Please Don't Use These Words
. . .in reviews. cedarlibrarian articulated exactly the problems I had with a riff from a group that otherwise I really enjoy.
Especially about "It has an important message."
What kid goes cruising the shelves looking for books "with an important message"? Far too many kids opt out of reading because their reading seems to feature the hammer of Important Messages.
Also, not "every" twelve year old girl wants, or can handle, a heavy story about sex. Speaking as one who, at twelve, got a whammy-load dose of fictionalized very bad sex and related emotional fallout, and was overwhelmed, frightened, and then profoundly depressed by it* I can attest to this personally. Speaking as a teacher of twelve-year-olds for many years, I can attest to the fact that young people at twelve differ widely, and while I was loaning my Holly Blacks to one 12-year-old just last year, two seats over, another indefatigable 12-year-old reader found A Wrinkle in Time almost too much to handle.
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* in my day, you didn't dare ask questions or punishment would be swift and very severe. I hope and trust this is not the same nowadays. But even so, if we want kids reading, a book that requires counseling afterward I don't think is the way to achieve the goal.
Especially about "It has an important message."
What kid goes cruising the shelves looking for books "with an important message"? Far too many kids opt out of reading because their reading seems to feature the hammer of Important Messages.
Also, not "every" twelve year old girl wants, or can handle, a heavy story about sex. Speaking as one who, at twelve, got a whammy-load dose of fictionalized very bad sex and related emotional fallout, and was overwhelmed, frightened, and then profoundly depressed by it* I can attest to this personally. Speaking as a teacher of twelve-year-olds for many years, I can attest to the fact that young people at twelve differ widely, and while I was loaning my Holly Blacks to one 12-year-old just last year, two seats over, another indefatigable 12-year-old reader found A Wrinkle in Time almost too much to handle.
_____
* in my day, you didn't dare ask questions or punishment would be swift and very severe. I hope and trust this is not the same nowadays. But even so, if we want kids reading, a book that requires counseling afterward I don't think is the way to achieve the goal.