Girl Books

In the interest of equal time, after last week’s blog on Boy Books, here is a post on Girl Books. Girls tend to read across the spectrum, books that appeal to both boys and girls. I guess a Girl Book is one that appeals primarily to female readers.

A book with both male and female main characters may appeal to primarily girls due to the relationship aspects of the book. Not necessarily romance, but books with friendship as a theme.

A bookseller recently told me that middle school girls are asking for middle grade romance books. An elementary school librarian told me this week that many of her female students gravitate to the animal books and the classic, Black Beauty by Anna Sewell, is a favorite.

Some favorite girl books per an informal poll:
For Middle Grade readers:
Judy Blume books
Kate DiCamillo’s Because of Winn Dixie

For Young Adult readers:
Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight series
Ann Brashares’s Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants series

For the 2007 summary of Accelerated Reader books read by students click here. Section 1 separates books read by gender.

On a side note: As I mentioned in my second blog post, I gave my daughter my treasured boxed set of Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Little House on the Prairie series. My child read one book and part of another before putting them aside. Recently I mentioned the popularity of the stage adaptation of the books. During the discussion, my daughter burst out with, “You mean they were real people?” Since she found out the Ingalls family were indeed real, she is plowing through the books and enjoying them. So I must add that some girls also like historical fiction and biographies.