This is fascinating. I get a very male-skewed audience for Loki - a younger crowd than the books mentioned - and I've been asked why people think that is. One thought I have is because it lets "naughty" boys see themselves as something more than a problem. An opportunity perhaps. A problemtunity. - ThreadSky

louiestowell.bsky.social • 1 day ago

This is fascinating. I get a very male-skewed audience for Loki - a younger crowd than the books mentioned - and I've been asked why people think that is. One thought I have is because it lets "naughty" boys see themselves as something more than a problem. An opportunity perhaps. A problemtunity.

Reposted from Gita Ralleigh

#kidlituk
www.theguardian.com/books/2025/j...

Comments

chalkwitch.bsky.social•1 day ago

A great male /group friendship books I recommend for youngsters is Nowhere Boy by Catherine Marsh. It's outstanding.

rhid83.bsky.social•1 day ago

My son adores these books I think it's the relationship between Loki and Thor that he enjoys the most especially as he's an only child.

louiestowell.bsky.social•1 day ago

I'm an only child too, and it's been really interesting writing siblings - albeit fake ones! I suppose I'm imagining my way into having a sibling from scratch a bit like Loki is !

rhid83.bsky.social•1 day ago

He is fascinated by siblings but he openly says he's glad he doesn't have them as it's too much drama!

louiestowell.bsky.social•1 day ago

HAAA yes it's one thing enjoying stories about them and another having one who farts on your head.

louiestowell.bsky.social•1 day ago

I mean it's very hard to talk about "boys" because boys are not a monolith. Some of them (loki) aren't even boys all the time.

waterstoneslhx.bsky.social•1 day ago

It's a frequent topic of conversation in store that the range of books available for teen boys is limited, a little better for queer kids, and very little to make the reader laugh, manga being the big exception. We know younger boys love funny books, I'd love to see more for teens

louiestowell.bsky.social•1 day ago

Obv Simon James Green writes bangers in the funny queer boy space

louiestowell.bsky.social•1 day ago

I don't really know the teen space very well but I've definitely heard how hard it is to find funny YA/teen! Glad Nate Lessore is flying the flag! And yeah for queer kids who don't wanna read kissing books there's not much. Funny queer teen ftw!

finnlongman.com•1 day ago

I'm hoping the next thing I write in the YA space will be a funnier contemporary about youth orchestra shenanigans & the world's most codependent teenage string quartet but I already know it's gonna be hard to sell it without romance. It drives me nuts because not! every! teenager! wants! kissing!

kairaloi.bsky.social•1 day ago

Bro. I know someone this pitch describes. @neilak20.bsky.social would love this book

neilak20.bsky.social•1 day ago

I would dig this, yes!

louiestowell.bsky.social•1 day ago

Finn the way I GASPED about that being my teenage life. WRITE IT WRITE IT!!!! (My actual youth orchestra was all romance but I had no desire to READ about romance as a teenager. It's like football: loved playing, hated watching)

finnlongman.com•1 day ago

The closest I ever got to romance irl as a teenager was orchestra related and oh, it was a terrible love triangle situation and there was SO much drama, it was terrible (the triangle: flute/picc player, double bass player, tuba player. They do say opposites attract...). No thank you!

msleedy.bsky.social•1 day ago

I was in buying books for the offspring the other day and was again taken aback at just how many of the YA books were about FINDING LURVE. I suppose there was less YA-lit in general Back In My Day, but what there was was definitely not wall to wall romances.

louiestowell.bsky.social•1 day ago

TBH if I wrote a youth orchestra book I'd have to write it for adults cos you'd never get away with the stuff we did in a YA...

msleedy.bsky.social•1 day ago

(though as a former youth orchestra member, I am HERE for your youth orchestra book)

finnlongman.com•1 day ago

Yeah it's very dominant. And the books that AREN'T about that don't often signal that on the blurbs (it would be hard to do so without it being pretty clunky, in most contexts), so while they exist, they're really hard to find except by word of mouth.

finnlongman.com•1 day ago

Why is rom so often the only flavour of com we're allowed! And also the only flavour of everything else! I feel like my stubborn refusal to put romance in my YA books is not making me marketable at all but teen me needed that and I'm pretty sure other teenagers do too

waterstoneslhx.bsky.social•1 day ago

Teen all of us needed that and still do. It's a catch 22, I reckon there probably is a sizable market but we won't know until we get the books and we won't get the books until etc...

