From: Dotti <enderle>
Date: Mon, 19 May 2003 07:50:22 -0500

Cassie,

The thing to keep in mind here is that usually high school students have established a pattern - either they are readers or aren't. My daughter is in high school, and only reads YA when I hand her an exceptional one and say
"You've got to read this." She reads Grisham for pleasure (I've never read a one of his books), but she loves the classics. A couple of years ago I volunteered to shelve books at the high school library. I was surprised to see that the only novels being checked out that weren't adult novels were the Goosebump series. I had this theory that the kids checked them out because these were books that they loved in upper elementary school, and that it gave them some comfort to revisit them. I shared this theory with my editor who said, "Also consider that lots of kids can't read above that level." :-( I still prefer my theory.

As for content in YA, I love the edgy books, but have found that there are a few I wouldn't share with my daughters because I felt they might be upset by them.

Right now I'm reading The City Of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau. I'm noticing a lot of similiarities to The Giver.

Dotti Enderle Fortune Tellers Club (Llewellyn Worldwide) www.fortunetellersclub.com
  1. The Lost Girl
  2. Playing With Fire
  3. The Magic Shades (Sept. 2003)
  4. Secrets Of Lost Arrow (Jan. 2004)
Received on Mon 19 May 2003 07:50:22 AM CDT