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[CCBC-Net] Blume's continued appeal
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From: Anne Oelke <cflibrary>
Date: Mon, 06 Oct 2008 15:36:08 -0500
That is exactly what I was speculating, and you put it more clearly than I had. Perhaps I need to do a little more "selling" on the YA Judy Blume books. Judy Blume's books were published after I was out of the MS/HS years, so I only came to them as an adult. As I've read some of the posts about how strongly some of these books affected some of this group during those years, I've begun to think I need to reread a few. Do you feel that these books still have as strong an impact now as they did in the 70's or '80's?
Beth Wright Redford wrote:
> I have some Blume books in my children's collection and some in my YA
> (middle/high school collection). Both circulate well. I think I
> understand what you're speculating - that children read her books for
> children, but then they grow up to be teens and pass over her books
> because they think they books will also be little-kiddish? I guess I
> haven't seen that happening.
>
> Beth Wright Redford
> Fletcher Free Library
> Burlington, Vermont
>
>
>
> --- On *Mon, 10/6/08, Anne Oelke /<cflibrary at cf.k12.wi.us>/* wrote:
>
> From: Anne Oelke <cflibrary at cf.k12.wi.us>
> Subject: [CCBC-Net] Blume's continued appeal
> To: CCBC-Net at ccbc.education.wisc.edu
> Date: Monday, October 6, 2008, 3:04 PM
>
> Judy Blume's
> books do not circulate heavily in my middle/high school
> library (gr. 6-12) Freckle Juice is popular, but quite frankly that is
> because it is one of the skinniest books the students can find.
> "Here's
> to you Rachel Robinson" criculates decently, but "Then again..",
> "It's
> not the end of the world", and "Are you there God...""
> rarely get
> checked out. Speculation here: Could this be due to the popularity of
> the elementary Blume books such as Fudge etc? I wonder if then the
> students tend not to look at her books for older students.
>
> Anne Oelke
> Library Media Specialist
> Cambria-Friesland School District
> Cambria, WI 53923
> 920 348-5135 x150
> mailto:CFLibrary at cf.k12.wi.us
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Beth Wright Redford <bethreader at yahoo.com>
> Date: Friday, October 3, 2008 8:09 am
> Subject: [CCBC-Net] Blubber and Blume's continued appeal
> To:
> ccbc-net at ccbc.education.wisc.edu
>
>
> > My fifth grade year (way back in the 1970's) was a nasty one in terms
> > of cliquishness,
> > exclusion, and mean girl behavior. But just as it
> > was getting really bad, the teacher read Blubber
> > aloud to the class. Some mean girl bullies in this story come out
> > looking bad, and the real life bullying in my classroom scaled way back
> > after
> > that, at least for a while. I've been a
> > fan of Judy Blume's books ever since.
> >
> > Here's a testament to the enduring appeal of Blume's books: with
>
> > most other realistic fiction in my library, outdated fashion
> > on the cover is enough to condemn a book to a sad life of shelf-sitting
> > unless it's handsold by a librarian. However,
> > the older copies of Blume's books in my library continue to circulate
> > even though the girls in the cover art have the wrong hairdos.
>
> > They seem to be books that young people handsell to each other. The
> > characters remain appealing and the situations believable, even years
> > after the books were first published.
> >
> > In another sign of Blume's
> > enduring appeal, Forever still gets stolen off my library shelves and
> > never returned, decades after its publication. In fact, that's how I
> > can tell if a YA novel has really found its audience: when it gets
> > stolen off my shelves, just like Forever.
> >
> > Beth Wright Redford
> > Fletcher Free Library
> > Burlington, Vermont
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > CCBC-Net mailing list
> > CCBC-Net at ccbc.education.wisc.edu
> > Visit this link to read archives or to unsubscribe...
> >
> http://ccbc.education.wisc.edu/mailman/listinfo/ccbc-net
> _______________________________________________
> CCBC-Net mailing list
> CCBC-Net at ccbc.education.wisc.edu
> Visit this link to read archives or to unsubscribe...
