Boys Deserve Good Books, Too

When people say, "Boys don't read", my face turns fire-engine red and steam blows out of my ears like Wile E. Coyote. It makes me furious because it’s not true.

I started reading when I was four, and by the time I was six, I was a voracious reader. My parents weren’t around often (and when they were, they weren’t present) so I was raised by Dr. Seuss, Louis Sachar, Lois Lowry, C.S. Lewis, Franklin W. Dixon, Madeleine L'Engle and R.L. Stine. I spent lifetimes in the library, devouring one book after another, unable to stop turning the pages. And as my homelife got worse, I retreated further and more frequently into stories. Though society frowned on comic books while I was growing up, Chris Claremont’s X-Men run got me through some really rough times.

And guess what? I’m a boy.

Okay, I’m not a “boy” anymore; I’m a grown man. But I love books so much, I made it my life’s work to become a writer. It took longer than was ideal, so I ended up working in comics as well as traditional publishing as an editor for 15years. Eventually, I got my first book deal. Now, each morning I wake, walk my dog, and start creating. I write 40 to 60 hours a week (when I’m not touring) and earn a living by crafting stories for young readers.

I love what I do. I’m proud of it. If it comes up at dinner parties, I don’t shy away from questions… until I hear, “You write books for boys? But they don’t read anymore, do they?” Again, my ears steam like train whistles and a cartoon devil and angel pop up on my shoulders, whispering suggestions about how I should (or shouldn’t) drop an Acme anvil on someone’s head.

It’s a popular misconception that boys (as well as male teens and young men) do not read. They do read — not as much as girls, but they do read — when they are offered books that resonate with them.

Part of my life as an author for young readers is doing school visits. In the past month alone, I’ve presented my story and love of reading to over ten thousand students. And when I put up slides showing Dog Man, One Piece, or The Academy series, everyone roars with pure excitement—including the boys who make up half of my audience.

Between presentations and signings, I always speak with the teachers, librarians, and other educators. Whether in California, North Carolina, or Texas, they all say the same thing: “We need more books for boys, but we need to give them what they want to read. We need to meet boys where they’re at.”

As a former editor and a current writer, I believe four things are preventing boys from reading as much as their female equivalents:

#1 – There are more distractions for children than ever before;

#2 – Technology and social media have shrunk youth’s attention spans;

#3 – There are less males (than females) in the young readers book world, and;

#4 – Toxic masculinity continually pushes boys away from the “girly” activity of reading, and discourages boys from reading stories with female protagonists.

These are big obstacles to overcome, but they’re not impossible if parents, educators, and publishers work together.

Every parent I know says their kids’ schedules are insane. There is a societal pressure on parents to cultivate children who make good grades, excel at sports, build their extracurricular resumes, and never have a moment to themselves to say they’re bored. Not only are the parents swamped, but so is the child if they don’t have time built into their day to relax and read — two things which often go hand in hand.

Instead, children use their idle time to cruise Youtube to watch what their friends are watching online. Instead of reading, they lose themselves in music videos, sports clips, gaming reviews, movie previews, tradwife propaganda, and of course, ad after ad after ad. This barrage of fast and short media diminished the attention span. So when they see a 250-page book in prose, it feels daunting and unscalable. So they don’t bother to give it a chance.

It doesn’t help that there are fewer male authors than female authors in the young readers’ sphere. Before we go there, I want to acknowledge that literature has been a male-dominated space for centuries. In the last 50 years, there’s been a wonderful shift leading to more female representation in stories. But it seems this trend overcorrected itself, leading to more books for girls and less for boys. And there are even fewer books by men of color for boys of color.

And all of this is compounded by a recent return to hegemonic masculinity and machismo. Growing up in Texas in the 80’s and 90’s, I was told often by my father and stepfather that I needed to put my books down and play sports instead — like a real man. I’m not sure why it wasn’t an option for me to do both. Worse than that was at school, when I was hassled and bullied by other boys for reading Alice in Wonderland, Anne of Green Gables, or Pride and Prejudice, because the protagonists were female.

