YA Wednesday: Emotional Life of Boys, Dudes Who Read YA, YA Books for Boys, @broodingYAhero

perks2Two of my favorite YA novels, The Spectacular Now by Tim Tharp and the Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky, are written by men about boys in trouble. I feel guilty admitting this given that I’m a woman writer and aware of the challenges women writers face. But I love young adult fiction that deals with the emotional struggles of boys. There are, in my opinion, not enough YA novels that do this.

Consider this alarming statistic about teen suicide: “…males are four times more likely to die from suicide than females.” One of the reasons suggested for this is that suicidal boys are less likely to call for help. I’d suggest that the gender stereotype that boys should not show emotion, or talk about feelings, contributes to their reluctance to seek help when they need it most. We need more more YA novels that guide boys through the perilous waters of adolescent feelings, and we need to get boys to read them. Here are some thoughts and statistics on boys in YA:

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