CCBC-Net Archives
[CCBC-Net] What book has changed your life?
- Contemporary messages sorted: [ by date ] [ by subject ] [ by author ]
From: Geringer, Jennifer <jennifer.geringer>
Date: Tue, 23 May 2006 20:39:23 -0600
Hi All, The book that changed my life had as much to do with the experience as with the book itself.
At 13, I was a terribly awkward, self-conscious girl with a very limited (one or two) number of friends, living in a small rural community. I read well above grade levl and quite voraciously, devouring everything on my parents' bookshelves from mysteries to romance novels to coffeetable books, begging the librarians at the public library to let me check out more than the limit, bargaining with my siblings who weren't as voracious as I to check out books for me on their cards in exchange for doing their chores.
That summer, I diligently saved my babysitting earnings to take an overnight trip with a friend (my first trip away from home with a non-family member!). One of the places we visited was a bookstore since there weren't any in my hometown. I agonized over which book to buy with my limited funds, ultimately choosing Richard Peck's YA novel "Are You In the House Alone?" Despite the nearly overwhelming temptation, I didn't peek at it in the car on the way back home, intending to lock myself in my room and devour it.
No sooner had I arrived home than my mother (an equally voracious reader) wanted to know what book I'd purchased. Upon reading the description on the back, she told me that she intended to read it first to find out if it was "suitable" for me. The next day I discovered that she had decided it was unsuitable (she couldn't see beyond the rape that occurs in the story) and was not going to give it back to me, nor did she intend to replace it with a title she did deem suitable.
I was devastated. It was my first encounter with censorship, and I took it VERY personally. I had carefully selected the book from hundreds of other titles, purchased it with MY VERY OWN money, only to have it snatched away before I could read it.
A few weeks later, school started. I made a beeline for the school library (since my mother couldn't see what I was checking out there), found the book and read it in one sitting. In fact, I sat on the floor behind the stacks, hidden from the librarian, ditching class and reading all the way through lunch. I loved the book!
Because of that incident, I swore I would never support censorship. I even remember writing in my journal at the tender age of 13 that "someday when I have kids" I would allow them to read anything and everything they wanted to.
Today, I'm a professor teaching children's literature...trying to help my students (future teachers) see the value in encouraging kids to read. And I'm the co-director of a children's literature conference. One of our featured authors this October will be...you guessed it...Richard Peck!!! Jennifer
************************************************************************ Jennifer Geringer, Ph.D. Assistant Professor, Reading & Early Childhood Education University of Northern Colorado Co-director, Rocky Mountain Children's Literature Conference http://www.unco.edu/childlitconf
************************************************************************
Received on Tue 23 May 2006 09:39:23 PM CDT
Date: Tue, 23 May 2006 20:39:23 -0600
Hi All, The book that changed my life had as much to do with the experience as with the book itself.
At 13, I was a terribly awkward, self-conscious girl with a very limited (one or two) number of friends, living in a small rural community. I read well above grade levl and quite voraciously, devouring everything on my parents' bookshelves from mysteries to romance novels to coffeetable books, begging the librarians at the public library to let me check out more than the limit, bargaining with my siblings who weren't as voracious as I to check out books for me on their cards in exchange for doing their chores.
That summer, I diligently saved my babysitting earnings to take an overnight trip with a friend (my first trip away from home with a non-family member!). One of the places we visited was a bookstore since there weren't any in my hometown. I agonized over which book to buy with my limited funds, ultimately choosing Richard Peck's YA novel "Are You In the House Alone?" Despite the nearly overwhelming temptation, I didn't peek at it in the car on the way back home, intending to lock myself in my room and devour it.
No sooner had I arrived home than my mother (an equally voracious reader) wanted to know what book I'd purchased. Upon reading the description on the back, she told me that she intended to read it first to find out if it was "suitable" for me. The next day I discovered that she had decided it was unsuitable (she couldn't see beyond the rape that occurs in the story) and was not going to give it back to me, nor did she intend to replace it with a title she did deem suitable.
I was devastated. It was my first encounter with censorship, and I took it VERY personally. I had carefully selected the book from hundreds of other titles, purchased it with MY VERY OWN money, only to have it snatched away before I could read it.
A few weeks later, school started. I made a beeline for the school library (since my mother couldn't see what I was checking out there), found the book and read it in one sitting. In fact, I sat on the floor behind the stacks, hidden from the librarian, ditching class and reading all the way through lunch. I loved the book!
Because of that incident, I swore I would never support censorship. I even remember writing in my journal at the tender age of 13 that "someday when I have kids" I would allow them to read anything and everything they wanted to.
Today, I'm a professor teaching children's literature...trying to help my students (future teachers) see the value in encouraging kids to read. And I'm the co-director of a children's literature conference. One of our featured authors this October will be...you guessed it...Richard Peck!!! Jennifer
************************************************************************ Jennifer Geringer, Ph.D. Assistant Professor, Reading & Early Childhood Education University of Northern Colorado Co-director, Rocky Mountain Children's Literature Conference http://www.unco.edu/childlitconf
************************************************************************
Received on Tue 23 May 2006 09:39:23 PM CDT
