Here’s an interesting question: Is Uglies a “girl book”?
Well, okay, if you put it that way, it’s a stupid question. It’s just a book, and it has as much supposedly “boy stuff” (things exploding, hoverboard chases, science fiction) as it does supposedly “girl stuff” (relationships, plastic surgery, things not exploding).
So the first thing I’ll say is, I’d hate for this post to suggest to anyone that these books aren’t for them. I write for everyone. (Except for boring people.) And I’d especially hate to suggest to any male readers that reading Uglies will “un-man” them. (Snorts derisively.) But it’s still a really interesting question about how readers see themselves, especially teens.
For example, I’ve seen the following in email and comments over the past few months:
A) Girls saying that they couldn’t get male friends to read the series.
B) Boys wondering if they’ll get hassled for carrying the books around.
C) And people of all genders saying the whole question is silly, of course.
It hasn’t been a huge thing. Most people who post here are pretty much into discussing the characters, themes, and imagery—which is as it should be. And no one seems to worry about Peeps, Midnighters, or So Yesterday. But there’s been just enough gender questions about Uglies to make me curious, and I’d like to hear from you guys. Because you’re all really, really smart.
So please answer whichever of these questions feel relevant to you:
1) When you suggest Uglies to friends, is it easier to get girls interested?
2) Do boys ever go “Nah, that’s girly!” if you suggest the books to them?
3) If so, do you think it’s the covers? The beauty themes? The titles?
And some other questions:
4) Do you think that girls read more than boys in general?
5) Do any of you boys feel weird talking about/carrying/liking Uglies?
6) Have I made you paranoid just by bringing this up?
Of course, my ulterior motive for doing this research is my next book, which is called:
Hah! Just kidding. But I had you going there, didn’t I?
Yes, I did.
Ok, i dont have too many guy friends so i have never tried to get them into the series, but i have lots of girl friends and they all love the series. I think the only reason they think its a girly book is because the covers, and the part where its like a female main character. She falls in love with guys, her best friend is a girl, and they live in a plastic surgery world, and that appeals to girls more. But the action sequences make it totally cool for guys too. so i dont really know where it would land. Its definately more for everyone, but the main idea could make guys uncomfortable
haha feels god tyo be the first to post here. and
i gotta say that i’m a guy who read the series and the only reason i got picked (not really it was one of my close friends so he knew me well enough already) but he mocked me a bit about the books. Saying they’re girlie with a combination of the cover, title, and the back of the book. *Note: the back cover of Pretties says how a girl became pretty and how her past has come to haunt her.)
I find that there is no problem getting guys to read Uglies–cool cover, nice title. But when it comes to pretties….Carrying around pretties (as a guy) also gets some weird looks. Maybe its the cover and title (probably.) I don’t think it has anything to do with content, necessarily.
As cool as the UK covers are, I think that they are even more guy-repellent. They look like adult books [not YA, really]. And they look like adult books that are written more for women, sort of–and while girls will read adult books for women and men, boys will read only men adult, generally.
Just my 2 cents, not trying to sound sexist.
aw man took too long posting haha funny though
I have to say some of my post got cut off so what i was saying is that i don’t think it matters being a guy who read, writes, paints, plays sports(well), and is all around popular. They do look girly from someone who is ignorant to the books, but i’m unusual apparently? Anyway gotta say the whole trilogy is good for everyone but it’s not goin to matter to the “preps”(which i consider myself as) because they don’t read anyway. If they did though they would only read somethin like Peeps or maybe Midnighters but they wouldn’t read a book anyway from what i see. All my friends use sparknotes so i asume they don’t read. Or don’t like to read for school
All too worried about their own image
i saw an ‘experiment’ done once, where an author who had written books called “Girls’ Stuff” and “Boys’ Stuff”. She gave the girls book to a boy, and the boys book to a girl, and told them to both walk across the schoolyard to their friends.
the girl held the book, cover facing out.
the boy stuck the book up his jumper.
1) Yes, is it, but that’s mainly because of the covers. The faces on the covers aren’t that guy-image friendly.
2) Yes.
3) It’s the covers, and the title of ‘Pretties.’ I’ll get a guy interested in the book, then hold it up to show him, and he’ll be like “What? No!” I have to convince him it’s not girly despite the cover.
4) Yes. Girls read a lot more than boys in general. However, adult men read just as much as adult women, in my opinion. I think girls read more than boys because boys are always pressured into sports and other ‘guy’ things. There is also theory that one of the differences inherint in girls and boys is that girls are naturally better at being still and absorbing information from a source, such as a book, whereas boys have to develope that ability- at first most of them need to act everything out.
Haha still posting…
It does seem that more girls read but i know my friend and i always read at home more than in school, which means more time to finish straight through. Although my girlfriend always brings books to school to read.
So i would say that it can be assumed that girls read more in school, and guys if they read, read more at home.
So i guess people just think girls read more because they read at school. Although all my other friends don’t even read at all “too busy”. Haha hard to make a stand cause i know better than to make assumptions.
Anyway main point is love the books and tell people the old cleshay “Don’t judge a book by its cover”
As much as I hate to say it, book covers matter. I think boys would pick up a book with a cover of new pretty town and hoverboarding and bungee jackets much sooner than some *random* girl hiding behind a plant.
I LOVE this trilogy. couldn’t put the books down. loved the characters, themes and amazing action scenes.
That’s it. When I write my first girl-oriented YA novel, I’m calling it “Things NOT Exploding”. Too good not to steal. 🙂
Debra Doyle wrote an essay over at Viable Paradise called The Girl Cooties Theory of Literature that I think is relevant to this debate: http://www.sff.net/paradise/girlcooties.htm
I’d say Uglies has plenty of hardness and rigor (she cracks me up), but is still crawling with cooties.
However, what did Lex Luthor say about reading? “Some people can read War and Peace and come away thinking it’s a simple adventure story. Others can read the ingredients on a chewing gum wrapper and unlock the secrets of the universe.”
When my wife read LOTR for the first time, she loved it. I asked her what she loved best, and she said “the characters”.
To which I said, “Huh?”
You find what you’re looking for. With everything going on in this series, I think you’ve got something to attract everybody.
Of course, as far as the cover, I’ve got to agree. Pouty pretty people on the cover says “girl book”. Unless they’ve got fangs.
When is Last Days coming out again? 🙂
Katelyn
there is one exception to that–> ME. Haha i do practically everything including, golf, running track, ultimate frisbee(which is alot more fun than it sounds), paint, read, write, and i’m believe it or not popular as well as having a 98 average in school. NOw what should i do with my newfound exception(alism)?
sorry for stealing your thunder rob ^.^
1) I feel like it’s eaier to get girls to read it.
2) Boys usually ask me if anything blows up in it, and I’m like, “Hell yeah!”
3) I think it’s mostly the themes.
4) At my school, yeah I definetly think girls read more than guys. That’s what I notice, anyway.
6) I’m a little paranoid now, yeah.
Oh, and I was really looking forward to The Pink Fairy Learns Ballet. I bet Anna Pavlova could have owned a machine gun.
hahaha no problem Korbe 😛
[/sense]
I’m parinoid about ANY book I’m toting around people will say, What’s that book? Most of the time, I don’t want to tell them. Something about people knowing what I’m reading freaks me out.
I also don’t say to other people “Hey, that’s a good book.” When I see them reading a book I’ve read.
If the cover is, say, pink or somethign of the sort, I’ll just put it face-down on the desk and lean over it, then slip it into my bag between classes.
I don’t know if many girls at my school read more than I, but I don’t stalk all of them home to find out. (I swear.)
And, I don’t think people feel concious about carrying the Uglies books. Except for the second one with the Pretty Boy and Girl. That got me a pok ein the shoulder, but nothing serious.
I think I got more questions about Peeps than most other books with the big eye and things. But I liked the eye. I just stood it up on it’s edge and pointed it at someone. It’s just like starign at them, but you can pay attention in class as well. A bonus.
SO WERE STILL WONDERIN WHAT THE BIG NEWS IS…… I Don’t Know if i can wait any longer!
