Are my books written by a ‘girl’? Sure. Does The Flight To Brassbright star a girl? Sure. Do I write books purely for girl readers? ABSOLUTELY NOT! I write for everyone. You’ll find a variety of characters of all ages and genders in my stories, and occasionally some that aren’t even human. (and even if my books only contained girl characters, would that make them unreadable or not meaningful to those who do not identify as girls? ABSOLUTELY NOT.)
Shannon Hale wrote an article on tumblr (you can read it right here, just below the quote) that explains in great detail why I feel so strongly about ‘gendered reading’. I encourage you to jump over to Shannon Hale’s tumblr and read all all the articles hashtagged #StoriesForAll, and join the dialogue.
On twitter, instagram, and tumblr, join us with the #StoriesForAll hashtag to share experiences, photos, book recommendations. Discuss: How deep is the assumption that there are boy books and girl books? Does it matter? What have you witnessed with regards to gendered reading? What damage does gendered reading cause to both girls and boys? What can each of us do to undo the damage and start making a change? — Shannon Hale
