You've heard that term before, right? You definitely have if you're writing for kids, and this term usually refers to boys, middle-school and high school aged. I consider myself a reluctant reader most days. If the author gets too fancy with words, or takes too long to get to the point, I sign off.
Anthony Horowitz (of the Alex Rider series) wrote an interesting article about this non-reading boys issue--it's mostly geared towards the U.K., but all of his thoughts could just as easily apply to the us here in the good ol' U.S. of A. His solution is to make sure the opportunity to read is there, and just let kids find it.
Good ideas, I think, and food for thought.
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I went to jury duty today. Not all that many people of either sex were reading as they waited to be called. But almost no men were reading more than a newspaper. Sad thing.
ReplyDeleteI remember Tess Gerritsen at Murderati had some stats on how little men read, it was mind-blowingly low. I wonder if that wouldn't be part of getting boys to read more: if Dad reads, wouldn't they follow that example?
ReplyDeleteSeems like getting people to read is like creating peace on earth :-)