Mara Hvistendahl's book on the consequences of too many boys and not enough girls is a Pulitzer finalist.
Photoby: Danielle Van Der Schans
Our modern techno-abbreviations are efficient and all, but sometimes they can leave a person in suspense. Mara Hvistendahl, author of "Unnatural Selections: Choosing Boys Over Girls, and the Consequences of a World Full of Men," lives in Shanghai, China, the base from which she covers science news and features across Asia for Science magazine. The native of Northfield, Minn., turned on her phone yesterday to find an SMS from a friend, congratulating her on being a finalist "for the P." "I went and made coffee, the whole time thinking, surely not THAT "P,' " she told us via email. "Then my mom called. I figured, ok, it's that P."
Hvistendahl's book explores the disturbing numbers of parents in China, India, parts of Eastern Europe and elsewhere who are self-selecting only boy children, and the eventual results (a shortage of potential brides is already a reality in some countries). Read a previous interview with her about it here: http://www.startribune.com/a1228
