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Why Johnny Can't Read
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From: Lynn Rutan <lynnrutan>
Date: Thu, 27 Jan 2005 06:39:58 -0500
Thanks Ruth for posting this. I agree with many of the concerns of the article but sections such as these are troubling to me:
The authors of this passage certainly haven't been reading the same YA literature that I have been reading! Yes, there are many short appealing novels for teens that address issue that are important to teens and hurray for that! The quality of YA literature is extraordinary. I recently returned from ALA MidWinter where I served on Best Books for Young Adults and we struggled to narrow a list of 214 amazing books to 86.
Strong male role models, military valor, and high adventure abound in such books as Prince Across the Water by Jane Yolen, B for Buster by Iain Lawrence, Airborn by Kenneth Oppel, Private Peaceful by Michael Morpurgo, Eagle Strike by Anthony Horowitz, Promises to Keep: How Jackie Robinson Changed America by Sharon Robinson and King of the Middle March by Kevin Crossley-Holland. There was more outstanding historical fiction such as No Shame, No Fear, Fleshmarket, Chief Sunrise, John McGraw and Me, the funny Teacher's Funeral by Richard Peck. and the epic New Found Land by Allan Wolf.
Challenging "older literary fare" can most certainly be found in books such as In the Shadow of the Ark by Anne Provoost, the beautifully structured Under the Wolf, Under the Dog by Adam Rapp, or innovative verse novels such as The Realm of Possibility by David Levithan and Splintering by Eireann Corrigan.
These are only a few of the books from this year alone and I haven't touched the wealth of excellent fantasy and science fiction written and loved by teens.
I, too, am very concerned about reading and literacy across our nation.
I hope that the people conducting this " special study of gender differences in reading" are more aware of the excellent quality of literature available to teens than the authors of the article. If not, their study will be flawed from the start.
Lynn Rutan West Ottawa Public Schools Holland, MI lynnrutan at charter.net
Received on Thu 27 Jan 2005 05:39:58 AM CST
Date: Thu, 27 Jan 2005 06:39:58 -0500
Thanks Ruth for posting this. I agree with many of the concerns of the article but sections such as these are troubling to me:
The authors of this passage certainly haven't been reading the same YA literature that I have been reading! Yes, there are many short appealing novels for teens that address issue that are important to teens and hurray for that! The quality of YA literature is extraordinary. I recently returned from ALA MidWinter where I served on Best Books for Young Adults and we struggled to narrow a list of 214 amazing books to 86.
Strong male role models, military valor, and high adventure abound in such books as Prince Across the Water by Jane Yolen, B for Buster by Iain Lawrence, Airborn by Kenneth Oppel, Private Peaceful by Michael Morpurgo, Eagle Strike by Anthony Horowitz, Promises to Keep: How Jackie Robinson Changed America by Sharon Robinson and King of the Middle March by Kevin Crossley-Holland. There was more outstanding historical fiction such as No Shame, No Fear, Fleshmarket, Chief Sunrise, John McGraw and Me, the funny Teacher's Funeral by Richard Peck. and the epic New Found Land by Allan Wolf.
Challenging "older literary fare" can most certainly be found in books such as In the Shadow of the Ark by Anne Provoost, the beautifully structured Under the Wolf, Under the Dog by Adam Rapp, or innovative verse novels such as The Realm of Possibility by David Levithan and Splintering by Eireann Corrigan.
These are only a few of the books from this year alone and I haven't touched the wealth of excellent fantasy and science fiction written and loved by teens.
I, too, am very concerned about reading and literacy across our nation.
I hope that the people conducting this " special study of gender differences in reading" are more aware of the excellent quality of literature available to teens than the authors of the article. If not, their study will be flawed from the start.
Lynn Rutan West Ottawa Public Schools Holland, MI lynnrutan at charter.net
Received on Thu 27 Jan 2005 05:39:58 AM CST