One: I have never tried suggesting Uglies to any boys. All the girls I have suggested it to have been excited to read it (the book was suggested to me…well, only so I would stop bothering my friend. She gave me the book and was like “read this and let me do my homework”. And of course I read it, finished it in a day, then went out and bought my own copy…)
Two: I don’t think I’d get that reaction to the books If I told the guys what the story was about. Possibly if all I said was that the main character was a girl and that the title of one book was Pretties that might happen though…
Three: The cover is a picture of a girls’ face. That does sorta scream girl book…But on Uglies it makes you think more of someone hiding in the woods, not someone getting pretty-making surgery. Titles…only the title Pretties I’d think would be off-putting. Uglies and Specials sound fine, I think
Four: Yes, I do think that girls read more. At least at my age (high school)
Five: I have no idea, but it seems like the guys here are fine with liking the book…
Six: No. But should I be?
And I would read that Pink Fairy book. I can’t wait to see it in print 😛
1) Yes, I suppose it’s easier. I only talked to about 3 guys about it. They were all like, “Oh, interesting,” but otherwise they didn’t really inquire further.
2) No. I guess they never said that because they never saw the cover. Also because I explained it in a way that they understood the story, not all the relationships and cliche things that create a girl novel.
3) Beauty themes, covers, second book title… I guess that would make boys a little uncomfortable. I read another book called “Self-Made Man” and it went into the workings of males amoung males… Very paranoid of being called homosexuals and whatnot according to the book. But it’s just a book about a later generation of men, so what do I know.
4) Yes. It has themes that apply towards more females than males, I think. All over magazines, women are obsessed with being beautiful. 578 tips on how to lose weight fast! How to dye your tresses without frying them! When is a good time to get a boob job? Beauty and plastic surgery. The other theme in the books, about retaining who you are in a beauty-obsessed world, is universal to anyone though. Men are slowly becoming more concerned with their looks (bulking up and styling their hair), but the Uglies series focuses on a girl’s thoughts and dilemmas in this obsessed world, and that makes it more female accessible.
5) I’m not a boy.
6) No. You sent me on a ranting rampage.
1) When you suggest Uglies to friends, is it easier to get girls interested? This one’s hard to answer, because I’m a college student, and it’s hard to get other college students to read YA at all. I suppose most of them feel like they’ve outgrown the characters, who are now mostly younger than they are. I write YA, therefore I read YA. Plus it’s just way more fun and you don’t have to worry about being “literary.”
2) Do boys ever go “Nah, that’s girly!†if you suggest the books to them? If you can convince college students that it’s not YA (or just hide the fact that it’s YA 😛 ), then usually, by that age, most boys are comfortable enough with themselves that they’re not worried about carrying around a book that might be considered “girly.”
3) If so, do you think it’s the covers? The beauty themes? The titles? Yes, to all three, unfortunately. It’s stupid, but I think especially in high school, when everybody’s worried about how they look to everybody else, boys don’t want to carry around something that might cause others to “question their manhood” or whatever. My brother’s like that. It’s just so annoying though, and there’s not really a good solution. Make the covers too “boyish” and you’ll lose female readers. If you can manage to make the covers androgynous without making them boring, then so much the better, but it also has to do with the female main character and the subject matter. These issues pertain to boys too, but many of them would like to pretend they aren’t as worried about their image as girls are.
Another thing I’ve noticed is that girls can cross over into the boy world much more than boys can cross over into the girl world. For example, girls wear skirts and pants. Boys could never wear skirts. Girls hug each other and sit in each others’ laps. Not boys. Et cetera. I once knew girls named Michael Ann, Taylor, and Ryan. But it’s much more rare to find boys with names that could go either way, and Shannon, Courtney, and Ashley, while originating as boy names, would definitely feel amiss for boys today. Maybe it has something to do with women’s rights movements, sort of. Because women in most cultures have had to fight their way into the workforce, sports (seen any women’s football teams lately?), and various other formerly male-dominated fields/areas/social positions/etc. so people are used to seeing women fitting into roles that traditionally belonged only to men. But if a husband decides to stay home while his wife works, most people won’t bat an eye because men could always choose to do something like this (i.e. it was never against the law the way it was for, say, women to vote). Oops, I’m rambling. Next question.
And some other questions:
4) Do you think that girls read more than boys in general? It seems like it, although once again, I can’t really judge because the crazy people I hang around with have never much cared about what other people thought of them. It does seem like, on the whole, girls do read more than boys. But maybe it’s like Rob said: girls read more in public and boys just stick to it when no one sees them.
5) Do any of you boys feel weird talking about/carrying/liking Uglies? I am a girl, so no, but on the other hand, when I was in middle school I loved (and still do, to some extent) Star Trek. Heh heh, confessions. Anyway, it was definitely very weird for a girl to like such things. I suspect boys feel the same about the “girl stuff” they may happen to like.
6) Have I made you paranoid just by bringing this up? If this had happened several years ago, I would have said yes (not to Uglies but about stuff like I mentioned above). I face a somewhat less severe but similar thing by reading “kids books” in college. But I’ve long since joined the ranks of my crazy friends and told myself to get over it. If I hadn’t, I would seriously be missing out. 🙂
Hey everybody i forgot to apologize for my self-centeredness attitude earlier. But who hasn’t bragged every now and then?
its ok rob, i think that we can find it in our hearts to forgive you. (lol)
I loved your little joke scott. If anyone enjoys a really good book, then they shouldnt care what anybody else thinks about them having it. And you can never, EVER label a book for a certain sex, anyone can read anything. Plus, I know plenty of girls who love stuff exploding, and lots of guys dont like stuff blowing up as well. Gosh, isnt variety wonderful?
i feel much better now. (although it is true). Damn i did it again. When will i learn?
Honestly, I don’t think the cover is a problem. the cover of the first harry potter book was purple and the second one was pink. But it was about a boy named harry and it was written by someone with no gender.
I’ve heard many industry people say that a book about Harriet Potter written by a chick named Joanne would not have sold the same, because while girls read books by and about boys, boys only read book by boys about boys.
Scott, however, is a boy writing a book about a girl. Do people tend to think of The Golden Compass as a Girl book, I wonder?
Woah, Rebecca, you wrote HEAPS!
Anyhow, back to the questions.
1) So, I don’t think I’ve ever recommended Uglies to a guy before. I was actually wondering before this post, that most people here seem to be girls? And wondering if your books were ‘girly’ (ha, ha). Pfft, as if! But anyway, it’s probably easier to get a girl to read something called ‘Pretties’ than to get a guy. Or to get him to read at all? lol, jk
3) No, I think the covers are fine. The beauty themes might be an issue, but it’s not really about beauty as such, it’s like finding your own identity and the right to make your own decisions.
4) Yeah, I reckon girls read more in general. Maybe we’re not so into video games and such? I don’t know. Obviously lots of guys read, but not as much as girls.
And yeah Rob, totally humble pie there. Lol.
Sigh.
“Woah, Rebecca, you wrote HEAPS!”
Yeah, I tend to do that. 😀 😛
Uglies is not a girl book. (Or should I say, “Cha, Uglies is SooOOoo not a girl book, k?”)
If it was in the adult sci-fi section, men would be buying it and I’d have a hard time selling it to women. However, it’s in the teen fiction section, which is more heavily trafficked by young women.
And so it goes. (Thanks, Vonnegut.)
I hate gender bias and I defy it constantly with the books I show different people because I can’t stand hearing, “Oh, that’s for girls, that’s for boys…” Unless it says I’M A BIG SISTER NOW! on the cover or the title is CONGRATULATIONS ON BECOMING A FATHER!, then there’s no need to have gender issues.
As per that last book title/image: You ought to tap Stephen Colbert for a collaboration on that one. 😉
Okay well I read the books in class and I only had one person even notice that the cover had a picture of a girl on it for uglies and only had 3 people bug me about reading a book called pretties.
