Boy Writers: Reclaiming their Voices
by Ralph Fletcher

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Reviewed by Sandra Epperson

When this book was handed to me for a committee I had agreed to be part of, I was really reluctant to read it. In fact, I was almost offended by the very beginning piece written by a Fourth Grade literacy teacher: ìFor the boys, every assigned piece can be a nightmare because it is never good enough. The road is too long so they give up before they even start.î I felt this way in school. Girls do feel this way. Even though I was a skeptic, I vowed to try the book. Soon, I found myself reflecting on my own classroom of students. Fletcher helped me realize that the boys and the girls in my class do write differently ñ not just the physical words on the page, but also the process the boys use. Ralph Fletcher discusses the difficulty boys have with the fine motor skills of handwriting, the humor that boys use, the reluctance that boys have for revision, and the genres that boys like.

One part I especially appreciated was the chapter entitled îRules of (Dis)Engagement.î In this chapter, Fletcher lists four passive aggressive ways that boys will use to avoid writing. This past year, I had one boy who would use all four in one class period. Some of the other things that I found important are

?       It is important to get past the physical writing to the ideas the boys have on the page.

?       Boys need to talk to each other about their writing.

?       Drawing pictures to go with or as part of the story is important for many boys.

?       Boys will push the boundaries of appropriate language.

?       While girls tend to get right to writing on the paper, boys tend to contemplate their writing before putting it on paper.

In Boy Writers: Reclaiming Their Voices, Ralph Fletcher uses student examples to illustrate his points. While this book is written to help teachers teach boys more effectively, it is written as an engaging, interesting, easy read.