It's a Boy: Women Writers on Raising Sons

by Jacquelyn Mitchard, Gayle Brandeis, Jennifer Lauck, et al.

Book Overview

The most popular question any pregnant woman is asked, aside from "When are you due?", has got to be "Are you having a girl or a boy?"

When author Andrea Buchanan, already a mom to a little girl, was pregnant with her second child, she marveled at the response of friends and total strangers alike: "Boys are wonderful," "Boys are so much better than girls," "Boys love their mothers differently than girls."

This constant refrain led...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1580051456
• ISBN13: 9781580051453
• Release Date: November 2005
• Publisher: Seal Press (CA)
• Length: 272 Pages
• Weight: 0.65 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.5" x 7.1"

Customer Reviews

Absolutely Wonderful. Insightful

Interesting the only negative review was from a male. I have a 14 mo. old son and these writers are spot on about so much! I feel like they are my feminist friends. Great tough insights, wonderful laughs too. Good work.

Thoughtful and insightful essays, great writing

This anthology is great bedside reading, especially if you've got a boy of your own. It's hard to rate an anthology in the same way you would a novel; it's not a case of either you like the whole thing or you don't. It's more like a music CD, where some pieces will move you and some won't. That said, it's still a five-star book--these are great writers with a lot to say, and you'll almost certainly find at least a couple of essays that speak to you. There's no filler here. My favorite pieces include the quietly devastating "Samuel," by Susan Ito, and "Pretty Baby," by Catherine Newman, who is one of the funniest writers on the planet.

Really Interesting and thoughtful

I was hoping this wouldn't be a book that conveyed the message that boys are more fun to raise than girls. And it wasn't-it was thoughtful and entertaining. Many different viewpoints on the experience of raising a boy. It celebrates the experience without putting down it's opposite. I really enjoyed this book. It covered issues I had wondered about and ones that hadn't occurred to me. It's great to hear thinking women exploring this topic. I have a girl and two boys, I'm really looking forward to the sequel.

Great, even for people who don't have boys

I have two daughters, and It's a Boy comes as close as anything to be the son I'll never have. I can't begin to say how much I loved this book. The writing is varied and delightful, from the big names in the book to the people who've yet to be discovered by the masses. But even better is the insight each essay in the collection brings. It showed me that sons are every bit as dynamic, fragile, strong and loving as daughters. I plan to share this with all the mothers I know, and can't wait to read It's a Girl when it comes out in 2006.

LOVE IT!

When I saw the cover of this book, I had a feeling I would love it. The picture of the little boy on the cover flexing his muscles is something I have seen my three sons do many, many times. When I opened it and started to read, wonderful memories flooded back of when my sons were younger. I laughed and cried almost simultaneously while reading several of the stories. If you have sons, or have friends that have sons, this book is a must. I will be buying my friends who are mothers of sons this for Christmas.