When I was a boy, I used to read a lot, especially action, adventure, sports, science fiction, any kind of story like that. Hey, with at best 2 or 3 channels, which only worked when the moon was right and the aluminum clad rabbit ears properly aligned, there really wasn't all that much else to do. Besides which, there was a ton of good reading material out there for boys. Rightly or wrongly, I think there was more written for boys back then, while girls were if anything shortchanged. I'm told by friends in the industry that the situation is now reversed, that most publishing houses consider boys to be lost to video games and TV, and not interested in reading, while there does seem to be a fair amount of pretty good fairly new girl's books out there. I personally don't believe boys are lost causes as far as reading is concerned, so I wanted to write this blog to review some of the books I liked when I was younger (and dinosaurs ruled the earth), in hopes maybe some parent might see something they might think may interest their budding bookworm.
I will generally try to stick to books that are a little less known (who needs another comment about Harry Potter?), but may occassionally discuss a more current and popular book (especially if I run out of other ones). If the book is out of print, I will try to find a place that carries used copies, in case anyone is interested.
Couple of ground rules. All of what I review I would think would be appropriate for 12 and under boys, at least from a content perspective. Definitely PG at worst. For example, I tend to think the Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings books are appropriate, but any of the Wilbur Smith novels (which I got my hands on when I was 13/14) wouldn't be. Too much information for the age.
Also, I am going to try to stick with books that have some message to them beyond just entertainment value. Kids need good examples and role models, particularly boys. There aren't that many around, especially on TV.
Anyway, I hope you enjoy the reviews. I should have the first up in a couple of days (gotta finish re-reading it first, which is the real reason I'm doing the blog. It gives me an excuse...)