yrieithydd.bsky.social•1 day ago

I very much suspect a fair amount of my liking for Chalet school was that it didn't really do romance

matthewpb.bsky.social•1 day ago

Irish YA publisher who is looking for books that are light on romance and high on funny over here 👋

kairaloi.bsky.social•1 day ago

There are plenty of ppl who don't want the Rom flavor. Keep writing what you like. Don't worry about market. The slop market will collapse on itself soon the way all trends do and you will be left standing amid the bodies with your unique plots.

ruthcallaghan.bsky.social•20 hours ago

Now you might have read Who Is Bugs Potter, but if not, can I recommend my all time favourite young adult orchestral crime comedy (Gordon Korman).

naomilpollock.bsky.social•1 day ago

This sounds superb. I lived through so much YO drama in my teens.

finnlongman.com•1 day ago

Frankly it's an underutilised setting in fiction, considering the potential it has. Especially if it's the type of orchestra that does a "tour"/holiday with concerts, so then you can cram characters in grotty 2* Italian hotel rooms with ants in the showers and no air con.

illusclaire.bsky.social•1 day ago

Extremely freeing to an audience “of boys,” I’d guess

oldhobbit.bsky.social•1 day ago

The rebellious nature of the Doctor was core to the appeal of the Doctor Who novelisations, picking up some STEM education along the way... helium voice changing properties (Robots Of Death) etc

calmerfuture.bsky.social•1 day ago

an awkwardtunity

louiestowell.bsky.social•1 day ago

So you were there for my adolescence then?

gitaralleigh.bsky.social•1 day ago

And there are fewer male protagonists generally vs female in middle grade? Which obviously was needed historically but one of the reasons I wrote #TheVoyageofSamSingh was to centre a South Asian boy protagonist in a fantasy adventure, still quite rare!!

louiestowell.bsky.social•1 day ago

Dunno I feel like there's quite a lot, but maybe that's cos they're prominent - Impossible creatures has a girl AND a boy, Skandar is a boy...

louiestowell.bsky.social•1 day ago

But overall I think you're right!

louiestowell.bsky.social•1 day ago

depresses me immensely that girls will read about boys and not vice versa. We have strayed from the path as a culture.

evanitamushroom.bsky.social•1 day ago

When my children went to school I was advised boys do better in mixed schools and girls in single sex schools- which is tricky.

commonmugwort.bsky.social•1 day ago

This is practically my number one piece of parenting advice: give your sons books by women, books with girl protagonists - ideally both.

gitaralleigh.bsky.social•1 day ago

I think this is prevailing wisdom but in practice (when I was running a school book club) not true….

alomshaha.bsky.social•1 day ago

Supsect it's the fault of adults, not children. I read anything and everything as a child because my reading was not being directed by adults.

gitaralleigh.bsky.social•1 day ago

Same – I migrated to the adult section of the library at about 11 because I had literally read everything – no YA books back then!!

gitaralleigh.bsky.social•1 day ago

Ah yes, the ‘big’ MG book deals, series etc do skew that way…My kid was a real fantasy geek when younger & I think literally only Sarwat Chadda had a brown kid hero then?

louiestowell.bsky.social•1 day ago

I LOVE SARWAT! (Lovely man as well as brilliant writer). It's been great seeing him do so much great stuff on the Rick Riordan list.

gitaralleigh.bsky.social•1 day ago

He is fab!🥰

cethanleahy.com•1 day ago

Yeah! I remember someone saying during the last Roald Dahl discourse that the reason he remains popular that he is usually one of the first writers you encounter where it feels like you're getting away with something by reading it.

louiestowell.bsky.social•1 day ago

YES THIS. And the same with Walliams (not that that is stuff ppl SHOULD get away with....)

cethanleahy.com•1 day ago

I'd defend Dahl a lot more than Walliams but yeah, there is a funny line. Most things I like at the time had a smidge of anarchy or horror!

louiestowell.bsky.social•1 day ago

YES! I love anarchy, I love horror. Racism and fatphobia aint it tho chief. (Dahl has those too I just didn't notice when I was a kid!)

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