Librarian and schoolgirl spur publisher to change book name

Sometimes all it takes is a librarian and a 7-year-old to change the world — or, at the very least, change the title of a series of children’s books.

Last January, Deborah Lucas, a librarian at Adams Elementary School in Costa Mesa, was thumbing through a book catalog when she saw a title that shocked her: “Biggest, Baddest Books for Boys.”

Boys? Not girls? She was flummoxed.

“I said are you kidding me. This is 2014,” Lucas said.

Right away, she fired off an email, telling the publisher that in this day and age, there’s no such thing as “boy books” and “girl books.”

Little did she know, a schoolgirl nearly 400 miles away was similarly riled.

Parker Dains saw “Biggest, Baddest Books for Boys” at the Milpitas Public Library in April.

The young girl, like Lucas, fired off a letter to Abdo Publishing — with a little help from her dad.

“It made me very sad because there’s no such thing as a boy book,” Parker wrote in the letter.

“You should change from ‘Biggest, Baddest Books for Boys’ into ‘Biggest, Baddest Books for Boys and Girls,’ because some girls would like to be entomologists too,” she told the publisher.

Later that month, a typed letter from the managing editor of Abdo Publishing appeared in her mailbox.

“Dear Parker ... You brought up a very good point: There should certainly be a ‘Biggest, Baddest Books for Boys’ for everyone. After all, girls can like ‘boy’ things too!”

The letter continued, “We have decided to take your advice. Next season, we will have a series simply called ‘Biggest Baddest Books.’”

In November, the books were reprinted and the renamed series was shipped to the girl, the publisher said. It is expected to arrive at Adams Elementary this week. Lucas said the school will celebrate Jan. 16.

Parker’s letter catapulted her into the media spotlight. Her story was picked up by news organizations in this country and in England last month.

But Lucas hasn’t been forgotten. In a recent email, Abdo’s editor in chief, Paul Abdo, told Lucas: “You had as much to do with this change as the young girl.”

“We’ve been doing this for 30 years, but we’ve never had anything like this,” Abdo said in a phone interview Monday, referring to the reaction. He said the mention of “boys” in the series title was merely meant to appeal to reluctant readers.

Lucas said the “boys book” title struck her at a time when she was particularly sensitive. That same week in January, a first-grade girl had approached her in the library and asked if it was OK to check out a “boy book,” and she held out a book about dinosaurs.

Lucas, who has raised a son and daughter, said she knows the sexes are different. At the same time, “I have girls who read dinosaur books and boys who like ‘Gossip Girl’ books,” she said. “I don’t want them to feel self-conscious about what they can and cannot read.”

Lucas called the experience a lesson for her students.

“Everyone needs to speak up if they think something isn’t’ fair,” she said.