A young reader recently wrote my wife, Jennifer Ziegler, a letter that began, “Even though I’m a boy and the main characters are girls, I quite enjoy your book Revenge of the Flower Girls.”

Jennifer and I have had discussions along these lines so many times — discussions that boil down to the facts that

1) often the books she writes are described as “girl books” whereas mine are categorized as “books,” and

2) some adults would consider her books to appeal to half a classroom while mine are there for everyone.

We were both so glad that this student read what he wanted to read and felt free to say so. But Jennifer went further and wrote something powerful in response.

Here’s a bit of it:

If we want boys to read, why are we limiting their choices? Why are we effectively cutting the number of books available to them in half? If we want boys to be able to empathize with women, to be good friends, siblings, spouses, bosses, coworkers, etc., why are we going along with the idea that a story told from a girl’s/woman’s POV is not for them to read?

Read the rest of “It’s the Grown-Ups with the Hang-Ups — Not the Readers.”