Mom-ninja. Posted August 30, 2009 Share Posted August 30, 2009 What do you think of these books? Will they be interesting for boys? I noticed most of the books are "written" by girls. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Dominion Heather Posted August 30, 2009 Share Posted August 30, 2009 Mine were not impressed. The main characters in the boy versions are male, but the plot lines are typical of girl fiction. Mine read one and then were not interested in the rest. There are too many other good books. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unicorn. Posted August 30, 2009 Share Posted August 30, 2009 We love them. My son included. He even likes the ones written by "girls", but he is a total history nut, and loves anything written about history. His favorite was one written as a soldier in the Vietnam War. I can't think of the title right now though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris in VA Posted August 30, 2009 Share Posted August 30, 2009 My dd is reading these fast, like she did the Nancy Drew books. A lot of them (the Royal Diaries, too) are recommended in the SOTW AG for year 3. I think they are ok, but I'm trying to curb her steady diet of these and get her into more challenging material. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Denise in Florida Posted August 30, 2009 Share Posted August 30, 2009 My girls did not like them. There are other (more enjoyable) books which are set in historical time periods. They really didn't like the childhood of famous people series (different series from Dear America but same 'feel' according to them.) If you are looking for good biographies or historical fiction you might try Jean Fritz or Margaret Davidson. Hope this helps, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dangermom Posted August 30, 2009 Share Posted August 30, 2009 My daughter likes them. They're not amazing or anything, but they're OK. I'm a bit annoyed at them--nowadays they take what would have been one book and divide it into 2 or 3 to make twice the money off them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mom-ninja. Posted August 30, 2009 Author Share Posted August 30, 2009 If you are looking for good biographies or historical fiction you might try Jean Fritz or Margaret Davidson. Hope this helps, I'll look into these. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Dominion Heather Posted August 30, 2009 Share Posted August 30, 2009 My boys have enjoyed all the Jean Fritz books they have read. They also love history, but they just didn't care for the series. They love Johnny Tremain, though... you might try the author: Esther Forbes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sebastian (a lady) Posted August 30, 2009 Share Posted August 30, 2009 What do you think of these books? Will they be interesting for boys? I noticed most of the books are "written" by girls. I found that a lot of the titles about boys were really about young men, 16-18 years old. With several set during wartime and being about actual combatants, this is sort of unavoidable. But I think that it may tend to push harsher subjects onto younger boy readers than in the Dear America line. I think that part of the reason for this is that girls are generally reading at a higher level than their male age counterparts. There is a pretty big market for books that are easy to read but don't look like readers for boys who are struggling readers. So the actual target audience for the My Name is America might be a couple years older than the target for Dear America. (Just my supposition.) It is also worth being aware of what subtle message the books are putting across. For example, the one about a Finnish immigrant is somewhat about the immigrant experience. But it is also a heavy commentary on the need to unionize workers in order to protect them against the managers/owners (who were portrayed in a one dimensional negative light). Does your library maybe have any of the We Were There series from the 50-60s? These are good and meaty stories. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dirtroad Posted August 30, 2009 Share Posted August 30, 2009 (edited) My girls did not like them. There are other (more enjoyable) books which are set in historical time periods. They really didn't like the childhood of famous people series (different series from Dear America but same 'feel' according to them.) If you are looking for good biographies or historical fiction you might try Jean Fritz or Margaret Davidson. Hope this helps, We grab every Jean Fritz book that we can find! She is the best of the best!!!!:001_smile: Ester Forbes is awesome too! We are reading Johnny Tremain now. We are just entering an era of history for the My America/Dear America books & I have found a few at the thrift stores. I wish I could give you better info. I did proof read one about the young Cherokee boy on the Trail of Tears (Jesse Smokes) and it was okay. Not as well written as Forbes or Fritz... but nothing controversial. It is a way to see the Trail of Tears in a different light... from the eyes of the boy... not the history book or soldier. Edited August 30, 2009 by Dirtroad Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mom-ninja. Posted August 31, 2009 Author Share Posted August 31, 2009 Thanks for the author suggestions. Love this forum. Amazon loves that I love this forum. :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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