In general the series is an illogical mess of reasoning. The main reason I would say it is inappropriate for 14 year olds is the amount of sheer idiocracy that exists. It’s understanding and handling of emotions is probably one of the worst I have seen. But that is more of a critique of the book than the age.

Let me know if you like them. I am not usually a fan of “sequels” that take place 20 years later.

Yeah. Now that you mention it. The school, the tunnels. There were definitely some elements of the story that I felt like he started and did nothing with. I was waiting for things to come full circle on a couple story elements that never seemed to. I was just happy he wrapped everything up so well. I hate when you get to the end of a story and the heroes hold hands and hug and the power of love is what won in the end.

There are some that live in a scarcity mindset and therefore to give something to someone would mean taking stuff away from another. I honestly am not sure how I feel about that sentiment. I like to believe in abundance but sometimes I am not sure. Regardless I believe it is time for the advancement of more groups.

I am open to any and all.

Do you have a recommendation then? My experience has always been that most are fairly specific.

That’s interesting. I think it makes a lot of sense. More men in teaching would be beneficial for so many reasons.

Thank you for the suggestion. I will pick it up. I have been in education for a while and it has been interesting watching this exact shift he is talking about over really just the last 10-12 years. From a school point of view boys typically make up 60-70% of referrals, the majority of the SPED classrooms. As mentioned girls are enrolling in college at higher rates, making up majority numbers of honor roll. As a parent watching my daughter go through and get the praise and support that she has from teachers and now seeing my son and how he gets far more negative responses it has been interesting. We did hold my son back and a year and we are glad. Can’t imagine him being a year younger in his grade. He would be drowning.

Without having read it I suspect that some people feel like anything that borders on old man empowerment falls in the category of right leaning. Just as anything that falls in the category of equal advancement for women or minorities is left leaning. It is actually possible to support the advancement of all groups at once. To want to see equal representation across all aspects.

I think the point might be on the track that things are headed we could see a day where women are thriving while men are struggling. I was at a state robotics competition about 6 years ago. Our state has been rightly focusing on recruiting more women into STEM. One I have actively supported on my own teams. At the competition the organizer announced that we had doubled our female numbers in two years and could boast 40% girls participating. To much applause. I was excited as well. He then followed that up with in 5 years let’s see those numbers go to 60% which had equal applause and more. It baffles me because this would imply that we no longer want boys to equally participate. I joked with the organizer later won’t it be crazy in 30-50 years when we have to start hosting MEN in STEM activities to get more boys involved? I am all for equality and expanding what opportunities women have access to. I actively recruit my female students into STEM fields. So maybe not thriving yet but trajectories are in place. They don’t need to be removed a lot of the programs are good and need to continue.