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arielrichardson's review against another edition
5.0
I also read this for my undergraduate thesis. Connecting Boys with Books, Misreading Masculity and The Power of Reading were my three favorite- most enjoyable and helpful- sources. I had no idea at that time that Michael Sullivan teaches at Simmons!
hannahlee's review against another edition
2.0
Eh. It's not that I disagree with Sullivan's conclusions - that libraries should expand their services to include more active programming and more outreach outside the library building and that librarians shouldn't look down on or judge certain types of reading. I totally agree with that! And I agree that those practices will probably help more boys become lifelong readers and library users. It's just that I don't like his reasoning to get there. He seems to rely on outdated stereotypes to back up his conclusions, instead of exploring how boys can feel pressured to conform to gender expectations and how the library can help them to break away from that. He says things like "Boys have always liked fantasy more than girls" and gives absolutely no evidence to back it up. He doesn't touch at all on the work of teaching boys that there *are* no "boy books" and "girl books," and when the appropriate time is to fight that fight. Overall, I was unimpressed, though, again, I don't disagree with the recommendations at all!
evergreensandbookishthings's review
4.0
A rather specific kind of book, obviously, but an interesting read for parents in general. Yes, there are helpful points made on how to engage boys more with books: one of my favorites is that they are never too old to be read aloud to - do it until the leave for college! But there is also a lot of great cultural/social anthropology to be learned, almost like the male version of Cinderella Ate My Daughter by Peggy Orenstein, which is also a FANTASTIC read.
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