Comments on: @ boy books

By: Simon Haynes

Simon Haynes — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 15:20:12 +0000

Fascinating essay, thanks. I wish I’d had it to hand last year, when I was up to my eyeballs writing my first boys’ novel. (I recently switched to junior fic from adult novels, and ended up tapping my inner ten-year-old for advice.)

By: D. E. Knobbe

D. E. Knobbe — Sun, 25 Apr 2010 22:11:55 +0000

Your essay was mentioned on ccbc and I read it with great interest as my first book, Runaway Storm, a kayaking wilderness adventure, just came out and was also mentioned. Although the book is from a small publisher and may never gain wide acclaim, it has garnered quite a few reviews so far. I thought it was interesting that one reviewer actually said I might lose readers when I describe how Nate, the main character, puzzles out how to build a cart to transport his kayak. Apparently, for the reviewer, the puzzling and then building was too detailed. I feel vindicating reading your essay points. I also think that writers today are always told that girls will read anything, so basically, if you want the boy audience, gear it to them and then throw in a girl character just like you mentioned. Runaway Storm does have a girl character enter the story at one point, but she is, I hope, stronger than the pixy type. If you ever get a chance to read Storm, let me know where you think it falls. I am working on a sequel now and plan to reread you notes as I think they will be extremely helpful.
Best,
D. E. Knobbe

By: delzey

delzey — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 20:43:40 +0000

thanks for the mention at your place, michael. the article is winding down next week, though i’m always coming up with more fascinating bits that are likely to show up in the future. seems the universe keeps throwing things my way…

By: Michael Jasper

Michael Jasper — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 19:37:25 +0000

This is a wonderful essay. As the father of 2 boys, and an author, I learned a lot. Looking forward to more.

By: marly youmans

marly youmans — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 05:02:56 +0000

David,

I stumbled on your essay–and enjoyed it. It’s solid and thoughtful, far more interesting than most attempts at grappling with the subject.

By: building better boy books, part 4 « fomagrams

building better boy books, part 4 « fomagrams — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 12:21:45 +0000

[...] @ boy books [...]

By: delzey

delzey — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 17:12:19 +0000

I haven’t read Libba Bray’s book yet, but I have read John Green’s books and while they could easily lend themselves to any number of the HEAVES, they also contain the Manic Pixie Dream Girl character which is a type of stock character in YA that I’d like to see less of.

By: Melanie Fishbane

Melanie Fishbane — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 13:29:48 +0000

Having not seen the rest of your paper I don’t know if you will get to these two authors, but have you read read Libba Bray’s Going Bovine or John Green’s Paper Towns? Both have really strong guy protagonists. Bray, in particular, uses humour to convey her character’s conflicting emotions. Green’s Paper Towns, is, well, awesome. :)