Scholastic Gives Boys ‘Survival’ Tips and Girls ‘Girly’ Tips

[Ian David]

Don't know what to get little Billy or Sally before they go off to summer camp? How about one of Scholastic's new "How To Survive Anything!" books? The "Boys Only" edition looks pretty sweet: you can learn how to survive a snakebite, swarm of bees and forest fire, as well as how to make it through some more unrealistic scenarios, like a polar bear attack or "space."

So what does the "Girl's Only" edition include? Well, there's "How to Survive a BFF fight," How to Survive a Breakout" and, uh, "How to Have the Best Sleepover Ever." (We can't even get sleepover survival tips? My younger self would've at least liked to know how not to end up the only person not kissed during Spin the Bottle...)

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A reminder: these books were published THIS YEAR. Publishers still think that all girls would rather know how to "pick perfect sunglasses" (so we just dropped the whole survival theme?) and "how to teach your cat to sit" (NECESSARY FOR LIVING!) than actual survival tips, silly or otherwise. We're surprised there's no chapter for boys on how to protect girls because they're too busy surviving fashion disasters or learning how to handle "sudden stardom."

"If you ever find yourself in this situation, please oh please don't say 'THIS ONE IS FOR BOYS AND THIS IS FOR GIRLS,'" begs Ryan North. "Perhaps instead say 'THIS ONE HAS A BUNCH OF INTERESTING REAL-LIFE DISASTER SURVIVAL AND THIS ONE HAS A LOT OF PERSONAL HYGIENE AND INTERPERSONAL RELATIONSHIP STUFF IN IT, ALSO, TIPS ON GETTING YOUR CAT TO SIT DOWN, I DUNNO.'"

More:
http://jezebel.com/5916965/scholastic-gives-boys-survival-tips-and-girls-girly-tips