The data doesn’t look too good either: a 2010 study from the Center for Education Policy found that boys lag multiple percentage points behind girls in reading proficiency in every single state. But that’s not stopping 11-year-old St. Louisan Sidney Keys III who, six months ago, started a reading club for boys his age to band together in their love of books. He calls it Books N Bros, and the club has an emphasis on making reading fun while lifting up African American literature and culture.
“Books N Bros is a book club for boys and we read books and African American literature because every time I go to the library at my school, there aren’t many African American literature books there,” said Keys in an interview on St. Louis on the Air. “I already love to read and since we don’t get that much time to read in school, we just discuss in groups. I wanted to read a book but I also wanted to discuss it with other people.”
Sidney Keys III, age 11, started Books N Bros to help boys love reading at an age when they often stop He and his mother, Winnie Caldwell, discussed the reading club they started with St. Louis on the Air’s Don Marsh.
Keys’ mom, Winnie Caldwell, said she knew Sidney had always loved to read because he’d often come to her wanting to talk about books.
About six months ago, they went to visit EyeSeeMe, a bookstore in University City focusing on African American children’s literature. While there, Winnie shot a video of Sidney reading in the store and it went viral on Facebook. Some 62,000 people have viewed the video and it has been shared 1,700 times.
“He hadn’t seen [a bookstore] like that before and I certainly never had, so he was making himself comfortable on the floor, reading a book,” Caldwell said. “… When you get to a point when he is 11 years old and it was so shocking for him to relate to someone on the cover in a positive aspect rather than it be some negative urban story we see a lot. I would like to make sure he sees himself in being whatever he can be.”
After the video went viral, she and Sidney sat down to think about what he wanted to do next. A book club immediately jumped to mind. “We specifically reach out to boys around ages 8-10 because that is statistically the age they stop reading – we wanted to combat that,” Caldwell said.
Keys added: “My motivation is I already love to read but it would be awesome, even better, to read with other people. I want to keep doing it because I don’t know what will make me stop reading because I love to read.”
The club meets once a month, discussing one book the club has voted on While their numbers are still small, the book club has grown each month. Last month, two new members joined bringing the group to 7-10 members each month. The group is welcoming to boys of all backgrounds and races, but the club does focus on stories with African American protagonists.
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