This sort of inherent patriarchal behavior leads boys to think if they read a story about a girl, they are somehow less than their male peers. In stark contrast, girls don’t seem to mind what sex their heroes are. This leads young female readers to develop an extensive empathy for everyone, while male readers’ experiences become limited to their own. Unfortunately, it seems this hasn’t changed in the last several decades.

So what do we do for the boys and young men in our lives?

We take the advice of the librarians: We need to meet the boys where they’re at.

First: Kids have a thousand things to do. I get it. I have eight nephews and nieces and number nine on the way. But my brother and sister-in-law build in at least one half-hour every day for their boys to sit quietly and read (or be read to). They can choose to read whatever they want, but they have to read.

(An important piece of advice I can offer as a longtime reader — and this applies to everyone — is if you read the first chapter and don’t like it, move on. Don’t force youth (or yourself) to spend their time reading something that doesn’t interest them. Reading shouldn’t feel like a chore. It should feel like a welcome escape.)

Second: If boys’ attention spans are short, find them shorter books. More and more, young readers are turning to graphic novels and manga for quick reads because they can be read cover to cover in a single sitting. Kids who finish a long book for the very first time experience feelings of both pride and success. And if they loved the book, they’ll want more of the same.

(Another piece of advice: never discourage reading — even if it’s a format you don’t necessarily appreciate. Graphic novels have long been frowned upon as a less intelligent medium. But in the last decade, more and more publishers are finding creators who tell valuable stories through a more visual medium. A book is a book, no matter how many pictures it has. Try to not diminish that in a young reader.)

Third: Speak to school and/or public librarians — as well as booksellers — asking them about stories that are right for your child. Every child wants to see their own lives mirrored in a story. For a long time, diverse books did not exist. Now they do, and in great numbers. Unfortunately more books mean lower discoverability. It can feel like a Herculean task to track down the right book for a reluctant reader. So let someone else do the work. Lean on the literary curators who know the book world best.

(Being a parent is exhausting. You have a million things to do. So let someone else be the expert. Librarians and booksellers attend conferences multiple times a year where they discover new authors, learn about new titles, and even offer awards to books they feel can change a child’s life for the better.)

And finally: encourage boys to read books about males written by males. But also encourage them to try something new, such as reading a book about females written by females. So often boys can be cruel to girls, be it at home or at school. I know I was certainly a terror, but it was only because I didn’t know better — not until reading books like Are you there, God? It’s Me, Margaret. Reading “girly” books helped me to better understand my female peers. It taught me how to see them, not just as equals, but as friends and romantic partners deserving of mutual respect. I would have never learned that playing football or Nintendo. But I did learn it through reading.

If your son, nephew, grandson, whoever that boy is in your life, doesn’t want to read, then start easy. Don’t push them towards books they don’t want to read. If their interest is in sports, pick up Ghost by Jason Reynolds. If it’s gaming, check out The Comic Book Story of Video Games by Jonathan Hennessey and Jack McGowan. If it’s horror, give them Scary Stories for Young Foxes by Christian McKay Heidicker. If they like history, offer up any title in Nathan Hale’s Hazardous Tales series. If they want fantasy, perhaps Kazu Kibuishi’s Amulet series or Max Barillier’s Last Kids on Earth books are the way to go. If they just want to laugh, well, it’s hard to go wrong with Captain Underpants.

Whatever they want — or think they want — there’s a book out there for every boy. And that book could change their entire life trajectory for the better. But they need to find it first, and they need to be encouraged.

Boys do want to read. Sometimes they just need a little help finding the right book. So let’s help them out.

REX OGLE is the award-winning author of over a hundred books, comics, graphic novels, and memoirs—most notably Free Lunch (winner of ALA/YALSA’s award for Excellence in Non-Fiction), Scholastic’s indie bestselling Four Eyes series, and his latest book, Absent, about three boys living under the poverty line missing school who end up in detention together and learn from one another how to navigate their difficult life circumstances.

Hit him up on Instagram @thirdrex, find out more about him at www.rexogle.com, or subscribe to his newsletter for free books and lots of fun at https://substack.com/@thirdrex .