Read this...or else?

I hated every single book I was forced to read in high school.

Something happens to me when I am told that I have to do something: I don't want to do it! (who knew?) You could say I have a problem with authority, or I like to be my own boss, but really I just like to have a choice. Whether it's what I am going to read next or the content and design of my library website, I like to have options and be able to make my own decisions.*

The topic of forcing teens to read certain things is something I have been passionate about for years. I have discussed it with so many people and found it intriguing to hear other people's experiences.

This subject came to my attention again today when I read a blog post by the incomparable Meg Cabot; in it, she linked to this New York Times article and from there I found this slide show.

All 3 of those links are worth checking out, in my opinion.

Side tangent: I am forwarding the NYT links to my principal. I know he will appreciate them; he would foster self-selected reading if he could get away with it. Last year at a meeting after school we had a huge debate about summer reading, and why certain books are picked, and what about letting the students choose what they want to read? Principal and I were on the same team, but we had one major roadblock: the English department. They completely freaked out about changing things and letting the students have a choice and the main question we came up with was: what is the point of summer reading? More on this later.

Back to the original topic:
WHY do we make students read the things we make them read? The notion of self-selected reading/reading workshops really, really excites me. But mentioning this to the English teachers at my school would NOT go over well. I understand the teachers have a curriculum they need to follow, but I wonder: does the curriculum say 'students absolutely must read Animal Farm [the book I despised most in high school!**] or does the curriculum state that students should explore literature to learn about totalitarianism and the abuse/misuse of language? [etc]

I get so tired of hearing my students complain to me [their young, sympathetic librarian *wink*] that they 'don't have time to read anything cool from the library because they are being forced to read stupid stuff for class.' [Their words, not mine...but those probably would have been my words about 12 years ago.]

On one hand, teenagers have lots of great excuses for why they can't do things...but on the other hand, I am sympathetic to the long list of things vying for their attention, ie get good grades, play sports, work, get into a good college...oh, and read several long texts that they have no interest in. I'd probably die of shock if a student ever came in and said 'Hey Mrs. E! I am really enjoying this book I'm being forced to read for class!'

Please note: I do not believe that required reading should be completely replaced with self-selected reading. I think the best solution would be a combination of the two. To quote my twitter twin @bookhouseboy [aka Gregory Taylor] in a recent tweet: "Literature studied in a group, if done right, fosters greater insights and more thoughtful reading, improving the experience of ALL reading." Well said, twin; I fully agree.

I promise to step off the soapbox soon. Before I do, I need to clarify something: not all of the English teachers at my school are unwilling to update their reading lists. Major props especially to one particular teacher who, after I read and recommended a book to her last year, ended up working it into her curriculum to great success. I appreciate that she is flexible in her teaching and keeps up with current literature.

I'd love to close with an fitting story of one of the best experiences I had in high school: My 9th grade English teacher announced one day: 'Class, in the back of your textbook you will find the novel Great Expectations. You can read this, or you may go to the back of the classroom and choose a novel from the bookcase.' I remember looking at a friend and knowing we were both going to choose our own book. We both picked out A Separate Peace by John Knowles. I still remembered how empowered I felt, that this teacher trusted me to read something that I picked! I ended up loving the book...and I know that because I wasn't forced to read it, this made the novel all that more enjoyable. Thanks, Mrs. C.


*Yet another reason why I get along so well with my high school students!
**Also, I disliked my teacher that year AND she beat that book to death over the course of an entire semester! Ugh.

Update on LIAR!

The cover of LIAR has been changed! Look!

I am so happy about this, if you read my last post you will see why/what I am talking about. You can buy the book here.

Kudos to Bloomsbury for making this change!

You can read about the changes and Justine's thoughts here.

PS I know this post is really late, but I was out of the country when this happened and have been too busy ever since!