Sir – How disappointed I was by The Oxford Times’ reference to Anthony Horowitz as the ‘author of the Alex Rider novels for boys’.
As an English teacher at one of the county’s leading girls’ schools I am particularly aware of how many girls enjoy the Alex Rider series.
They relish the exciting plots and can relate to and identify with the central character, even though he is a boy. How narrow-minded to encourage the outdated concept that ‘novels for boys’, and therefore presumably ‘novels for girls’, is an appropriate and useful way of categorising texts.
Novels can, and should, be enjoyed by all, regardless of gender.
Wendy Rooney (Mrs) Oddington
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