I have been re-reading Madelaine L'Engle's A Wrinkle in Time. (Yes, it's a hard life. And proof that sometimes they assign awesome books in school.) And first, this is one of those books that holds up to the many re-readings and while I'm certain my adult eyes spot things I didn't before, it's still great. I am reminded that one of the things I love about Meg is that she's stubborn and protective. Meg has a bruise from when she tackled a boy in her class who made fun of her brother. Meg got sent to the principal for talking in class. Later in the book, when they are being granted gifts for their journey, they grant Meg her faults. (In many ways the most awesome and horrid thing anyone could grant someone.)
So, it was with interest, particularly given all the talk about how boys don't read because they aren't stories about boys (please excuse me while I guffaw), read this post by a father of two girls, talking about some pervasive assumptions he sees in a lot of children's literature.