I have to admit I tried to hide the cover of pretties, because .. I like to be left alone and the last thing I need is being bugged about what I want to read. I have read books that seem to be mostly for girls (only one that comes it mind is speak but I know there are more) I don’t like girl main characters for the most part because I find it hard to relate to (duh) but this series had enough supporting males to make it not a “girl book”
I read more and faster than anyone I know (other than my mom but I think we read somewhere near as fast as each other) but that isn’t saying much since I seem to surround myself with people who hate books
Diana said “…while girls read books by and about boys, boys only read books by boys about boys…” and speaking as an industry professional, that’s largely true. Largely, not entirely – there are always exceptions.
It’s also true that as readers get a little older, they tend to become less terrified of reading outside that narrow gender divide. Which is all to the good.
I have trouble getting guy friends to read it because there are females on the covers.
1) When you suggest Uglies to friends, is it easier to get girls interested?
I’ve never suggested it to any guys, though one of my guy friends did see me reading Pretties, and told me it looked like a girls book… However when I’ve suggested it to girls, theyre like ‘ooh gimme!” One of my friends actually stole my copy of uglies…
2) Do boys ever go “Nah, that’s girly!†if you suggest the books to them? As I said in the above answer, the one guy I’ve mentioned the book to did pass it off as a girly book
3) If so, do you think it’s the covers? The beauty themes? The titles? All of the above. Especially the cover and title for Pretties. Uglies could almost be passed off as a weird psycho nature story if you looked at the cover, and Specials definitely looks more like a Sci-Fi book. But Pretties? Sounds totally like a girl’s book. The beauty themes themselves I think are just generally more important to girls than guys. While I’m sure that guys are under pressure to conform to some sort of physical standard, its hardly as strong or publicised as the pressure on girls. It becomes part of our daily life. I have to admit there have been times where every 10 minutes or so in class I’ve thought “should I have worn this today?” “Gah I feel fat” “Eep, my makeup is smudged!”, and I’m one of the least ‘girly’ girls in my class, so I’d hate to think what the others go through. Point is, I think the beauty themes are simply easier for girls to relate to than boys.
4) Do you think that girls read more than boys in general? Yeah, at my school you hear girls discussing the DaVinci Code. You hear guys discussing the baseball game last night.
1) When you suggest Uglies to friends, is it easier to get girls interested?
Actually, guy friends seem to be more interested… most of my girl friends minus a few are not into any sort of SciFi, Action, or Fantasy besides Harry Potter…
And a note about the covers… they probably do look more girlish… Well, uglies for example… I picked it up and had no idea that is was going to be futurisitc at all…
And some other questions:
4) Do you think that girls read more than boys in general? I think so, more books are marketed towards them…
6) Have I made you paranoid just by bringing this up? Saying as I’m a girl… no
but btw… I was at a bookstore this weekend… almost positive it was Borders… whichever one started that every song in the world thing… although those machines like simultaneously (and spontaneously of course) combusted or at least broke down, froze, and restarted… So anyway back to your books… they were in these display of new books in the midst of several Georgie Nicholson books, The Secret Life of GIdeo something or other (new GGesque book) and several other books that no boy would be caught dead reading…
Gildeon*
… I think
1) Actually, of all the people I’ve advertised to, (which is a grand total of five) only my kid brother has actually taken it up. And he’s reading it with an astonishing vigor. So no.
2) Not in my experience.
4) In general? Yes. But I know heaps of boys who read and love to read, and can have really interesting conversations about what they’ve read.
Of course.. I’m in college, where it’s nowhere near as socially damaging to be smart, bookish, and intellectual.
And when I read “my next book, which is called..” I got all excited! I thought it was the big news! You’re a hope squasher, Mr Westerfeld. *sighhhh*
🙂
Er.. addition to my answer to #1: Of the five, four were girls. The boy took up my offer partly because he didn’t have to buy the book himself. He didn’t take it to school though, which might mean that he didn’t want to be seen reading it, or it could more simply be explained that he didn’t want to bring down the wrath of the sister by ruining a book at school. Heh. I’d go with the latter.
And as for the other four girls, one is getting Uglies for her birthday. And two others are going to spend a week here, so I’ll press it on them then. *wink* Never fear, I shall continue spreading the good word!
(WARNING content might offend people that want to be janitors or get offended over nothing)
books are books….with words…long words that boys at my school don’t
understand. No really, the boys at my school are braindead. not all boys though, the smart ones that actually read and will not end you working at the school as lunch workers. The Uglies is a great book and the rest of the trilogy is too but (some) boys are too jugdemental and will refuse to pick up a book without the words War or Bikinis in the title. Don’t blame the books content blame the people that pick it up and read the back
Is “Uglies” a girl book!? I don’t think it’s just based to any one gender. I’ve gotten two guys to read it. The one said that it was very thought stimulating and the other is now on a quest to make a hoverboard of his own (weirdo). But it was a hassle to get them to read Uglies at least. They said the cover looked feminne and unintersting to a guy. Specials was a lot easier to push over on them cause there was a guy on the cover (David right?) Specials….well haven’t quite gotten around to telling them about it, just finished it myself. [Edited to remove spoiler. The spoiler zone is the place for spoilers.] I think girls deffently do read more then guys. It’s just how we are. I mean my friends are different but in general, you don’t see many guys carring books with a girl on the cover. (why I don’t get cause once they read it they love it) We spend hours talking about Tally and her adventure. Her romance with Zane and David is always heated even amoung my guy friends. We talk about Shay and houverboards. We always get into what character we associate with, if we’d turn Pretty or go to the Smoke, and even if our lively hood is coming to a world like Tally’s. We even sometimes link the phrases into our daily lives. Like…”I’m so bubbly today!” or “Pretty-making shirt!” then when people ask what the heck we’re talking about we explain and suck more people into the captivationg plot! The question isn’t silly, every intersting infact! I was recommened to the series by a girl but I haven’t had any real problems getting guys to read it! And just to throw the question out there: have you seen any fanfics for Uglies? Like I said, just throwing it out there!
oh i think you mean the pretties with the guy on the cover becuase if on the cover of specials if that is a guy…wow i wouldn’t like to be him 🙂
1. Yes. This is because I don’t usually talk about books with my guy freinds. It might also be because the usual one sentence summary is “It’s about a girl who lives in a futuristic world where cosmetic surgery is mandatory,” which unfortunately sounds more interesting to girls. I think it’s more difficult to convince a guy to read something. However, if I could get a guy interested enough to read Uglies, then I’m pretty sure that he’d be hooked.
3. The cover of Uglies is the girliest of the three, which is unfourtunate because it’s the first one. The beauty theme is suggested by the title and would probably give a girly first impression.
4. Yeah, I do. My best guy friend is really into music, and likes to tease me about reading and writing so much. Not in a bad way, though. In my expirience, most guys who talk about books with their freinds are mainly into stereotypical sci-fi, which Uglies is not because it’s so much cooler and more original. And a few are into Harry Potter. Now that I think about it, girls are probably just a lot more vocal about reading than guys. But it does seem as though they’re less likely to go into a bookstore and browse until they find something that sounds good, which is how I got to be a fan of your books. I think that might be because there are so many YA novels targeted at girls, while there aren’t many that are really “guys only”.
If I knew A smart, neat (not as in tidy i mean nice/cool(not as in popular))guy who was as hooked on this trilogy as me, I would definetly go out with him! I’m not shallow but I’m a sucker for pretty eyes and the nerdy type! Anyone can read this book as long as they don’t trash talk it!
1) When you suggest Uglies to friends, is it easier to get girls interested?
I think so b/c guys think that books are the devil or something. The last time I saw a guy w/ a reading book was The Giver for a school assignment. Whearas some of my friends who are girls started reading the series (Jillibean!)
3) If so, do you think it’s the covers? The beauty themes? The titles?
Maybe. Though UGLIES isn’t really something to keep a guy away from a book. I mean, the title PRETTIES may. But then again, Pretties and Specials could have the guys going “Hot girl on the front! I wonder what that book is about!” So I don’t think that’s it. Of course, if the title were A GIRL IS UGLY AND RUNS INTO THE WILDERNESS TO DECIEVE ALL HER FRIENDS AND THEN GETS CAPTURED AND TURNED INTO AN IDIOT, that would get ANYONE’S attention.
