Boys today are consuming more text than at any time in human history. Adults simply are not valuing the reading that boys are doing. Teachers, librarians, writers like me, and even boys themselves, have privileged the literary novel above all other forms of literacy.
As Professor Thomas Newkirk observed in his groundbreaking 2002 book, Misreading Masculinity: Boys, Literacy and Popular Culture, "Our students are awash in narratives -- they are dexterous channel surfers..."
He argues passionately that schools need to broaden the tent of "what counts and does not count as a valid literacy activity," inviting so-called 'low culture' into the classroom alongside 'great literature' and showing that the interests, needs, and tastes of boys are valued and have a place in a reading life.
