QUILLBLOG

Bad books for boys

On the Guardian site, Tom Kelly looks at the resurgence of adventure yarns for boys, and he doesn’t like what he sees. “It has the hazy glow of nostalgia for a simpler world,” he says of the trend, “a world where everyone knew their place in the white, male playground.” And: “We are offering up a fast food menu of impoverished stereotypes to our sons, based on rigid class systems and exclusion. The thought of filling 21st century boyhood with the same stale old guff on evil foreigners and government-sanctioned assassins makes me feel tired and more than a bit concerned.”

His argument might be stronger, though, if he cited even a single example of those “impoverished stereotypes” or “stale old guff” in action. The only current boys’ adventure series that even gets a mention is Young Bond, and all we learn about that is that it exists. (It’s worth scrolling down, too – various commenters take Kelly to task.)

Thanks to Bookslut for the link.

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