And some other questions:
4) Do you think that girls read more than boys in general?
Yeah. Especially in Jr. High. Guys don’t really start reading untill college.
AND ANOTHER THING….
The Pink Fairy Learns Ballae
Wow. That’s funny. Cuz there is a gun on the front of the book. Ha. Hahaha. I would buy that if you published that.
Well I think what matters is how the font cover looks like. Make it look both guyish and girlish so we all wont have any problems carrying it around. I know, I know, dont judge a book by its cover, but hey, it just an idea.
1) When you suggest Uglies to friends, is it easier to get girls interested?
A. Well, I’ve never recommended it to a guy before. But most girls, save one, that I recommended it to read it. The one couldn’t get past the cat vomit sky.
2) Do boys ever go “Nah, that’s girly!†if you suggest the books to them?
A. See above
3) If so, do you think it’s the covers? The beauty themes? The titles?
And some other questions:
4) Do you think that girls read more than boys in general?
A. Depends on what you mean by read. Guys read a lot of mags and comics, and a lot of girls love Gossip Girl, A-List, or Emo books, so if you’re talking books, definitely.
5) Do any of you boys feel weird talking about/carrying/liking Uglies?
Like Mo’Steel from K.A. Applegate’s Remnants series would call me: I’m a fem.
6) Have I made you paranoid just by bringing this up?
^
Also, I say you write the Pink Ballet Book. That would be funny as….well, it’d be pretty funny!
i really dont care if the book is girly or boyish. if it’s a good book i’ll try it. I really liked Uglies..I’m just now finishing it up..for the 7th time. and starting Specials soon!
MAN!! that would have been an awsome book. well i dont think they are that girl-ish. just about anyone i offer the book to says no. not b/c its a bad book, i am just known for reading wierd books… but i do think that girls read more that guys.
ok i was wondering if i was the only one this happens to: when i am reading a book and my friend asks to see it, they read the back out-loud in this ‘drAMATIC’ voice and it makes the book sound really stupid. even tho it is good. i hate when that happens(that is why i an known for reading wierd books)
My friends that are girls are usually easier to get interested, mostly because they are usually open to anything. they guys are usually repelled by it because of the cover and the titles sometimes (usually pretties). and the fact that the main character is a girl.
Amy- my friends do that all the time and its soo annoying. i hate it! but then i just get them to read the book and I make fun of them for making fun of my book.
Not being in school anymore, I can really only answer these questions as an observerant bookseller.
All of the kids asking me when “Specials” was coming out (and telling me I had to read the series) were girls. I haven’t tried to sell Uglies/Pretties/Specials to boys because well…
People ask me for both “boy” and “girl” books. I mean this quite literally. Grandmothers come in asking for books for their newborn grandkids and when I suggest Sandra Boynton they will often ask for something more “girlie” or “boyish?” (huh?) Mothers (it does seem to be mostly mothers, unfortunately) who are trying to pick up books for reluctant readers will ask for “girl stories” or “a story a boy would like.” Most of the times I’ve suggested action stories that feature girls to boys or their parents, I get funny looks. I’ve had a grandmother tell me she couldn’t buy “Ella Sarah Get’s Dressed” (she asked for a book about learning how to dress oneself) before even opening it because it was for her grandson. I’ve had other people tell me that they couldn’t get “Faerie Wars” for a boy because the cover features a butterfly, and that their grandson won’t read “The Series of Unfortunate Events” because it’s about two girls and only one boy. I do get girls that gravitate towards stories that are actually about girls, but on the whole girls seem to have an easier time crossing the gender divide than boys do.
Then again, I stopped trying to suggest “The True Confession’s of Charlotte Doyle” to boys interested in adventure fairly early on. Maybe I just gave up too soon. Plus, the most extreme rejections seem to come second or third-hand. Sometimes I wonder if the boy in question is just being stubborn, in part because…
I’m sure it doesn’t help that it’s usually women who work in the kids/teen sections of bookstores and that it’s usually mothers and grandmothers asking for help. If I were a boy, and everyone helping me pick out books was female, I’m not sure I’d trust the lady bookseller’s opinion either. Which is why I usually add something about my brother loving it, my male co-workers loving it, and/or other boys loving it, when applicable. (And hey! Thanks to comments on this site I get to say truthfully that I know guys who liked Uglies!)
But that’s just in my part of the world.
ps – Yes, fathers do come into the store, thank goodness. Quite often they even asking me questions along with the mother. It’s just very rare that such fathers will have sons who are having trouble reading or finding books they like. hmmm….
I haven’t suggested Uglies to my guy friends because they don’t read so i guess maybe girls do read a tiny bit more but then again, boys like comics though….
i think girls are more into it than boys are though.
i rarely hear about boys reading this and that…..or waiting to read about a book coming out soon. All in all i don’t think it should matter when a book seems interesting to read and i think its their big male ego that prevents them to do it. The fact that it could be a girl book gets to them i guess…..
oh and the supposedly new book you are writing seemed kinda interesting……..i actually thought you were writing it……….
1) When you suggest Uglies to friends, is it easier to get girls interested? More girls I know read than boys, so I’m not a good “control” crowd.
2) Do boys ever go “Nah, that’s girly!†if you suggest the books to them? No, more like “READ?! What’s that?” (Not to suggest that men are less intelligent than women.)
3) If so, do you think it’s the covers? The beauty themes? The titles? I wouldn’t say that any of your books are single-sexed. I mean, who judges books by their covers? Plus, while I relate more to a female point of view–being one myself–it’s sometimes more sensible to be in a male p.o.v. for a novel or two. Just because Tally is the main character in Uglies doesn’t make the book any more or less “girly.” What about a tom-boyish girl protagonist? Does that make the book too girly for boys and too boyish for frilly girls?
4) Do you think that girls read more than boys in general? At my age, I feel like girls do. And the boys that I know that do read constantly do it in the privacy of their bedrooms/living rooms, not in the cafe of our school, or in class. I’m looking forward to boys discovering books, because in all honestly, that is something I–a strange book obsessed woman–am attracted to.
Five and Six do not apply to me.
1) When you suggest Uglies to friends, is it easier to get girls interested?
~Yes. Guys look at it, but they don’t really go, OOH, I HAVE TO READ THIS.
2) Do boys ever go “Nah, that’s girly!†if you suggest the books to them? ~No, they just look at it like “it’s not their type.
3) If so, do you think it’s the covers? The beauty themes? The titles?
~They probably don’t because I have a whole lot of girls reading it, and they probably assume that it’s chick lit.
4) Do you think that girls read more than boys in general?
~Actually, yes. I see a whole lot more girls with their noses in books, chick lit, sci-fi, or otherwise.
I really don’t think it’s that big of a deal, because I read anything. Boy or girl books.
Kind of off topic, but today I found out that Uglies is on the Lonestar book list.
heh.
Trust me Scott, if it was a girl book, I would never have given it a second glance. Something about books with girls who aren’t starting fights or taking over the world or something equally interesting just makes me want to puke. And I have lots of friends who are guys, and it’s next to impossible to get them to read anything. They prefer to jump off cliffs, drive things into lakes, shoot each other with paintballs, etc. Not that I’m not in on most of it too, but I also know how to read. Oh, by the way, congratulations on your new book (joking lol).
Sad but true, for most kids, there are “boy” books and “girl” books. There are quite a few kids who don’t care, who pay more attention to story and themes than the sex of the main character. Girls do seem to cross over more and Rebecca’s analogy with pants and skirts is excellent. But for many of my students, it makes a difference.
I suggest _Uglies_ to everyone because I’m fanatical, but because I am a female school librarian I get more skepticism from my guys. The girls grab it up and it circulates under the radar. With the boys I have to give descriptions of hoverboards and parachute jackets, hiding from the authorities and jumping off buildings. And, yes, exploding things.
Once they are in, they are in, though, wherever they want to read. Nerd boys, sports boys, prep boys, whatever. And several boys I hooked with the disgusting parts of _Peeps_ , so all I have to do is say, “Well, Scott also wrote…”
The Uglies trilogy is definately unisex books, however, Pretties is kinda a girlie title. I suggest the trilogy to anybody interested in reading.
