Youth reading is down today, and reading by boys has fallen off a cliff. Even worse, a big chunk of what passes for youth reading today is web content or graphic novels rather than actual books. Against that backdrop, the old social studies teacher in me was intrigued to discover Joe Giorello’s Great Battles for Boys books this summer. For more than a decade, he has been penning straightforward, no-bells-or-whistles books about the battles of the Revolutionary War, Civil War, World War II, and so forth. A glance at Amazon suggests that books have done gangbusters, with title after title a top seller in its category. What’s going on? Does Giorello know something that others don’t? I was curious to hear more, so I reached out to Giorello, a veteran middle school teacher who set out to write books for boys who hate to read (like his son). Here’s what he had to say.
—Rick
Rick: I only learned about your Great Battles for Boys books this spring. I can’t help but find something remarkably countercultural about that pitch. What prompted you to start writing these volumes?
Joe: It was my wife! She noticed that our 3rd grade son hated to read yet would listen to any military-history documentary for hours. Knowing my passion for military history, she asked me to start writing about significant battles just for him. Those homegrown chapters sparked a fire. He started asking to go to the library for military-history books. Then, other parents whose boys were “allergic to books” asked for those chapters. And the same thing happened to them. This whole series was built organically, just trying to show boys that reading can be really exciting.
Rick: How did your experience as a history teacher shape your approach?
Joe: Nothing puts you at ground zero like teaching. Kids ask great questions, and those questions reveal their comprehension levels. For instance, I was teaching about a complicated World War I battle when a boy raised his hand and asked, “Mr. G, what’s a bayonet?” And another boy asked, “Who are the good guys?” Those kinds of questions remind me to focus on what boys at ages 8 to 12 can understand. Those questions also help develop the books. For instance, I decided to explain more about the weapons, the tactics, and even some of the politics behind the battles. Those questions showed me that boys didn’t know about those things from other readings.
Rick: I notice that some of your books were co-authored with your wife, Sibella. How does that work?
Joe: As I said, the series was her brainchild. She’s an accomplished writer with a bestselling mystery series and she has been twice nominated for the Pulitzer Prize for her journalistic work. We really tag-teamed those first chapters for our son. I would research and write up the battles—in longhand because I don’t type—based on the historical evidence, and she would shape that writing into a suspenseful narrative that didn’t read like a textbook.
Rick: Your website argues that “the non-stop action from the battlefields of history makes reading feel as thrilling as any video game.” Can you say a bit about that approach?
Joe: I think boys get hooked on video games partly because the narrative is action, action, action. To get boys hooked on reading, I approach military history the same way. So my chapters explain what happened and why, but the focus stays on the battlefield action as much as possible. Boys start reading and then forget they’re reading because things are moving so quickly. That’s a great way to help boys grow from reluctant readers into eager readers.
Rick: In the introduction to your volume on WWII in the Pacific, you write, “Maybe you’ve heard someone say, ‘Freedom isn’t free.’ Do you wonder what they mean? They’re saying freedom is bought with the blood of warriors and patriots.” That’s stirring stuff. How does that outlook inform your books?
Joe: We all tend to forget just how difficult it was to gain our liberties and freedoms in this country. The Founding Fathers, the men fighting at Bull Run, and the soldiers storming Omaha Beach made severe sacrifices for us. If our kids are taught about the price of freedom, they can better preserve those freedoms. I also want boys to appreciate today’s men and women in uniform. My students were taught to thank veterans by walking up to them, shaking their hand, looking them in the eye, and saying, “Thank you for your service.”
Rick: How have the books been received? What do you think is responsible for their success?
Joe: The response from parents, grandparents, and the boys themselves is amazing. Boys even write me letters—not just emails but pencil-to-paper letters. The parents and grandparents also write to express their thanks. For example, one grandmother, who wrote about her grandson’s experience with the books about World War II and the Civil War, said, “He’s become a reader and now he tells me that he loves books and [that] reading is his favorite subject.”
Rick: I couldn’t help noticing that the books appear to do quite well online, but I’ve had trouble finding school librarians or social studies teachers who recommend them. Any idea what’s going on?
Joe: Unfortunately, some public school teachers have privately said it’s challenging to add the books to their classrooms if they haven’t been first approved by an administration, school board, or some education bureaucracy. It’s a byzantine paperwork process to get any books approved for use in public schools—especially for a book that’s not coming from established publishers. Just as concerning is that many public school teachers are really angry about the part of the title that says “for boys.” These teachers post hostile notes on Facebook and elsewhere. That’s tragic because boys in the public school system are struggling with literacy: On the National Assessment of Educational Progress, girls are outscoring boys at every grade level and age, including in reading. This is in large part because boys read far less than girls do. In fact, starting in 4th grade, girls read 100,000 more words per year than boys do. That gap snowballs going forward.
Rick: You mentioned that public schools are less interested in your books. What about private schools?
Joe: Private schools and home school co-operatives are very interested, particularly in the South—perhaps because they live among Civil War battlefields. One private school librarian told me, “I have 4th grade boys coming in who have never darkened the library door. Now they yell out, ‘Hey, where are those battle books?!’” After hearing that, I sent her the entire series. She wrote back to tell me a fight broke out over who got to read the books first. Again, it means everything to me to hear that boys are interested in reading because of these books.
Rick: What kind of reception have you received from history teachers, teacher colleges, or professional teacher groups like the National Council for History Education, the National Council for the Social Studies, or the Organization of History Teachers? Have you been asked to speak to them about the books or your approach to teaching history?
Joe: Those organizations haven’t contacted us. The truth is that your essay in Education Next was the first acknowledgment of this series and why it works well for boys in any education outlet. Then again, we’re not with one of the larger traditional publishers like Scholastic. And we’re not a textbook. Those factors might explain why the series has flown under the radar with those organizations.
Rick: Can you expand on why you mention that these books are “for boys” in the title?
Joe: Look, I’m thrilled if girls want to read these books, too. But from my experience teaching and from reading education studies, I know that boys who hate to read are much more likely to crack open a book if it seems “just for them.” That’s the reason the title reads, “For Boys”: to entice boys, not to exclude girls. Also, I don’t recall any teachers voicing any opposition to the American Girl book series or accusing that title of being sexist. If girls can have something that’s just for them and boys can’t, I worry that this contributes to the reading crisis among boys that we see today.
Rick: How do you think schools are faring when it comes to military history today? And what are the consequences of this lack of coverage?
Joe: Here’s one pointed example. I looked at the Common Core curriculum for middle schoolers. It included the Gettysburg Address but said very little about the Battle of Gettysburg. In my opinion, that’s a complete failure. The battle precipitated the speech. And knowing what happened on that battlefield only makes Lincoln’s words shimmer with greater meaning. Those types of omissions led us to hire a certified 5th grade teacher to craft a complete Great Battles for Boys curriculum. We really hope teachers will use it, particularly for boys who struggle to sit still and focus in school. Those boys can learn 2,000 years of military history—plus geography, politics, strategic thinking, engineering, and more—from this curriculum.
Rick: How have you decided which wars to cover? And, what’s next?
Joe: Funnily enough, the boys write and tell me what they’d like to read next. So my next book is on epic sea battles. Then, I’ll be writing about battles of the Wild West. After that, probably the French Foreign Legion. But the boys also want a book on the Napoleonic Wars. Isn’t it a great thing that all these 10-year-old boys are eager to read about that era of history?
