It kills me that high school English teachers still assign the same “classics” that I read back in the 1960s! (Just one example: Orwell was never that great a writer to begin with, and the leftism/Communism he parodied in Animal Story is a dead issue. Even the dystopic future of 1984 is dated–there’s newer, better stuff out there now.) Mostly it’s inertia–they have the books, they have the lesson plans, and the choices certainly aren’t considered controversial any more, so they feel safe.

And they try to loosen up when they’re doing the summer reading list, but they haven’t read any of the newer books, so they’re clueless. Plus, it’s all about control. What if some of the kids don’t read “serious” books! So the dead books continue to get assigned, along with a few newer ones that middle-aged teachers enjoyed.

I’m going to make copies of your article and put them in our teachers’ mail boxes, so that maybe, next spring, they’ll take a chance and let the kids contribute to the list. Many thanks!

I was visiting a friend of mine who has four grandchildren, and as we were about to say good-bye, she suddenly said, “Janna, since you work in children’s books, I didn’t want to forget to tell you about the most wonderful editorial in the New York Times this weekend. It was recommending good summer reading books for children, and I saved it so that I can send them all to my grandchildren.”

“What books did the writer recommend?” I asked.

“Hmm, Charlotte’s Web, and The Wind and the Willows, I recall…. And a book called “Lad, the Dog.”"

I was briefly stunned. With all the rich, diverse, compelling children’s books being published this year and in the past few years, these were the books being recommended by the New York Times?

I felt compelled to act so these four grandchildren wouldn’t be sent a library of books published before the second World War. I started rhapsodizing about what interesting writers are working now, such as Kate di Camillo, Phillip Pullman, Cornelia Funke, Nancy Farmer, Trenton Lee Stewart, Suzanne Collins, etc. etc. My friend was making a list assiduously as I spoke so I feel hopeful that my intervention was successful!

I think I’ve pasted the link above, but just in case: http://fc.dekalb.k12.ga.us/~KATHRYN_E_LAPOLLA/?OpenItemURL=S106C0EBB

Maybe another way to chilld out and read for families is to have a daily group reading time. It can be as simple as Mom and Dad taking a section of the paper after lunch or dinner, and inviting their kids to do the same (or bring a book/magazine). Half the fun of reading is getting to talk and share your ideas.

On your other point, peer recommendations are useful both for identifying popular, accessible books and for motivating reading because everyone else is doing it. But there is a place for adult-recommended books that go beyond the light and popular. For instance, my daughter would never have picked up Kazuo Ishiguro’s Never Let Me Go had it not been assigned reading–and it’s now one of her all time favorite books. And what about the child or teen who feels out of step with his or her peers, due to personality, interests, abilities, or life experiences? “Special reader” lists are good to have too.