> http://ccbc.education.wisc.edu/mailman/listinfo/ccbc-net
>
>
>
Date: Mon, 06 Oct 2008 15:36:08 -0500
That is exactly what I was speculating, and you put it more clearly than I had. Perhaps I need to do a little more "selling" on the YA Judy Blume books. Judy Blume's books were published after I was out of the MS/HS years, so I only came to them as an adult. As I've read some of the posts about how strongly some of these books affected some of this group during those years, I've begun to think I need to reread a few. Do you feel that these books still have as strong an impact now as they did in the 70's or '80's?
Beth Wright Redford wrote:
> I have some Blume books in my children's collection and some in my YA
> (middle/high school collection). Both circulate well. I think I
> understand what you're speculating - that children read her books for
> children, but then they grow up to be teens and pass over her books
> because they think they books will also be little-kiddish? I guess I
> haven't seen that happening.
>
> Beth Wright Redford
> Fletcher Free Library
> Burlington, Vermont
>
>
>
> --- On *Mon, 10/6/08, Anne Oelke /<cflibrary at cf.k12.wi.us>/* wrote:
>
> From: Anne Oelke <cflibrary at cf.k12.wi.us>
> Subject: [CCBC-Net] Blume's continued appeal
> To: CCBC-Net at ccbc.education.wisc.edu
> Date: Monday, October 6, 2008, 3:04 PM
>
> Judy Blume's
> books do not circulate heavily in my middle/high school
> library (gr. 6-12) Freckle Juice is popular, but quite frankly that is
> because it is one of the skinniest books the students can find.
> "Here's
> to you Rachel Robinson" criculates decently, but "Then again..",
> "It's
> not the end of the world", and "Are you there God...""
> rarely get
> checked out. Speculation here: Could this be due to the popularity of
> the elementary Blume books such as Fudge etc? I wonder if then the
> students tend not to look at her books for older students.
>
> Anne Oelke
> Library Media Specialist
> Cambria-Friesland School District
> Cambria, WI 53923
> 920 348-5135 x150
> mailto:CFLibrary at cf.k12.wi.us
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Beth Wright Redford <bethreader at yahoo.com>
> Date: Friday, October 3, 2008 8:09 am
> Subject: [CCBC-Net] Blubber and Blume's continued appeal
> To:
> ccbc-net at ccbc.education.wisc.edu
>
>
> > My fifth grade year (way back in the 1970's) was a nasty one in terms
> > of cliquishness,
> > exclusion, and mean girl behavior. But just as it
> > was getting really bad, the teacher read Blubber
> > aloud to the class. Some mean girl bullies in this story come out
> > looking bad, and the real life bullying in my classroom scaled way back
> > after
> > that, at least for a while. I've been a
> > fan of Judy Blume's books ever since.
> >
> > Here's a testament to the enduring appeal of Blume's books: with
>
> > most other realistic fiction in my library, outdated fashion
> > on the cover is enough to condemn a book to a sad life of shelf-sitting
> > unless it's handsold by a librarian. However,
> > the older copies of Blume's books in my library continue to circulate
> > even though the girls in the cover art have the wrong hairdos.
>
> > They seem to be books that young people handsell to each other. The
> > characters remain appealing and the situations believable, even years
> > after the books were first published.
> >
> > In another sign of Blume's
> > enduring appeal, Forever still gets stolen off my library shelves and
> > never returned, decades after its publication. In fact, that's how I
> > can tell if a YA novel has really found its audience: when it gets
> > stolen off my shelves, just like Forever.
> >
> > Beth Wright Redford
> > Fletcher Free Library
> > Burlington, Vermont
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > CCBC-Net mailing list
> > CCBC-Net at ccbc.education.wisc.edu
> > Visit this link to read archives or to unsubscribe...
> >
> http://ccbc.education.wisc.edu/mailman/listinfo/ccbc-net
> _______________________________________________
> CCBC-Net mailing list
> CCBC-Net at ccbc.education.wisc.edu
> Visit this link to read archives or to unsubscribe...
> http://ccbc.education.wisc.edu/mailman/listinfo/ccbc-net
>
>
>
-- Anne Oelke Library Media Specialist pK-12 Cambria-Friesland School District Cambria, WI mailto:cflibrary at cf.k12.wi.usReceived on Mon 06 Oct 2008 03:36:08 PM CDT
