How to Talk to Girls by Alec Greven Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of How to Talk to Girls
Book Review: Ridiculous, Exploitative, Unnecessary
Summary: 1 Stars
Why are we encouraging children to begin mating rituals and judging each other on looks at age 9? Why can't we just let children be children and not worry about gender roles until later in life? Yes, it's "cute"... in that heavy-adult-makeup-and-fake-eyelashes-on-6-year-old-pageant-girls way.
This also seems like it's ghost-written. I don't believe that a child actually wrote it, as it strikes me as just a marketing ploy. Of course, I can't prove the latter, but the language doesn't seem realistic.
I say that his energy should be geared towards getting along with all kids on the playground. Adults could learn more from that than this superficial mess.
Book Review: Shudda read it 65 years ago!
Summary: 5 Stars
Excellent little book filled with humor and good advice for a young man. Gave it as a Christmas present to my seven year old grandson who started reading it Christmas day! Of course I read it too! Learned some good stuff! Book is as cute as its author . . .Book Review: The cutest book ever
Summary: 5 Stars
This book is adorable, and the tips are surprisingly true. I read this book and The Game at the same time, and I thought this one was much smarter. Good for kids and adults alike.Book Review: Times Haven't Changed, have they?
Summary: 5 Stars
I saw the author on Jay Leno - a typical young boy with a good common sense head (and certainly with a parent or parents with good common sense). Times haven't changed, as a lot of reviewers think, little boys still like little girls and vice versa. My grand-daughter is the same age as Alec and, yes, even though boys and girls don't particularly like to "play" with the opposite sex (remember the expression when you were young, "can you come out and play"?, they still have crushes on the "cute boy" or the "cute girl" in their class. Adults should enjoy this book just for remembering what it was like growing up - and kids should like this book because it was written by one their peers.Book Review: Two Stars for Effort
Summary: 2 Stars
I can't believe that the main argument of supporters of this book is that it is cute and should not be taken seriously at all. If I wanted cute I could buy a picture book, a stuffed animal or a silly movie for the price of this book. A book should be written because it has something to tell the world, somethig that needs to be shared or revealed or even to get us to pause and take in a beautiful moment or memory. Books should never be based on the 'cute factor', and should not be defended as such.
This book is also billed for ages 8-80, meaning that the publisher is wanting adults to get something out of this book too, in fact looking at all the publicity that seems to be the prime target not children in the author's own age group. Since part of the target audience is adults, and the little boy that wrote this was not attempting to be cute but rather attempting to make a serious statement, his work should be judged as such.
Quite frankly, there is nothing new and insightful in this book. Perhaps to third graders yes - but even at that age they should have at least some idea that if they take care of how they look more people will like them. This is common sense and if you don't have this or choose to ignore it by the time you are a teenager, then no book will help you.
I do believe this book was published because it was seen as cute - mostly based on the issue it talked about. It was seen as adorable that a little 8 year old was talking about relationships and doing 'research' out on the playground (the latter being quite insightful but most just think that it's cute). An eight year old writing about love makes about as much sense as someone teaching an elephant to talk - neither work. I sincerely hope that this little boy does not become defined by this book or that his later writing career - should he choose to have one - is not suffocated by this book.
It is nice to see a young child choosing to donate the money they earn to a cause - hopefully it was his idea. As a cancer survivor that means a lot. But to anyone buying this book as an 'excuse' to donate to cancer research: you do not have to have a reason to donate. The American Cancer Society can tell you how you can donate not just your money but also your time to cancer patients - and anything you give personally will far outweigh the small royality cut that this book will garner. I sincerely hope he does research his $100,000 goal.
As a caveat - I am not writing this as an attack on a little boy who wrote something he thought his classmates needed to know, but rather the press around this book. MSNBC has him tagged as a guru of all things, which to me is a mistake. It is painfully obvious that this book was brought into existence because of the subject matter alone - and if he had done an equally well written fantasy story, none of us would know who he was. It is also a good comment on society's preoccupation on sex and relationships - especially when 8 year olds become obessed over a relationship, locking themselves in their rooms and being depressed. This is a warning sign and we should thank this little boy for giving it to us.