We’d been planning it for weeks. My niece and I share a love of young adult fiction. We have a great time talking about books we’ve both read … recommending books to one another… waiting for new releases from our favorite authors. Last month I came up with an idea to formalize our shared interest a bit. We would choose a book together, read it at the same time, and discuss it as we went along. Kind of like the world’s smallest book club.
So we began with our go-to authors. Sarah Dessen? Nope. We’d both exhausted all of her titles. Susane Colasanti? I had only read a few, but my niece was up-to-date and the latest release wasn’t coming out till spring.
I stumbled upon a great book site called Epic Reads, which posted a blog entry called “The United States of YA.” The blog author created a cool map of YA books that took place in each of our 50 States. What a fun idea! My niece and I decided to choose the book from our home State of Connecticut – My Life Next Door by Huntley Fitzpatrick. It was exactly the kind of book we both liked and the reviews were positive.
Then I got a call from my niece that put our plans on hold. Her 8th grade English teacher had assigned a book to the class: Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury. This was not her genre, and she was finding the book pretty tough to slog through. Worried that she couldn’t split her attention, she asked if we could postpone our mini-book club. I could see how disappointed she was, but school had to come first. After all, my husband’s an English teacher. I understand the importance of reading the classics… of having students read the same book so they can discuss it and analyze it together.
Still I was struck by the fact that my niece was putting down a book she loved in order to read one that she hated.
Something similar happened to my older niece last year. She spent an entire agonizing summer trying to get through Great Expectations (required reading for incoming 9th grade honors students). Sadly she put away the stack of fun YA novels she had chosen to read over summer vacation, knowing she wouldn’t have time to read them.
Once again I was saddened to see a bright young woman putting away a book she loved in order to drag her way through a classic that brought her no joy. I wonder where the balance is here. If students can’t read for pleasure during the school year because of assigned texts, shouldn’t summer vacation be a sacred time for pleasure reading? How can we honor the valuable lessons to be gained from reading the classics while still fostering a love of reading in our children?
I’m asking Mark to weigh in on this one, from his perspective as a high school English teacher. You’ll see his thoughts in a future blog post. In the meantime I’d love to read your comments below.
Reblogged this on Annette J Dunlea Irish Author's Literary Blog.
It was sad to put away all my summer YA books to read Great Expectations. I feel like students should be forced to read during the summer but books that they choose that they can enjoy and relate to.
I couldn’t agree more!
Students at Audrey’s middle school are asked to always have a book (of their choice) at school to read if they find they’ve finished schoolwork early. However, Audrey is kept busy enough with in-school work and homework that she’s finding very little time to read for pleasure as a 6th grader. On the one hand, she’s a good student and doing really well in school. Of course, I want that to continue! On the other hand, I’m not sure how I feel about the fact she’s actually reading less then she used to because she has little to no time to read for pleasure.
This past summer incoming 6th graders were given a list of about twelve books. They were required to read four. Two of the titles were mandatory and were discussed at the beginning of the school year. Of the remaining books on the list students could choose any two (or more) that interested them. So, I guess that’s one way to include at least some choice for summer reading. Although, you’re out of luck if none of the books are interesting to you!
That’s what happened to my son this summer. He was given a pretty long list of books to choose from for summer reading, but none really captured his fancy. We ended up letting him choose his own book, banking on the fact that the teachers would be ok with it. And they were.
I sometimes use reading a book for fun as a reward for reading a book that is more of an “I should read this”–so I’ll set aside some time to read, assign myself a chapter or two, then use whatever time is left to read the fun book. For me it helps to break the less-fun book down into smaller parts, and the fun book is even more appreciated. But bummer for having too many less-fun books!
P.S. I really like the United States of YA…I need to check out those titles!
I remember doing that in college. When I was ready to take a break from Beowulf or Paradise Lost, I would pick up one of my fun romance novels and read for a few hours. It helped me get through some of the more dense classics. Now that I’m older I find myself less and less picking up the “I should read this” books. I just want want to read what I want to read!
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I’ll assume you have read these, but two by M. T. Anderson are quite good I would argue:
Feed and The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume I: The Pox Party