Corrupting My Brother
With the closing of Borders, my family went to scope out some deals the other day. My brother (now ten) has had a fixation with those stupid 100-ish page Goosebumps books because he's convinced they're scary and all the other kids are reading them. So of course, when we get to the bookstore he promptly picks out three of the dumb things and begs my mom to get them for him. She's not really keen on them because she considers them "gross" and wasn't sold on letting him get them - but she wants him to read, so it's sort of one of those torn moments.
Now, I know my brother. He's a darned smart kid, and an excellent reader, and I know for a fact the idiotic Goosebumps books are beneath him. When my sister was little she had trouble reading and the only thing that convinced her to read at all was reading the Mary-Kate and Ashley mysteries, so my mom caved and got her those simply as encouragement. And in the long run it worked, she slowly branched out into more mature and complex mysteries, and now she reads those CSI-y crime/murder books all the time. My brother, on the other hand, doesn't actually struggle with reading - he just tends to read whatever he views as "cool" and unfortunately a lot of the other kids he hangs out with have lower reading levels, so their ideas of good stuff is... less than impressive.
Being the big jerk I am, I proceeded to explain how stupid I think the Goosebumps books are (and I'm his "cool" big sister, so what I say is generally The Truth) and how he's such a good reader I think he should be reading good books. Then I picked out a few things I adored as a kid of his age and encouraged him to look at those instead. And much to my pleasure he actually put back the Goosebumps voluntarily and took my suggestions! About two days later and I asked him what he thinks of the books I pointed him at and he grins at me and tells me he loves them. He's already halfway through the first, about the equivalent of two Goosebumps books, and I'm really proud of him. I told him to keep reading like that and I have all sorts of awesome books for him to check out. He's excited by the idea, and I'm really glad. There is nothing more awesome than realizing all the good reading there is out there, and at his age the selection is broad and fun. Young Adult books get so... cliche and stale, but the stuff just before that is an absolute blast.
I remember reading in gab's LJ that she discovered her writing wasn't YA, and she was glad about finding out what her niche really was. Checking it out and realizing what it was myself, I'm super happy for her. These are definitely the really awesome books and, even better still, they're the ones that really get kids hooked on reading. This is the age where they are reading more on their own and now's the time to show them just how far they can stretch their imaginations.
So yeah, I'm all smug about dragging my brother down into the books I read as a kid. Bwahaha.
Now, I know my brother. He's a darned smart kid, and an excellent reader, and I know for a fact the idiotic Goosebumps books are beneath him. When my sister was little she had trouble reading and the only thing that convinced her to read at all was reading the Mary-Kate and Ashley mysteries, so my mom caved and got her those simply as encouragement. And in the long run it worked, she slowly branched out into more mature and complex mysteries, and now she reads those CSI-y crime/murder books all the time. My brother, on the other hand, doesn't actually struggle with reading - he just tends to read whatever he views as "cool" and unfortunately a lot of the other kids he hangs out with have lower reading levels, so their ideas of good stuff is... less than impressive.
Being the big jerk I am, I proceeded to explain how stupid I think the Goosebumps books are (and I'm his "cool" big sister, so what I say is generally The Truth) and how he's such a good reader I think he should be reading good books. Then I picked out a few things I adored as a kid of his age and encouraged him to look at those instead. And much to my pleasure he actually put back the Goosebumps voluntarily and took my suggestions! About two days later and I asked him what he thinks of the books I pointed him at and he grins at me and tells me he loves them. He's already halfway through the first, about the equivalent of two Goosebumps books, and I'm really proud of him. I told him to keep reading like that and I have all sorts of awesome books for him to check out. He's excited by the idea, and I'm really glad. There is nothing more awesome than realizing all the good reading there is out there, and at his age the selection is broad and fun. Young Adult books get so... cliche and stale, but the stuff just before that is an absolute blast.
I remember reading in gab's LJ that she discovered her writing wasn't YA, and she was glad about finding out what her niche really was. Checking it out and realizing what it was myself, I'm super happy for her. These are definitely the really awesome books and, even better still, they're the ones that really get kids hooked on reading. This is the age where they are reading more on their own and now's the time to show them just how far they can stretch their imaginations.
So yeah, I'm all smug about dragging my brother down into the books I read as a kid. Bwahaha.