Do Boys Read As Much As Girls?

             The discussion of the gender gap in readings suggests that boys lag behind girls in reading.But as it turns out, other authors say otherwise. Richard Garner, the author of the article I've recently analyzed, Boys Read As much As girls, But prefer the Simpler books  , has a view point saying that boys do read as much as girls, but prefer the simpler books (obviously). It was hard for me to take in as I read his article because of so many studies I've analyzed suggested that boys don't read as much. So reading his article was kind of an eyes-opener because it definitely is a perspective I could have never thought of on my own. Garner says "First the good news: boys are reading as much as girls. Now the bad: the books they choose are far less challenging and easier to comprehend than those selected by girls, and this gets worse as they grow older."
                 Garner explains that boys tend to read books that are simpler than the book choices a girl would choose. Though his explanation seemed valid in the beginning of his article, his view point began to slant back to what most studies say: Girls read more than boys. As I read on, Garner jumped back into his original view point, but ended up changing it a little bit. "The study notes that both sexes tend to choose books that are easier to read once they reach the age of 11 and transfer to secondary school." Says Garner in his slightly slanted change. He said in the beginning that boys read as much as girls, but less challenging books, whereas girls read more challenging books. Then he switches his view point saying that boys and girls both read less challenging books.
               Though Garner's studies seemed a little shifty, he did bring up excellent points saying that since boys have different interest in books, they read at different levels than girls; therefore, they still do read, but not on the levels a parent or teacher would expect. The book battling gender gap has a wide range of information that can get a little confusing. My advice to those who search for answers over this topic, I suggest that you ask plenty of questions and analyze various studies and articles in order to understand the gap.  Observe articles like the one by Richard Garner, to see slants and shifting view points so you can avoid getting confused.