By the way Scott, why do you consider plastic surgery a girlie thing?
I had two sort of revelations today, I’d thought I’d share…
1. There are tons of books a boy wouldn’t be caught dead reading, but there’s barely any that even if they appeal to more males that someone would think was strange if a girl was reading…
2. This doesn’t have to do w/ the gender difference, but I thought I’d let you know… I could catergorize my reading into two categories… disposable and nondisposable (plus books for school…) Disposable books I just read to have something to read… I may enjoy them, but I never read them again or give them much thought after I’m done… The others are books I’ll reread, discuss with friends, or even go to the author’s blog to post comments… haha
1.its much easier to get girls interested in uglies, but that again i don’t know many guys who read anything.
2.i know guys who’ve given them weird looks. they don’t understand the whole ugly, but how she looks pretty thing. in confuses there poor little heads.
3.i think its the cover. many guys (especially in my town) are homophobic, so anything girly is a no-no
4.in my experience girls read more. most guys that i see that read are anti-social, while the girls are from both sides of the social pool
and that whole ballerina fairy things looks really good.
lol
thats totally something i would pick up at a bookstore
also,
i hate the idea of men and women being different.
i really don’t think theres anything different (minus physicalness!)
its just society who says were different.
you can see gender lines fading in many places too!
(p.s. i wrote an essay on this, and i talked about books! oh yeah!!!)
For the most part, yes, it is easier to get girls interested in Uglies than boys. However, I think this has to more to with the fact that the girls I know read a lot more than the boys, and in very different genres. The boys get really caught up in seeming cool and smart, or cool and urban. They’re either reading Catcher in the Rye and On The Road, or the biographies of rappers and sports stars. Girls (at least the girls I spend time with) tend to be more open to different kids of books, and read a little bit of everything.
To be completely honest. The majority of my friends are boys and I’ve never had a single one of them call anything about me ‘girly’. You know why? Because they know that calling something ‘girly’ is a unfair generalzation. For example saying all pretties are bubbleheads is not technically true because Tally was able to unbubble (I love that word) herself while she was still a ‘pretty’. There are always different cirumstances and not everyone fits with ‘the majority’ thats just called humanity. This goes back to the time-old lecture that everyone is different and no matter how incredabley cheesey it may sound it’s true, every single molocuel inside of you is somehow unique, just like snowflakes (which acctually ties in with an interesting big bang theory but, thats a bit off topic now isn’t it?). The books I recomend to my friends are books that I found exceptional and unique and I have recommened every Scott Westerfeild book I could get my hands on to every friend I have, both male and female (but, mostly male because the some of females at my school have decided to rename me as ‘that gothic bookworm’ which of course automaically trigures a historical fact in my mind that Goths were a Germanic tribe who conconquered Rome and I naturally had to lecture them about it…off topic again, sorry). Well, my point is that none of Scott’s books are gender specific unless ‘teens’ are a gender all there own (which is acctually debatable in my opinion).
-Athena
i love how u use the word BUBBLE a lot in your books.
bubble
thats just such a fun word to says
bubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubblebubble
yayzers!
1.) So far, I’ve only advertized (offline) to two boys—one of which has read and enjoyed Uglies very much. The other is my cousin, who I assume will be reading it soon. Thus, I can’t say whether it is easier to advertize to males or females.
2.) See above question.
3.) See #4.
4.) Our society is definately structured so that reading is considered “girly”—my school’s Book Discussion Club and the Faculty Book Discussion Club are composed almost entirely of female readers. Reading is unfortunately widely considered to be a “feminine” or “geeky” activity. *shakes head in dismay*
When novels were gaining in popularity in the 1700s, readers were mostly women because they stayed at home to work—and men simply didn’t have time to read when there were logs to be hewn and money to be made. Perhaps, hundreds of years later, we still have this outdated mindset that reading is a feminine activity.
5.) N/A.
6.) N/A.
I remember once my librarian lauded a male author as being exceedingly creative by writing from a female character’s point of view, when authors have been doing this for centuries. However, I do recall that my librarian never said anything about female authors who write from male characters’ points of view—which has also been done for centuries.
hmm. scott have you ever considered changing the theme of the blog? I was just wondering because you’re using the default theme.
I haven’t advertised Pretties or Uglies or Ppecials to any boys, though I have to lots of girls, and there was a fairly long waiting list for people to read Pretties when I bought it, and also right now there is a fairly long waiting list for people to read Specials because I bought it. I do really think that my friends will have to keep Specials over the summer to read it.
We did literature circles at school and I don’t think there were any boys in the Uglies group, actually. Boys don’t like to read as much as girls, do they?
bubblebubblebubble. I used to be obsessed with bubbles. heh.
I see most of the answers to number four, ‘Do you think that girls read more than boys in general?’
I guess this is true, but I don’t see really anyone reading at my school. Except a few, but they are reading manga, something I’ve not ventured into yet.
I guess girls do read more, and male readers are fewer. But at school, I’m most commonly known as ‘the guy who reads a lot’.
I am starting a book club next year at school. I guess I’ll know then. It’d be kinda awkward if I’m the only guy in there…
Hey, guys. Thanks for all your great feedback. (And for telling your friends, male and female, about my books.)
Sorry I haven’t been speaking up much in this thread, or answering a lot of email, but we’re moving from Sydney to NYC on Monday! 10,000 miles to travel, 5,000 books to pack.
But I am reading these (and all other) comments, and your info and perspectives are making me smarter. Cheers for that.
Bubble, bubble.
P.S. There is a clear theme here that girls are interested in boys who read.
Surely some guys can see the appeal in that, right?
Scott i’m sure i speak for all of us when i say thanks for writing all the books and we forgive you for not answering our emails right away, but don’t put them off too long and forget about them.
WHAT’S THE BIG NEWS WERE STILL WAITING………??? i’m so impatient. ;-p
Hey maybe you could take an impromptu trip up to Binghamton, and do an impromptu book signing????
Well, since I picked up Uglies randomly at a book fair this weekend, and since I have no friends (I just moved) I have yet to suggest the books to a large variety of people.. in fact, only two. One, my younger sister (she’s 14, I’m 17), who seemed interested, but then again, we have *almost* identical taste in books, so perhaps that shouldn’t surprise me.
And yesterday I checked out Pretties from the library in the morning at school, and finished it during seventh period (couldn’t put it down 🙂 ), when the guy (as in a male) who sits next to me inquired about it – and this was Pretties. So I give him a minute-synopsis (something about pretty is normal and normal is ugly and they rebel in the forest) and he appeared intereted. However, he’s gay (no, I’m not making an assumption, I heard him say “I’m gay” with my own ears) so I don’t know what that implies. Anything? Maybe – hard to say. I’d be interested to hear what everyone here thinks. I’d like to point out he doesn’t appear like the stereotypical ‘gay guy.’ He’s a big broad fellow with impressive metallic ear piercings. Although his voice does have ‘the lilt’… you know what I mean. And he occasionally wears pink, but that hardly means anything, I’ve seen tons of guys wearing pink the past year or two, it seems to be somewhat ‘in.’
I suppose I ought to make friends with more people to see what they think about books, haha.
oh, yeah, and scott is totally right. I’ll have crushes on guys, but the moment I see them with a book it just escalates. “Oh my god! Not only is he cute and funny and probably a perfect life mate.. HE’S LITERATE!” It’s always such a thrill, haha. I don’t think I could ever date someone who couldn’t discuss books with me.
I think the covers might be what embarasses the guys- if I were a boy I wouldn’t want to be caught dead with a book that had pictures of made-up girls on the covers. ( I love the covers, but then, I’m a GIRL.)
I don’t know if Uglies is a girl book, but it did make the Tiptree long list.
(I bet Pink Fairy would do even better.)
I hate you. i thought that book was for real. You meanie.
yeh, anna is rite, i would be kinda embarresed if im caught carrying around one of those books, like i said on my last post, its the cover that matters.
hmmm. this is an interesting discussion. I think that most girls read just more in general. Also, most guys think it’s lame to read at all, like if they do read a book that is not all blood and fighting then it is nerdy or something. I think that guys would really like your book, but they would have to be brave enough to get past the peer pressure and open the book first.
