--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: When I was growing up I loved reading…" description: "\"When I was growing up I loved reading historical fiction, but too often it was about males; or, if it was about females, they were girls who were going..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2bb/kathryn-lasky-4266_betsy-ross_when-i-was-growing-up-i-loved-reading-hi_1188932.png" --- # When I was growing up I loved reading historical fiction… ![“When I was growing up I loved reading historical fiction, but too often it was about males; or, if it was about females, they were girls who were going to grow up to be famous like Betsy Ross, Clara Barton, or Harriet Tubman. No one ever wrote about plain, normal, everyday girls.” quote by Kathryn Lasky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2bb/kathryn-lasky-4266_betsy-ross_when-i-was-growing-up-i-loved-reading-hi_1188932.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2bb/kathryn-lasky-4266_betsy-ross_when-i-was-growing-up-i-loved-reading-hi_1188932.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2bb/kathryn-lasky-4266_betsy-ross_when-i-was-growing-up-i-loved-reading-hi_1188932.png) > “When I was growing up I loved reading historical fiction, but too often it was about males; or, if it was about females, they were girls who were going to grow up to be famous like Betsy Ross, Clara Barton, or Harriet Tubman. No one ever wrote about plain, normal, everyday girls.” [Kathryn Lasky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathryn-lasky/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote highlights a lack of representation of ordinary girls in historical fiction, focusing instead on famous women or male protagonists. **In simple terms:** Historical fiction often ignores everyday girls. Key Takeaway Seek stories of ordinary girls. Themes representation gender literature history diversity Mood reflective critical hopeful Type analytical observational When to use this quote - school curricula - library collections - writing workshops - publishing decisions Key Concepts feminist critique cultural visibility narrative bias Questions to Reflect On - How can we encourage more diverse female protagonists? - What impact does representation have on young readers? A Different Perspective Focusing on famous figures can marginalize common experiences. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Everyday](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/everyday/) [Female](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/female/) [Fiction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fiction/) [Girl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/girl/) [Growing up](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/growing-up/) [Historical](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/historical/) [Historical fiction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/historical-fiction/) [History](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/history/) [Males](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/males/) [Reading](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reading/) ## Related quotes > [I like Betsy Ross as a model, too, the quilting bee, sitting around with your friends making art, asking what they think, so that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kiki-smith/i-like-betsy-ross-as-a-model-too-the-quilting-bee-sitting-around-with/) [Kiki Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kiki-smith/) > [With Whitney Eve, I really wanted to dress everyday girls. 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She read a feminist book and then…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathleen-hanna/my-mom-wasn-t-like-she-was-reading-all-these-historical-romance/) [Kathleen Hanna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathleen-hanna/) > [“I wondered what he would have thought if he'd known that I'd gleaned most of my information from reading historical romance novels.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-luiken/i-wondered-what-he-would-have-thought-if-he-d-known-that-i-d-gleaned/) Nicole Luiken > [As far as benefits to reading historical novels, there are several! For one thing, you learn about life in another era. Secondly, these novels…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-pope-osborne/as-far-as-benefits-to-reading-historical-novels-there-are-several-for/) [Mary Pope Osborne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-pope-osborne/) > [I loved reading historical novels when I was young, but I definitely don't think I wrote one. 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Anthony, Clara…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gail-collins/some-of-our-national-heroines-were-defined-by-the-fact-that-they/) [Gail Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gail-collins/) > [When I was seven years old, I fell in love with a series published by Bobbs-Merrill called 'The Childhood of Famous Americans.' In it,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-hood/when-i-was-seven-years-old-i-fell-in-love-with-a-series-published-by/) [Ann Hood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-hood/) > [“Clara Barton was a famous Civil War nurse. When she began nursing, she used her own money for her supplies. 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Lets all praise Vegeta!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/betsy-ross/oh-my-vegeta-s-so-epic-my-names-betsy-ross-lets-all-praise-vegeta/) Betsy Ross Browse all 7 Betsy ross quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "When I was growing up I loved reading historical fiction, but too often it was about males; or, if it was about females, they were girls who were going to grow up to be famous like Betsy Ross, Clara Barton, or Harriet Tubman. 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