ZOSIA BIELSKI. Globe and Mail, December 11, 2008
'A crush is like a love disease. It can drive you mad."
That's wisdom from nine-year-old Alec Greven. After watching his classmates mingling at recess, the Colorado third-grader decided the boys needed some help.
With a creative writing assignment due, Alec spun his observations into a pamphlet called How to Talk to Girls--which then sold for $3 (U.S.) at the school fair. The project has gained Alec international media coverage, a publishing deal and now a film deal--Fox bought the rights on Tuesday.
While some of his advice is kid stuff ("Control your hyperness and cut down on sugar if necessary"), some of it could benefit most grown men. Consider this suggestion from Chapter 1: "You also have to be aware that girls win most of the arguments and have most of the power. If you know that now, things might be easier."
There are also chapters on crushes, compliments and the thrill of victory. The 46-page book is selling in 17 countries. Ahead of Alec's appearance on Late Night with Conan O'Brien last night, we spoke with the pint-sized pickup artist.
What did you see on the playground last year when you were in Grade 3?
I saw boys having trouble getting girls to like them, getting ditched and getting all miserable and everything, so I wanted to write a book that helped them.
What were these boys doing wrong?
Usually their brains turned to mush and they [would] say something wrong.
So tell me about pretty girls. They seem pretty scary.
Well, pretty girls, all they care about is their looks. That's why we call them pretty girls. You can go for regular girls because regular girls can be pretty too. They just have other things on their minds.
What do you mean when you say, "Pretty girls, like cars, need a lot of oil?"
That kind of means, you know how oil costs money and it takes work to put the oil in the car? If you're trying to get a pretty girl to like you, there's a 98-per-cent chance that she'll ditch you.
So that's higher than the regular percentage right? Regular girls ditch boys 73 per cent of the time?
Yes.
Have you become interested in girls at all through this whole experience?
I'm a little young to go out dating and everything with girls yet. I'm friends with girls.
How did they react to your book?
They actually thought it was pretty funny. Some, they want to write How to Talk to Boys.
GIRLS 101
"If you like a girl, comb your hair and don't wear sweats. You don't have to try too hard, but just try to look kind of clean."
"Go for a talkative girl if you are shy. Then you only have to say one sentence, and she will do the rest of the talking."
"When you see a pretty girl, don't let her tractor beam pull you in. ... If you are really confident, go for it!"
"Do you think that attracting a girl's attention means flapping your arms like a chicken and making noise? No way."
"Whatever happens, don't let it make you crazy."