This to me is just stupid, because like jane said, i love a guy who knows his books. Just keep writing scott, you know you will always have a huge girl audience and if those boys can’t ditch their pride for your amazing stories, then that’s their problem!!! humph!!!lol
yeah! if guys can’t forget about their ego and read a good book, then they dont deserve to read it. ‘the princess bride’ is a GREAT book, look at the title-not a very manly sounding book is it? but people are tourchered(i can’t spell that) and people die-a good book let me tell ya…
Oh, I love The Princess Bride! Such a hot, manly story 🙂 haha. and the names always made me laugh. Princess Buttercup, Prince Humperdink.. teehee. But really, there’s not a whole lot of ‘girly’ stuff in there.
didn’t they make a movie out of that? If it’s the movie i’m think of then it’s a sweet movie.
I’m a guy who knows his books any takers?
Haha sorry already taken. (what a tease)
Yeah, they did make a movie out of it – that’s actually why I read the book, I loved the movie so much, hehhehe, that’s a switch from the usual. I espcially love The Cliffs of Insanity!… or maybe just the way they say it.
And sorry, no internet dating for me! why would I date someone who I cant even kiss? What would be the point? Haha, sorry to diasappoint y’all.
or ‘Hello, my name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father: prepare to die…’ i love that. good times, good times…
Okay…i wouldnt say these are books for either girl or boy books, but they are definately for all ages because im only 11 and i read these books!
1) When you suggest Uglies to friends, is it easier to get girls interested?
Yeah, probably because girls will read anything good, while guys have a hard time even deciding to pick up a book (generally).
2) Do boys ever go “Nah, that’s girly!†if you suggest the books to them?
Yep, all the time.
3) If so, do you think it’s the covers? The beauty themes? The titles?
It could be all of the above. Now at the same time, I don’t think the covers, the themes, or the titles could be anything but what they are.
4) Do you think that girls read more than boys in general?
Yes, definetely. Especially around high school age, guys get absorbed in sports, simply hanging out with friends, and being cool.
Mabye on ‘The Pink Fairy Learns Ballet’ cover, teh machine gun should be pink, but have a fireball in the background.
wait.
You know it’s not real. Right?
Well, the book’s not real. But the Pink Fairy is very, very real.
But how about the Pink Fairy’s submachine gun? Is that real?
David, of course it’s real. The very idea of the Pink Fairy without a submachine gun! It’s preposterous!
I have successfully converted three of my girl friends into Uglies fans. When I tried to get my friend Adam to read it he said “I could never read that”, however, my friend Zac, who’s really sensitive, told me he thinks he’d really like it.
To answer another question, I think it is most definitely the tiles/covers that keep guys from wanting to read them- Especially the cover and title of Pretties.
And yes, I believe the girls most certainly read more than boys in general. In Fact, I get made fun of for reading by a few of the guys at me school.
Hey. Scott. I was just finishing Specials last week, (by the way, rocked) I brought it to school cause we have D.E.A.R. (Yes, I’m still in eighth grade and we have DEAR. Sad. Anyways, (Oh, by the way, I’m a 14 year old boy) when DEAR time came in Langauge i pulled out the book from under my binder and a group of kids started to laugh. I asked them why they were laughing. THey told me after class and never let me hear the end of it, one week later, still bugging me about. Calling me slurs, gay and queer because i read a book with a girl on the cover. I was and still am partially mortified. I just can’t stand some people’s ignorance. Damn them! Thanks Scott for writing some kick-ass books, specailly’ the Midnighter Sereis. Thanks. Dylan
Sorry. I forgot to adress another question. Hell yeah are there more girl books then guy books in Barnes and Nobels. It’s all about sex and girls while guys like me can only get some Sci-Fi and the ocassional sports book, i HATE basketball books…except Travel Team…anways, i must go. keep on writing Scott.
Dylan
Also, Justine’s book, Magic/Madness rocked. I have the sequel in my locker at school ready to read tommorow morning. THanks for writing awesome books, including Peeps. Where can i get Rising Empires?
I have two new people on my Pretties and Specials waiting list. Both are girls. In fact, in the Spring Literature Groups there are four people in the Uglies group, and all are girls.
ah, the whole thing is just ridiculous. is there a rule somewhere that social mores have to make absolutely no sense? i mean, really. if i carry around a book with guns and blood and guts on the cover, i’m just a little rebellious. but if i cut all my hair off, i’m *probably* lesbian, or somehow less feminine. if a guy walks around with a book called Pretties, he’s gay, he loses masculinity points. but if he grows out his hair long, he’s just a little rebellious.
things are just not lining up here, and it’s irritating. mores are for morons. grr.
the only boys that are afraid to read books like that are ones that don’t have enough self-esteem to ignore the evil remarks.
hey, not everyone can have enough self-esteem. it’s not like self-concious, shy, low self-esteem people enjoy inhibting themselves. they got enough to deal with without people belittling them for their issues.
eveyrone these days is so pretentious, it’s driving me crazy. “i dont care what people think” — what a BIG FAT LIE. you do too! we’re human! human = social creature! if you dont care what i think, than, frankly, i’m insulted. i’d like my opinions to be listened to and respected, not ignored and blown off with a nonchalant, careless “i dont’ care.”
well, i care what people think of me. i’m not going to lie to myself. i think about what i wear, how i appear, how i sound, what i say, how i behave. so does everyone!! it drives me absolutely nuts who so many kids try to prove their confidence and independence and indivduality with absurd claims! they dont care!??! why on earth not? i care! so now i’m the lowly, weak indivdual simply because I CARE about YOU, and i dont even know you!! yes, i care what strangers think of me!
clearly, it’s not driving me crazy. it’s already driven me there. so lock me up.
so yeah. if i were a guy, and i thought i’d get hassled for carrying around Pretties, i wouldn’t carry it around, i’d read it at home. so what? being hassled just to prove ‘i dont care what you think of me’ is redundant, and stupid, if you ask me.
oh, i’m sorry it’s really late and im tired and high on caffine and gah… just an angry, confused, hormonal young adult trying to slog her way through all the stupidity of youth in to the bright clarity of adulthood that she’s beginning to suspect doesn’t even exsits…
and plus, i’m insecure. dont be dissing with the insecure kids, man. like i said, we got enough issues already without people heaping disdain on us.
I have a lot easier time convincing my girls students to read them than boys. They said that it’s the Uglies and Pretties that does it. Also, the covers. If I can get them to read the books, though, they love them.
still anticipating that big news Scott…
Word i’m with kayla. WHATS THE BIG NEWS!!!!!!!!
Hey, I’m commentor number 100!
Do I win a special prize?
Lol.
1) When you suggest Uglies to friends, is it easier to get girls interested? i found it about =…. my guy freinds wanted to know if there where any guys in it and if there where chases and if things blow up.. haha…girls want to know if there is a love storie
2) Do boys ever go “Nah, that’s girly!†if you suggest the books to them? a few did at first but when they read a little they where like this book rocks my socks!! lol
3) If so, do you think it’s the covers? The beauty themes? The titles? i think its the theme that may say girl book to them at first….the covers are freaking awesome most of my guy friends liked them
4) Do you think that girls read more than boys in general? i read a lot more then any guys i know…all my guy friends just read what they have to for school and suck….i was in a book clube a year or so back and there were 10 girls and no guys at all…..i think thats a little sad
6) Have I made you paranoid just by bringing this up? haha not at all
first off, i cannot believe that the uglies trilogy is OVER> i’m devestated and i don’t know how i’m going to survive. i wish is was a trigoly times 20. i just bought it yesterday but i had already read it. it’s kind of a bummer that two are paperback and one is hardback but it’s whats between the covers that counts. sooo to answer your questions–well kind of–when i bought the book yesterday the guy at the counter knew what the books were and had read them and we talked about how the covers are different. i think these books are for boys and girls but when i asked my brothers if they wanted to read them they said they were girl books but i think they are for both. i’m still excited as ever for so yesterday the movie to be out any dates on that yet? i hope that the uglies trilogy turns into movies too.
