I have a suspicion that one of the reasons boys especially don't enjoy reading is the degree to which it has been feminised by an emphasis on feelings rather than getting on with the story. Apparently kids with Asperger's syndrome massively prefer history books to stories; and there's a theory that Asperger's are extreme males in one sense.

When I was 9 or 10 I consumed a 'Biggles' novel at a rate of one every two days, and of course later graduated to Science Fiction, where the story is usually the core, to the point where 'real' writers criticise the characters in stories as cardboard cut outs. I suspect there's a lot of truth in that, and a lot of boys who end up as geeks go down that route; at least we read something, but it's perhaps not as rounded as it might be. OTOH, it's a lot better than reading nothing...

Here's hoping that Ender's Game as a movie will encourage kids to read the book - and go onto the rest of Orson Scott Card's stuff.

• ( https link ) Biggles on Wikipedia
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