Scholastic Book Fair needs more Gender-Neutral books (serious post)

Question

sooo... Reading.

Reading is probably my biggest enemy. I am very good at it, yes. But I don't like reading. this is coming from someone who has only 2 book series I enjoyed so much I joined the fandom of the series ( Diary of A Wimpy Kid and The Emigrants, which are 2 extremely diferent book series, The 1st one about a boy starting middle school, and the other being about Swedish Immigrants in Minnesota ) and a few singular books.  but I have read various other books that were from "Yeah, This is great but still won't read again" to "This is pure trash" and this is how I feel about the Scholastic book fair.

I am a girl. I think what Scholastic wants to do is include books for everyone, but oh the stereotypes in the middle grade section (5th to 8th grade)

There is usually a section full of "Girl" Books (Diaries, Graphic Novels, Baby sitters club books, Animal stories etc) Yes, a lot of girls like those books, but Not all of them. I am a girl, and I like to read  books about Scandinavian History and Culture  My friend Jordan is also a girl, and she likes reading about Mythology and World War 1, and that is ok to have interests that don't fit the traditional Gender stereotype (as long as they're appropiate for your age)

Then the boy books. You have stuff like Diary of A Wimpy Kid, Books about Video Games, Books about Horror and Zombies and History books. This maks me very mad, as some of these books (Espiecally the history books) do contain Girl Characters, but are marked as "Boy Books" because Girls can''t be into History and have to care about Celebrities as well. As a History and Genealogy Girl, this makes me super mad. Not only this is bad, but it is borderline offensive. Another thing Ive seen is that most of the books with POC characters are also in the boys section. There are barely no books with POC characters and authors in the girls section

But if you look at the books for younger kids (under the 4th grade) Gender Neutral books excist. There are no sections specifically for Girl books and Boy Books, they're just mixed there. Ive also seen examples that could appeal to both boys and girls (there was a book about a Dinosaur who likes cupcakes, a book about diferent US states , A guide to  Disney Pixar characters etc) 

So yeah. I am so mad at scholastic rn. If they done a great job doing this to the younger kids, why not the middle schoolers? 

Answer 1

I agree. There shouldn't be a "Girls' section" and a "Boys' section." People are so diverse and different, so why try to separate their interests by gender? Because when it comes to things like this, there are no "girl books" and "boy books."

And I'm also frustrated with there being no poc representation.

Comments

yes. as a Hispanic, I noticed that most of the "Girl" Books, didnt have a lot of POC represantation, yet there are a lot of POC "Boy" Books.

Answer 2

Well, I've never bought anything from the scholastic book fair for two reasons:

1. Everything's too expensive and you could probably just get it for free at the library.

2. I've never bought any book because i never liked any of them, I grew out of all those books in 5th grade, why are y'all still reading diary of a wimpy kid in 8th?!

Comments

because yes

Also, I am a 7th grader and I read DOWAK, and I also read very complex classical books. IDK what am I

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Oh, ok... I've been wrong before.

Answer 3

I’ve never noticed that, but at the same time, I don’t really pay attention to the banners.

But yeah, you simply cannot separate books by gender. Plus, girl and boy aren’t even the only genders so jokes on them.

Comments

agreed. but that is how I feel about how the categorize the books due to their banners

Answer 4

I can relate. Most MC books are for 8-12 ( still read em even though I'm too old for them).

Like OLDER PEOPLE CAN LIKE MC TOO!!! Like the average MC player is I'm pretty sure a 21 year old male.

It is true look it up

Comments

I used to play MC all the time, and I own an MC novel, and I'm a nearing-15 female.

Answer 5

that makes me mad :(

Answer 6

Ask Jordan these questions (don’t tell her the answer unless she gets it wrong. If she gets it right, say correct.).

What was the longest battle in ww1? (Answer: Battle of Verdun)

What year in ww1 were tanks introduced? (Answer: 1916)

How many A7V tanks were produced by Germany? (Answer: 20)

What was the solution for Germany to combat British tanks? (Mauser Tankgewehr 1918 Anti-Tank rifle)

When did ww1 end (specific year, month, day of the month, and time)? (Answer: November 11th, 1918, 11:00 AM)

Did Germany win the Western front? (Answer: yes)

Who led Germany during ww1? (Answer: Kaiser Wilhelm II)

Comments

She is a history nerd in general, but she mostly cares about World Wars

Im gonna ask her these questions tomorrow at a Video Chat :)

Answer 7

But Diary of A Wimpy Kid is just Greg and Rowley which are the main characters and that is probably why they put into the boys section but for me I have all of the Diray Of A Wimpy Kid books cause they are the best

Comments

same

Answer 8

YES.

As a straight girl who is absolutely OBSESSED with theatre, this outrages me! ESPECIALLY DORK DIARIES!!!!

#canceldorkdiaries

Comments

as a teenage girl who reads Scandinavian-American immgration stories for fun

I love you

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lol we would be friends

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.....

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cute

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I personally liked Dork Diaries, but only 1 of the books, and specifically because there were dogs covered in peanut butter. Also, I would genuinely prefer to read the FNaF or PvZ books (yes, they have those).

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they do have those in the bookfair

Answer 9

this also angers me aswell

- Sparkle889 (Asmara)

Comments

ASMARA YOU HAVE KT?
 

OMG. IS NIHARA GONNA HAVE KT ASWELL