Why are so many authors writing books for kids where the main character hates reading? In some cases, this may be done to pull kids in, to trick them and get them to like reading by reading about a character that resembles them. Janet Tashjian gives her character, Derek, life in My Life as a Book. But, Derek hates to read and will do just about anything to get out of it. Tommy Greenwald also does this with Charlie Joe Jackson's Guide to Not Reading. Greenwald also explains that Charlie Joe is named after his three sons, Charlie, Joe and Jack. Is this counter-intuitive that we are pushing not reading to get kids to read more?
I liked Tashjian's book better, there was more plot to sink my teeth into and the whole book was not just on how to avoid reading. I am about to share some of these books with middle schoolers that I know, so we'll see what they think.
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