"boys don't read girls' books"

[mindstalk]

That's a common saying by writers and publishers, that boys won't read books with girl leads, but girls will read boy or girl leads.  This always struck me as weird, personally -- I'm not doubting the claim, it just has no resonance to me.  These days I might read more female lead fiction than not.  But hey, I'm an adult, what was my boyhood like?

Comments

[fellmama]

I wonder if it's partly a readers versus non-readers thing--maybe boys who need more prompting to read anyway are the ones who reject "girl books." So teachers librarians etc. are left with the impression that it's boys generally, when the boys who are readers aren't seeking recommendations or being pushed to read things they don't want to.