is interesting. As studies point out (Gurian, for example), girls don't discriminate in reading choices based on the gender of the mc, but boys do. As far as your observation on the volume of literature with female mc and gearing events toward female readers (this is a relatively recent phenomenon -- say, in the past 30 - 40 years), I think, again, it's a reflection of marketing studies that impose gender expectations on the shopping public. Since women are perceived to be book "shoppers" (again, especially since the 1970s), advertising, marketing, and production resources flow toward those buyers... kind of creating a self-fulfilling expectation with negative consequences on boys' perceptions and literacy rates (and influencing content as well).
I'd like to think the tide is starting to turn. I just moved up to teach third grade and the last two years I have either had an equal number of boys (this year) or more boys (last year) that have developed into passionate readers.
Series like the Lightning Thief, Rangers Apprentice, Wierd School, Warriors, Gregor the Overlanders, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, (and strangely enough Baby Mouse) have been the ones I've seen my boys get the most excited about.
My biggest challenge has been finding enough time to read a wide variety of books so that I can help my students by acting as a guide. I also make sure to read the books they recommend to me so that they know how much I value their opionions as readers. After a while they do a great job of "selling" books to each other.
The best thing is that now we have a culture where it's cool to read. When my former students come back to my room to borrow books or just to "talk books", it makes reading even more exciting for my current group of kiddos. I had several students talk their parents into taking them to the L.A. Times Festival of Books. We get very excited about author visits and I love it when the first thing that students tell me about when they see me in the hallways is what they're reading. I hope that now that they know their reading rights they will be able to successfully transition when they reach junior high and high school.
Amen, brother.
As a mother of a dyslexic son and a writer in an undereducated community, I have huge concerns regarding literacy in general and literacy in our young male population in particular.
Thanks for raising awareness of this and calling out the talented male writers who lurk just outside the camera lense.
It's been MONTHS since I've found a decently-written new YA book with a male protagonist. I'm SO frustrated!
Our school librarian is male and is considered "cool" by the kids, so that helps the boys in our school. But I'm the one trying to pick most of the books and we're down to the dredges lately for boys. Oh sure, there are plenty of suitable books with girl protagonists, and lots of our boys will read non-romance books with girl protagonists, but I'd sure love to have some GOOD books with boys as well. Really, other than the Leviathan series, I haven't seen much lately.
Well, English Teacher -- get some of my books in there. They all have male protagonists and deal with guy kinds of issues. I just got to announce two new ones coming from Simon & Schuster today, too and I'd be happy to make recommendations of books that fit that bill (note: I only EVER talk about books I like, ones that I think are quality stuff. If I don't like them, I won't say anything about them, and I have no gain in recommending books).
This year, besides The Marbury Lens, I think YA-age boys will totally dig OPEN WOUNDS, by Joe Lunievicz and ROTTERS by Daniel Kraus.
Thank you for not pulling the chair out from under me.
If I did, you would have floated. I will never reveal your inner magic.
loved this post, and loved seeing you and hanging out again, andrew. as for the Diversity Tour, malinda and i definitely wanted to include guy authors as much as we could, and did at all of our stops except chicago, our last minute add on and smallest panel.
as with so many things, it's a matter of rethinking and retraining marketing and publicity. that YES, there is a want and a need and a lack for more boy books in YA as well as dudes to step up and write for the genre!!
so glad to have you writing within it! =) way to represent!
(fanboy mOment) I totally love Cindy Pon. #attackofthevapors
Great post, as one of the male authors on DIYA it was kind of great to meet (even online) other male YA authors, and now you!
Yeah... The pink gets to me too... ;o)
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