If you ask a girl what she’s reading, chances are she’ll rattle off a list of favorite books that feature both boy and girl characters. Girls read across gender lines. They’re used to it. Many of the classic books written for children are about young boys and their adventures. Girls are used to inhabiting a boy’s mind.

But what about boys? Do you ever shrink from reading a good book to a boy because it might be too girly?

Good books are good books. We shortchange boys and underestimate them when we don’t expose boys to stories with girl main characters. And not just tough girl characters who fight and act like warriors. Regular girls. All kinds of girls.

Think Little House on the Prairie. The Diary of Anne Frank. Island of the Blue Dolphins. The Penderwicks. The Vanderbeekers of 141st St. And many, many more.

A recent article about adult men who shun all books by female authors made me think of this. Really? Seriously? These days? But perhaps it starts young, with lack of empathy and experience. Perhaps we adults unwittingly contribute to this when we self-select books out that “boys wouldn’t be interested in.”

Give boys and girls a chance. Sure, kids gravitate to a certain genre or favorite author, but our job is to widen their world and mix it up. Girls are certainly exposed to male values and interests. Boys could gain a lot from stepping into a female world.

Stories develop empathy. They get us into the mind and life of another person. Don’t be frightened to push the border and be a champion for empathy.

As a Hungarian novelist said, when asked about rising hate crimes and discrimination: “Our society’s biggest problem, beyond poverty, is a lack of empathy.”

Go forth and kindle empathy!