1) When you suggest Uglies to friends, is it easier to get girls interested? Well it is easier to get girls interested when I’d mention the love part, but thats only to the um.. denser group of my girl friends. But as for the ones that would actually consider borrowing it from me, or picking it up themselves, would go more indepth as to what its about. Like my 22 year old brother wouldnt mind reading it because of the futuristic theme, but he does have, when it comes to books for some God aweful reason, an ADD tendancy.
I have a lot of artistic friends, and even myself, have made our own tatoo, like the one that Tally has on her face. So trying to get my brother to at least start the book, wasnt that hard. As was with my other guy friends who actually read.
2) Do boys ever go “Nah, that’s girly!†if you suggest the books to them? A few did, but then those few did what the other ones did, and read it. Maybe not all of it, because thats just the way they are, but at least the first couple chapters.
3) If so, do you think it’s the covers? The beauty themes? The titles? The titles could get the girls’ attention easier, like it did with me. But whats actually in the book gets the guys’ attention.
4) Do you think that girls read more than boys in general? For me, its half and half. A lot of my girl friends read. And a lot of my guy friends read. But the guys who read, read really long.. long.. long novels. Or mangas! haha
6) Have I made you paranoid just by bringing this up? Nope.
“Hell yeah are there more girl books then guy books in Barnes and Nobels.”
Yes, there are. We also get more parents who are worried about their girls reading “adult” books than parents who are worried about their boys reading “adult” books. Well, in my experience anyway. (I’m thinking it has as much to do with the “sex and…” part as it does the gender of their offspring.) Thus the relative parity in throughout kid’s section versus the very obvious lack of balance in the teen section.
psst…Scott – If I sold one of your books today does that mean I get a special treat, like, um, maybe a hint about the big news? 🙂
Well, if you sold the book and kept the money? Perhaps not.
But wait, you mean ‘sold’ like advertised it and then they bought it at Dymocks or something! Still no.
Lol.
1) When you suggest Uglies to friends, is it easier to get girls interested?
Yes. But don’t blame yourself.
3) If so, do you think it’s the covers? The beauty themes? The titles?
It’s the covers. Which includes the titles. Don’t get me wrong, I love the covers, they are what enticed me to read the series in the first place. I just couldn’t ignore that stare from the cover of Uglies anymore after walking past it so many times at B & N. However, I think it scares the boys away. They are intimidated by the girl’s stare, and her challenge that they might garner a few raised eyebrows if spotted carrying that book around.
And some other questions:
4) Do you think that girls read more than boys in general?
I think that teen girls read more FICTION than boys.
I hope you don’t mind my posting a review of the Uglies trilogy on my blog. It will be up soon, as I just finished reading Specials this morning. 😉 Don’t worry, it will be a rave, not a rant.
On behalf of fairies everywhere, woo hoo.
(One of my nicknames is Tink.)
And speaking of which, check out #7 on the Children’s Picturebook list:
FAIRYOPOLIS: A FLOWER FAIRIES JOURNAL, written and illustrated by Cicely Mary Barker. (Warne, $19.99.) Fairies I have known. (Ages 8 and up)
Wow. The Pink Fairy has no chance against the Flower Fairies of Fairyopolis.
PS Librarian: Can’t wait to see your review.
hmm i need some advice. I keep writing short stories and my mom who is pretty good in english keeps correcting them, but i don’t want them corrected. Whenever she corrects one she changes the story alot. I do use some of the corrections sometimes. I’m not sure i appreciate it but i like her input because she’s more experienced than me. ANY SUGGESTIONS???? (i have no idea what to do.)
PS by input i mean if she likes it and what part is a little shaky ect.
Hey!
The Uglies trilogy is not one that I would reccommend to a guy friend. Don’t get me wrong, I love the books, but I don’t think they’d read them. Yes, the covers are a part of that (sad but true, we do judge books by their covers). Still, I think if I could get a guy friend to read something like Peeps, they might be so draw in that they’d ask about other books by the author, in which case I’d shove my copy of uglies into his hands immediately. I’d bet you he’d not only read it, but also ask to borrow the sequal. So, really, it’s all about the stratagy, isn’t it?
And finally, the question do girls read more than boys is laughable, truely. Simply put, various people of both genders read different amounts, depending on who you ask. In my experience, the truth is that girls are willing to ADMIT that they read books like Uglies, whereas most boys would rather admit to committing several various misdemenors before admiting that they’ve read a book whose primary focus is perseption of beauty.
Thanks for the books!
Becca
PS – I was hoping to meet you at the World Horror Awards last November and was sorry to hear that you had fallen ill and were unable to attend. Well, here’s hoping you’re feeling better next time around, eh?
Jess – sorry for the confusion 🙁
I work in the kids/teen section of a bookstore. So by “selling” one of Scott’s books I meant that I recommend it to a customer who went with my recommendation.
I was, of course, joking. I already get paid to sell books, and besides, if anyone owes anyone anything, II owe Scott because the first book of his that I read was a strip that I took home from work. (hides from angry authors)
In answer to your questions, I do feel that girls read more. I do, however, know some guy friends that like to read but mostly the genre they choose is history and war. I’m currently in the process of convincing my friend Mike to read the books, though.
Anyway, I must say that I am facinated by your books and my hope of becoming a writter has grown over the last few days. I’ve gotten my whole family interested in this trilogy because of how fast I’ve been reading them! (I read Uglies Thursday through Friday when I checked it our from the library and I bought Pretties yesterday afternoon and finished it last night!)… I’ve also found my self saying “bubbly” and “sad-making/ dizzy-making” a lot over this weekend!
Keep it up, you’re great at what you do. Also, please email me if you ever have the time. I would love to hear from you and talk with you about these books!
– Chynna
Scott: Fairyopolis, while a very attractive display of MCB’s beautiful Flower Fairies artwork, is not much of a story and is, of course, a knockoff of the Dragonology/Wizardology/Egyptology series.
you seem kind of rude.. if someone asks you a question then you shouldnt be mean and throw it in their face… no matter how stupid a question it is.
kay-lah, I think you just mis-read something, which is very easy to do on the internet. No one’s being rude here (or asking stupid questions, for that matter!).
We leave for the airport in 93 minutes! Things I must remember:
grab unfinished Philip Reeves book from next to bed
pack computer power cord
get “We Are the Winners” Eurovision Song Contest song out of head*
put away Oz-only mobile phone in findable place
brush teeth
pack toothbrush
pack dirty clothes of yesterday
set alarm
not explode!
*This may be semi-meaningless to Americans, but Europeans, Aussies, and Israelis will laugh, laugh, laugh!
I think that guys in general read less than girls. I really have no idea why this is. I love reading so I tend to talk about books a lot. When a guy does not read, I find it to be a major turn-off. Then I mentioned this to my mom and she said something along the lines of “you will never find a guy if you want one that reads!”
I like to think that there are some guys out there – somewhere – who like reading. But I have found so far that it really is only my girl friends. But I’m still not giving up hope!
… and I am still upset that Uglies is only a trilogy. And still in denial about Zane.
1. All of my girl friends came up to me when I read Uglies and said two things: 1. What’s that about? And 2. Can I read it when you’re done? Never actually recommended the book to my guy friends though… *ponders* uh, I guess my boyfriend would read it if I told him to, not sure if he’d like it though… I think he’d like it enough to read the rest of the series… if he didn’t see the “Pretties” title. He’s not a macho guy, reads almost as much as I do, just… likes to make fun of weird titles. My other guy friends… none of them would be interested, they’re into the reallllllly heavy sci-fi stuff: Star Wars, Star Trek… don’t know any other really sci-fi books… *ahem*
2. Like I said, never actually recommended the books to guy friends. Probably just wouldn’t read it because they weren’t interested, not because it’s “girly”
3. It is definitely the covers though. I wasn’t at all self concious (sp?) about Uglies, but Pretties… I got it at the library (serious money shortage…) and when my dad saw it I said “Yes, it DOES say pretties, don’t you dare say anything.” He didn’t say anything. Specials I read over a weekend… but I did take off the cover because Tally was staring at me while I was reading and that got kind of creepy. (What’s with the ear on the binding anyway?)
