From: Marilyn Rogers <mrogers>
Date: Fri, 27 Feb 2004 16:14:54 -0800

The comments regarding the 8th grader's opinion on the ending of A Northern Light got me wondering about when these books should be read. I have not yet read the book but do you think she would have understood the heroine's choices better if she had been alittle older when she read it?

I am working on collection development for a new k-8th grade school's library and wanted to know how do you decide when a book, such as this one or "First Part Last", should be part of a middle school's collection versus a high school's collection. I am certain that there are 8th graders who could grasp these books but, in general, are the themes better addressed in high school? Because there are so many great books out there but not enough money to buy them all, it is difficult to know as a "start up" library whether to spend part of our money on books that appear to straddle junior high and high school. Marilyn, CDS School, San Francisco

Hollis Rudiger wrote:
Received on Fri 27 Feb 2004 06:14:54 PM CST