Apparently, adventure stories for boys are selling well. Tom Kelly, blogging at the Guardian, doesn't think that's necessarily cause for optimism: The thinking seems to be that getting boys to read is a victory in itself. No need to go any further than that. But surely what you read is every bit as important as reading itself.With the hedge that (1) I don't know the books that Kelly disapproves of and (2) I don't think that anything and everything boys read will be good for them, I nevertheless remain a candidate for persuasion to this argument.
Perhaps Kelly is right--read his brief argument--and at least he constructively offers some recommended reading for the boys:
Books such as David Almond's and of course Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials set the right kind of example. Such authors create a sense of excitement at the same time as giving strong, positive role models that help growing minds.--Marshal Zeringue
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