THURSDAY: The Trouble with Boys

This was an interesting and informative read, although I don't feel like I know much more than I did before reading it.

The author was careful to keep balance regarding the needs of both boys and girls to succeed at school. I agree that we cannot sacrifice either group for the sake of the other. And she did not hesitate to call into question the statements of one of the "gurus" in the discussions of boys and their academic struggles. This "guru" seems to make leaps from actual research to his interpretations and Tyre questions this appropriately.

One thing I learned from this book is the effect that the struggle of boys is having on girls, specifically when it comes to college admission. Because of the large achievement gap between boys and girls, and because fewer boys are applying for college, some girls are denied entry to the college of their choice in favor of an equally qualified boy because some universities are trying to maintain a gender balance in their enrollment.

No one has the be-all-end-all solution to the problem, but at least the experts are starting to speak up about the problem and talk about how to help boys so that all of our kids can be successful in school and in life.

(This review was previously posted at my Pizza Monkey blog which no longer exists)