Why I write girl heroes for the most part
cross-posted to my fan journal
A friend's link on Facebook took me to another link which took me to this: author Hannah Moskowitz's discussion of the need for boy characters for teens and her feeling that publishers and writers are fixated on girl books and girl characters. For the most part she is discussing contemporary books, though she did ask where science fiction is--one of her commenters pointed out the recent rise in science fiction publications.
I tried to post my answer several times...
A friend's link on Facebook took me to another link which took me to this: author Hannah Moskowitz's discussion of the need for boy characters for teens and her feeling that publishers and writers are fixated on girl books and girl characters. For the most part she is discussing contemporary books, though she did ask where science fiction is--one of her commenters pointed out the recent rise in science fiction publications.
I tried to post my answer several times...
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Kayleigh
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Aug 01, 2010 12:30PM
The question I have for Hannah Moskowitz is, which bookstores is she going to, and which YA fiction is she reading? I read a lot of YA books, and I personally haven't noticed a lack of believable, interesting male characters. I also have four brothers, all of whom read a mixture of adult fiction and YA, and none of whom have a problem reading books written by women or books with a female main character. Personally, I think part of the perceived "problem" here is in assuming that any particular book genre is meant specifically for one gender or another. I think what most people (yes, Hannah, even teenage boys) look for in a book is a good story and interesting characters, be they male or female.
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yeah... There is definitely more male characters in the books I've read that are realistic and prominant... personally I find the lack of girl characters that are no more than side things or sex toys.... or bubble heads who have to depend on a man to get something done.... I personally think that if you look far enough and keep an open mind you'll find that people will read anything if its interesting enough....
Like most of the people who commented on the blog, these are some of my favorite books. I have been reading and rereading them since I discovered them six years ago in third grade, and avidly await the next book. I also noticed that at least half of the comments said that these books saved them. Which begs the question, "Why?" Sure, these books are amazing, but shouldn't at least some of these people have either not needed saving, or been able to find it elsewhere?For those who can't figure it out, the answer is that no, they couldn't. There are so few good books that either have strong female leads or don't demean females, and that percentage gets even smaller when you get to YA fantasy. The lack of female leads is not in itself a problem, it's that, despite what Ms. Moskowitz says, female characters are just as frequently, if not more frequently, stereotyped as the male ones.
I don't need a girl; I need believable characers and good stories. So do the teenage boys.
