Book Candy

Resources for Bringing Social Issues into the Classroom

As part of Western Michigan University's MLK Week, I'll be presenting a workshop session tomorrow on Issues of Social Justice in YA Literature.  Here is a link to the Teaching MLK website, a great resource for K-12 instructors.

It's No Joke!

In February, a former student posted a positive review of my course on one of the those "rate my professor" websites, but embedded in the praise was the statement that there would be a great deal of reading in my class.  As if to bring the point home with emphasis, the student concluded with words to this effect: "It's No Joke."

I was reminded of this post when I logged into my New York Times account this morning.  The paper has begun a series of articles that focus on reading.  The first installment was printed today:  "R U Really Reading?" At issue is the question of whether reading traditional print content is as valuable as reading digital content.  This debate has implications for those of us who want our students to read for sustained periods of time (yes, it's no joke) and for the field of children's literature.

The proponents of digital literacy argue that the skills learned from sifting through the myriad of online resources are the very ones that will be useful to young people when they enter the work force.  They also note that the medium is interactive by nature, encouraging readers not only to read, but to respond to the content by posting their reactions and by interacting with other readers.  Zach, an 18 year-old who was interviewed for the piece, noted that he can glean information on a topic from hundreds of resources in a very short period of time, making him a more informed consumer of ideas.

Proponents of traditional literacy point to recent data that links sustained reading of print texts to higher scores on standardized tests.  They also note that reading a print text compels the reader to focus for long periods of time on a single resource.  This activity actually changes the brain's wiring and prepares readers to engage in other sustained activities that require focus.

As a daily observer of high school graduates such as the ones interviewed for the article, I have sympathy for both sides in this debate.  I began teaching in 1990, as a graduate instructor at Purdue University.  Although the majority of my students were not bookworms, most of them could complete assigned readings without too much prodding, and they came to the university classroom in the possession of a basic understanding of literary interpretation.  What they didn't seem to possess was the willingness to understand viewpoints other than their own.

Today, my students demonstrate a greater ability to acknowledge multiple sides of an issue, and I attribute some of this change to their digital literacy skills.  They are also far better able than students in the past to obtain quickly the basic facts about a topic.

When it comes to reading traditional texts for class, however, some of my students often admit that they have trouble focusing for hours at a time on a print text.  I must admit that my own reading habits are changing drastically, right along with my attention span.  Like many English professors, I spent my childhood and adolescence reading well beyond my "grade level."  As an adult, I am never without reading material, even when I know that I'll only have a few minutes during the day to sneak in a quick read.  One would think that a lifetime of engaging in this habit would hardwire it in my brain, but I have found that the more I read online, the more I value the ability to skip back and forth through narratives, to access multiple points of view, and to look up words, ideas, and concepts without having to leave the text I'm reading in order to use a traditional dictionary or reference book.

A few months ago, I bought an Amazon electronic reading device, the Kindle.  I hoped that its structural similarity to the online reading environment would help me to bridge the gap between my old and new literacy habits, and I was correct.  (Thankfully, as the device is a bit expensive!). 

In the field of children's and adolescent literature, the implications of the rise of digital literacy are already being felt.  The Harry Potter phenomenon demonstrated that given the right sort of content, children are more than capable of engaging in sustained enjoyment of a print text.  However, the HP phenomenon is just that -- a phenomenon.  Reading seven very long books over a ten year period does not guarantee that a child will continue to embrace print texts.  That's why publishing houses are pouring resources into alternative narrative types such as the multivocal novel and the graphic novel, both of which emphasize digital literacy skills.  And it's why I'm studying them, as well -- no joke.

Censorship and YA Literature

Most of my students plan to become secondary education teachers, so they understandably have concerns regarding censorship.  A few months ago, I gave a talk on YA literature to a group of 9th graders.  The session was held in the Media Center of a local high school, and when I mentioned Meg Rosoff's How I Live Now, a popular, but controversial text that deals with issues such as incest and war, one of the librarians frankly expressed her concern that the book might not be appropriate for the students, while another librarian directed students to a copy of the book. 

As I was pulling together my links for this site, I ran across a post on the Young Adult Library Services Association blog regarding the fear that often accompanies the open sharing of YA literature with young people.  If you click on the YALSA link on the left, you'll find this informative post under the title "What Are We Scared Of," as well as many other posts on the subject of YA literature.

The First Summer Without Harry

Many of you know me from the Harry Potter ‘verse, and I must admit that back in the early 00’s, I attended every HP conference, both as a presenter and as an eager participant.  The organic nature of the HP phenomenon lent the series a cache – most children’s literature arrives in stores after a furious marketing campaign; HP entered the publishing world as an off-beat odd little book that took off due to word-of-mouth. 

My friends who still couldn’t figure out why I had abandoned a career as an Americanist for the Children's/YA Dark Side seemed to come around after they read HP.  The series became a departure point for my ceaseless PR regarding the amazing work that is being done in the genre of children’s and YA lit.  For that alone, I am grateful to JK Rowling.

I would mark 2005-2006 as the high point for the both the series and its fan base.  The anticipation surrounding the release of Half-Blood Prince hit a fever pitch.   The attendance at Lumos, the HP conference held in Las Vegas (great location – everyone blended in) was phenomenal, and the series was poised on the brink of some very dark revelations.

An icon from the HP conference, Witching Hour, held in Salem, MA in 2005.

Reading “fan fiction” set in the Potterverse had an impact on my ability to enjoy the final 2 volumes in the series.  By this point, it felt as if Rowling might have been deviating from her game plan in order to answer fan queries and to confound the increasing teenaged segment of her readership.  I felt that Hermoine became one dimensional and that Harry and Ron remained one-dimensional.  (To be fair, I have a great deal of difficulty getting excited by the whole good v. evil aspect of high fantasy).

I hope that I’ve provoked loads of discontent with this post!  How Snape-ish of me, eh?