4. Yeah, high school girls read more than high school guys, it’s a maturity thing 😉 But high school girls don’t read much either, and high school girls that are ignorant and stupid are even MORE annoying than high school guys that are ignorant and stupid, it’s insulting the feminineness I guess. And guys, Scott’s right: Girls find guys that read interesting at the very least. Great way to start talking too… Anyone here read His Dark Materials by Philip Pullan?* Met my boyfriend ’cause of that book, so people who have guy friends that don’t read: tell them to read. NOW.
5. Not a guy…
6. Nope. 😀
* His Dark Materials is AWESOME, really, has anyone here read it?
*edit to my His Dark Materials mention: His Dark Materials is a trilogy, not one book… The Golden Compass (The Northern Lights for the UK where it was originally published, turns out that the people that changed the title from Northern Lights to Golden Compass were the same people that changed J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone to Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, hmmm…), The Subtle Knife, and the Amber Spyglass. Again, GREAT books
I’ve suggested the books to several boys, but they don’t read a lot, so…yeah. My little brother’s friend has read them and he’s a boy! He just didn’t like the kissing (silly little boy).
At my school I think the only people who read a lot are my friends, a couple of other guys, and myself. Everyone else farms, or is “too cool for school.” Those aren’t their exact words…
The titles and covers sometimes get weird looks, and that’s with me (I’m a girl.) so I don’t know. At my school “special” is used as an insult meaning you are stupid, so, yes, weird looks, the cover didn’t help much. (I personally LOVE the covers. But as mentioned before, covers with pretty people on them…not exactly a “boy magnet.”)
I’ve only seen girls reading this series, but no one at my school really knows about Midnighters, Peeps, etc at all.
yeah, the friends i managed to pull into the Uglies world are all girls. but that’s because i focused on a specific gender.
i might have subconciously filter out the fact that boys do read… its quite easy; most of them don’t.
they were curious, though. i get those i’m-macho-but-that-book-looks-cool inquiry often, but i guess the fact that it’s obsessed over by us girls scare those poor boys a bit… and there they are thinking they’re macho.
yeah some guy asked me the other day about the specials cover asking what was on her face, and i went into detail, and just got a weird look. lol. I likethe idea of flash tattoos. I think that would be really cool if we actually had those…
oh surveys! i love surveys.
1) When you suggest Uglies to friends, is it easier to get girls interested? actually, i DID lend the first two to a girl friend of mine.
2) Do boys ever go “Nah, that’s girly!†if you suggest the books to them?
no, actually. they just say “sounds cool” and probably never wound up reading it.
4) Do you think that girls read more than boys in general?
i think it depends on the person, but i’ll tell you: girls are definitely more open about theit reading than guys are. guys will read books in private but not carry them around at school. at least, that’s what i’ve noticed. there are exceptions, of course, like anything.
6) Have I made you paranoid just by bringing this up?
hahah… no… i think everyone of both genders should read everything and anything they can get their hands on. no matter what it is, it enriches you and adds to your knowlege.
cheesy? cliched? yeah. sorry. haha. i LOVE the books, by the way. (oh, and i’m a girl.)
Whatever kind of book it is, they all rock more than any of the books I’ve ever read! I think it just depends on the person. It’s kind of annoying though. There are quite a few guys (I mean no offence WHATSOEVER through out this whole thing, but sometime when typing…things “sound” like I’m trying to insult someone I SWEAR I’M NOT! =D) that have more of a “reputation to hold up than some girls.
I mean Where ever you come from or where ever you are, you still have the infamous exaggeration of every other word.
” EW YOU’RE *insert the newest daily insult) I’M not GOING near YOU, or YOU’RE book *Shoves nose in air snobbishly”…okay that’s overdoing it, but still. I think the whole “Girl book, Boy book debate is mostly over the so called “balance”.
All in all, If the person (Girl or guy) Is really interested in it ( enough to not give a crap about what the “crowd” thinks) Then I say ‘Go For It!’
Anyways I really hope I didn’t just majorly screw that up. Well I like your books either way, and I make everyone who will take a second glance at me read it. ( I have gotten one guy and one girl…few glance at me let alone twice XD)
Keep up the great work Scott, and please,(people that may wonder about what the other people around them think about their book)
No Worries!
It can suck when people are jerks, but y’know what? Screw them! If they can’t handle the fact that you’re reading a book, then they are going to have a very rough life.
I tried to get my friends who are guys to read them but they just wouldnt. But I think thats just because they dont like reading books they like reading those annoying anime comics
1) Yea! Ive gotten 5 of my girl friends to read it and they all say its there favorite book 🙂
2) They dont say its to girly they say they dont like reading.
3) The covers are cool!
And some other questions:
4) Well in m school yes. All the boys in my class hate to read and refuse to.
5) No
6) No but im always a little paranoid
I must admit that i decided to read “Uglies” because i thought the cover and the title were very interesting. I was easily drawn into reading the series. I love the cover designs. I haven’t had the opportunity to tell any of my friends to read the books, because i only started reading a few days ago and i’m up to the second book in the trilogy, but i drew my sister into it. I may not qualify as a “young adult” (19 years old), but i love a good read.
to answer more of your questions, i do think girls read more than boys. I’ve been trying to get a close male friend of mine to read Angels and Demons and the Da Vinci code, but he has yet to pick up either of them. He’s big on books, but I’ll see if he’s intereste in reading uglies and see if he thinks it’s “girly”.
I think that girls do read more then boys although i have a few guy friends and they can’t get their heads out of books.
I think the covers are wicked in a way…, they’re pretty creative. I don’t think uglies is a girl book, everyone has their own tastes in books. I might think some of my friends read some really stupid and boring books but they think that about some things that i read. Most of my friends hate reading so it’s pretty hard to convince them to read it but some of my family reads it and they really enjoyed it!
Hannah 😉
Helleum, I come from the Aussie Land! No, we don’t ride kangaroos to work (we prefer automobiles) and we live in loverly big cities near the ocean (not in desert). Just had to clear that up. So anyways, one of my good friends told me to read the Uglies trilogy. They were like the total best books I’ve read in a long time! Sure, there’s plastic surgery involved, but that makes it interesting. It’s also fastpaced (which is cool). I guess I’m not an idiot boy (hunting, guns, ha ha ha), I’m into fashion and what have you, but who cares. They were awesome books. I loved them. I want more, but they’re over. Oh bum. Most of my friends at school thought I was crazy. Junior said “Pretties?” Then he laughed. I just smirked and kept my wallpaper on my laptop I use at school as the “Pretties” front cover. I just explained that the books wasn’t about lipgloss. I think Girls read more than boys (we’re too stupid to read, duh!). I want a flas tattoo. I wish they existed. But that’s besides the point. If someone saw the cover, the title, and all that, and I was carrying it, they’d probs think I was gay (but they’re just sexist). Well anyways, my kangaroo is calling me – I need to ride him to school. Toodles.
the review is finally up! read if you wish.
twinreads.blogspot.com
🙂
Hum, I’m responding to this late in the game so I guess it probably won’t ever be read. So, since that’s the case, I guess I won’t hold back.
I just picked up Uglies last Thursday (just heard about it last Wednesday, for that matter), and I’ll admit that I do feel embarassed carrying it around, but not because I’m male. Mostly I feel guilty because I’m 21, and it’s supposed to be a young adult book, so people might, I don’t know, judge me because of that.
I totally love the books, though. I just started Pretties tonight. I, um, suggested it to all my friends, but all my friends are female so I don’t know if that really says anything useful.
What I like about the books is the way it makes me feel, not explosions or action sequences or any of that. I don’t know if I’m the right audience for this sort of thing, though. I was always hoping that Tally would just get the operation. I would. Heck, if I were in that position and I knew about the brain lesions, I’d want to do it even more, since it means it would change the kind of person you are, and I would pretty much give anything for that.
Eh, so if you’re actually reading this, I’m sure I’m not the kind of person you’re writing these kinds of books for.