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another school comment
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From: Hope Baugh <hbaugh>
Date: Fri, 01 Oct 2004 17:50:43
Yesterday a colleague encouraged me to rejoin ccbc-net (I had been a lurker a few years ago until I got promoted to YA department manager and suddenly had much more work than time) because I was sharing with her my strong reactions to teachers in two recently published "YA" novels. My colleague thought my comments might be of interest here in the discussion about
"school books," so here goes, with apologies for not really knowing what has already been said:
In DOING IT, by Melvin Burgess, one of the young men is seduced by his teacher. He feels like such a "lucky boy" at first, getting all this great sex, but eventually he ends up feeling trapped and worse. The portrayal of their relationship haunted me for days. I kept wanting to shout at the teacher: "It is NEVER consensual when one person in a couple is underage! I understand that you have serious pain and problems in your life, and I can even sympathize with your feeling attracted to your student because we all feel that way at one time or another, but it is your duty to resist acting on your attraction! How dare you behave this way!"
I loved DOING IT, but I hated that horrible and pathetic teacher.
Not long after meeting her, however, I stumbled across Mr. Lucas in HOW I PAID FOR COLLEGE: A NOVEL OF SEX, THEFT, FRIENDSHIP, AND MUSICAL THEATER, by Marc Acitos. This book is warm and hilarious, too, although I'm not sure it is truly a YA novel either - more about that in a moment.
Edward (the bisexual teen in HOW I PAID FOR COLLEGE) lives in New Jersey but is in New York for his audition to get into Juilliard, his life's ambition. He is so nervous about it, he ends up at a gay piano bar, getting drunk and almost getting involved with a creepy guy, but then he hears a familiar voice at the piano and it is...his high school English and drama teacher!
Mr. Lucas takes Edward back to his apartment because he is in no shape to get home, and Edward tries to come on to him. But Mr. Lucas says, "I know you won't understand this, Edward, but a student places an enormous amount of trust in a teacher, more than the student realizes, and more than any teacher even wants. But no matter how tempting the offer...the teacher just...can't." (p. 129)
I loved HOW I PAID FOR COLLEGE, not only because it was laugh-out-loud funny and the author really nailed what high school theatre was like in the early 1980s, but also because even though there were a lot of messed-up adults in that book, there was also Mr. Lucas.
I bought both of these books for the YA collection, which at CCPL is intended for people in high school (9thth grades.) I'm not afraid of controversy, but after reading each of these books I decided they were of more interest to adults than teens. They do both ring with authentic teen voices, telling their stories as they happen rather than as adults looking back. But even so, I am not sure the voices speak to actual teen readers.
DOING IT is great to help adults remember what life is like for many teens
- very sophisticated in some aspects, especially appearance, yet very inexperienced and insecure in others. I feel good about it being in our adult collection: available to teens if they want it, but not necessarily promoted to them.
HOW I PAID FOR COLLEGE is so good, so hugely funny! To me. I read it and loved it, but I was an adult looking back and remembering my own high school theater days in the early '80s (okay, the late '70s.) The book is set in 1983. I'm not sure that teens today would get as big a kick out of it as I did. I don't think it is meant to be historical fiction.
I still might change my mind about adding it to the YA collection, especially if it does become, as one reviewer said, one of those books that teens are asking for and passing around to each other. Especially since the author has some really good discussion questions at his website: www.marcacitos.com. But for now I am content to just have it available in the adult collection.
Best wishes,
Hope
******************************************* Hope Baugh Young Adult Services Manager Carmel Clay Public Library 55 4th Ave SE Carmel, IN 46032 tel: 317?4979 fax: 317W1B85 email: hbaugh at carmel.lib.in.us website: http://www.carmel.lib.in.us Also check out: http://www.reads4teens.org
*******************************************
Received on Fri 01 Oct 2004 05:50:43 PM CDT
Date: Fri, 01 Oct 2004 17:50:43
Yesterday a colleague encouraged me to rejoin ccbc-net (I had been a lurker a few years ago until I got promoted to YA department manager and suddenly had much more work than time) because I was sharing with her my strong reactions to teachers in two recently published "YA" novels. My colleague thought my comments might be of interest here in the discussion about
"school books," so here goes, with apologies for not really knowing what has already been said:
In DOING IT, by Melvin Burgess, one of the young men is seduced by his teacher. He feels like such a "lucky boy" at first, getting all this great sex, but eventually he ends up feeling trapped and worse. The portrayal of their relationship haunted me for days. I kept wanting to shout at the teacher: "It is NEVER consensual when one person in a couple is underage! I understand that you have serious pain and problems in your life, and I can even sympathize with your feeling attracted to your student because we all feel that way at one time or another, but it is your duty to resist acting on your attraction! How dare you behave this way!"
I loved DOING IT, but I hated that horrible and pathetic teacher.
Not long after meeting her, however, I stumbled across Mr. Lucas in HOW I PAID FOR COLLEGE: A NOVEL OF SEX, THEFT, FRIENDSHIP, AND MUSICAL THEATER, by Marc Acitos. This book is warm and hilarious, too, although I'm not sure it is truly a YA novel either - more about that in a moment.
Edward (the bisexual teen in HOW I PAID FOR COLLEGE) lives in New Jersey but is in New York for his audition to get into Juilliard, his life's ambition. He is so nervous about it, he ends up at a gay piano bar, getting drunk and almost getting involved with a creepy guy, but then he hears a familiar voice at the piano and it is...his high school English and drama teacher!
Mr. Lucas takes Edward back to his apartment because he is in no shape to get home, and Edward tries to come on to him. But Mr. Lucas says, "I know you won't understand this, Edward, but a student places an enormous amount of trust in a teacher, more than the student realizes, and more than any teacher even wants. But no matter how tempting the offer...the teacher just...can't." (p. 129)
I loved HOW I PAID FOR COLLEGE, not only because it was laugh-out-loud funny and the author really nailed what high school theatre was like in the early 1980s, but also because even though there were a lot of messed-up adults in that book, there was also Mr. Lucas.
I bought both of these books for the YA collection, which at CCPL is intended for people in high school (9thth grades.) I'm not afraid of controversy, but after reading each of these books I decided they were of more interest to adults than teens. They do both ring with authentic teen voices, telling their stories as they happen rather than as adults looking back. But even so, I am not sure the voices speak to actual teen readers.
DOING IT is great to help adults remember what life is like for many teens
- very sophisticated in some aspects, especially appearance, yet very inexperienced and insecure in others. I feel good about it being in our adult collection: available to teens if they want it, but not necessarily promoted to them.
HOW I PAID FOR COLLEGE is so good, so hugely funny! To me. I read it and loved it, but I was an adult looking back and remembering my own high school theater days in the early '80s (okay, the late '70s.) The book is set in 1983. I'm not sure that teens today would get as big a kick out of it as I did. I don't think it is meant to be historical fiction.
I still might change my mind about adding it to the YA collection, especially if it does become, as one reviewer said, one of those books that teens are asking for and passing around to each other. Especially since the author has some really good discussion questions at his website: www.marcacitos.com. But for now I am content to just have it available in the adult collection.
Best wishes,
Hope
******************************************* Hope Baugh Young Adult Services Manager Carmel Clay Public Library 55 4th Ave SE Carmel, IN 46032 tel: 317?4979 fax: 317W1B85 email: hbaugh at carmel.lib.in.us website: http://www.carmel.lib.in.us Also check out: http://www.reads4teens.org
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Received on Fri 01 Oct 2004 05:50:43 PM CDT
