Did you ever have to read _____?
“
What do you mean, you never read The Giver?”
Thus began a lengthy discussion with my roommate about what we had to read in school. She shook her head at me, suddenly suspicious of my education, since I had been cheated out of Lois Lowry.
Neither had I suffered through A Brave New World or Their Eyes Were Watching God. I had not read Heart of Darkness in high school, but I had to for a college course, which I think was probably worse.
In regards to Steinbeck, I have my roommate soundly beat. She never read The Pearl or Cannery Row or The Grapes of Wrath.
We both had to read To Kill a Mockingbird, Romeo and Juliet, and, to our mutual dismay, Wuthering Heights.
Both of us had the freedom to choose what books we read for our book reports, though my roommate had to choose from a list. I almost shivered when she said that. I had no such list to go by. I distinctly remember reading Nerd in Shining Armor by Vicki Lewis Thompson (an adult romance), All-American Girl by Meg Cabot (a tween book), and The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien (yes, all three of them, thanks to a boxed set I got for Christmas). In other words, I used that freedom to explore all kinds of books, not just the ones that would have made it onto a teacher’s reading list. To not have had that freedom – I dread to think what I would have ended up reading.
The discussion went on to include the best stories by Edgar Allan Poe and left me with some observations about the books we have to read in school.
First of all, my librarian brain noticed immediately that the vast majority of the books we talked about have been banned or at least challenged at one point or another.
I also wondered about the reputations that some of these authors have. In school, I never read a comedy by Shakespeare. It was all tragedy, all the time. If I hadn’t been a complete Nerd and read A Midsummer Night’s Dream on my own, I’d never have known that the Bard can be funny. Likewise, if I had only been forced to read The Pearl, I would never have picked up a Steinbeck by choice. It wasn’t until I had to read Cannery Row that I recognized Steinbeck’s entertainment value and searched out more Steinbeck at the library.
I believe that what we read in our youth, especially what we read in school, has the capacity to make or break us as readers. If we like it, we’re set for life. If we have the freedom to read what we like, not just what we have to, we’ll learn the value in all reading, not just in high literature.
Part of the fun of reading is being able to explore different worlds. There really is something for everyone. Luckily for us, we have libraries to help us find the right book, even if we missed it in school.
Liz
-Teen Librarian
PS: After having this discussion with my roommate, I did, in fact, check out The Giver, and it is, as she said, awesome.