Frankly, both posts from last week -thank you once again, Susan and Michelle-had me thinking about the value of (re)reading. Susan had me thinking about the impact of Chris Crutcher's books. People talk about binge watching a television series; well, I am pretty sure I binge read most of Crutcher's books while thinking about the students I had missed sharing these books with over the years. Michelle and I had been communicating for a couple of weeks about the chatter around 13 Reasons Why. I felt it was time to comment on the issue and was glad that Michelle was clearly up to the challenge. (Just this morning, as I finished up, I found out that Literacy and NCTE blog referenced Michelle's post extensively). As people responded to the series, I began to think more specifically about my first reading of this incredible book. I realized I wanted to reread the book more than I wanted to watch the series. With my first reading, I thought the book was an interesting study on bullying within a High School. I didn't remember thinking that Asher's narrative even remotely glamorized suicide, any more than MacBeth glamorizes mass murder.
What I did want to do was reread the book in order to rethink my perspective on this narrative. There are books I think about reading all of the time. Some I consider teaching every time I design a course. Some I think about just because memory of reading the book is so powerful. Many people consider one of the marks of great literature is it stands up over multiple readings. I think it is also a sign of great YA literature as well. I love the books that keep resurfacing in my mind. I find I have created a list of books to revisit by putting them together on a shelf. Of course, as a YA scholar I am reading new stuff all of the time, but some books just stay in the back of my mind begging to be revisited. I still have favorites from my childhood, Berries Goodman, The Secret Garden, A Wrinkle in Time, and Henry Huggins Jump to mind. These books and many others shaped my life as a reader. I hope we don't criticize kids who we find rereading their favorite books over and over again. Nobody was ever hurt by multiple readings of Harriet the Spy or To Kill a Mockingbird. In fact, they probably gained a great deal.
YA is a bit different than the classics. Those of us that study the field understand that in many ways the field is still trying to claim its legitimate place in the academy. As a preservice teacher I read some of the early books in the history of YA--The Outsiders and The Contender, but I spent too much time focusing on the classics. Not that the classics don't have their place and that some students didn't love them; they did. The problem is that I missed the chance to usher in quite a few more kids into the reading habit. I needed a big dose of influence from the book pusher, Susan James 30 years ago. For the past 15 years, I have been immersed in YA fiction.
I have been think about rereading as a point of academic research since I was in graduate school. That is a post for another time, but I would be remiss if I didn't point out a few texts that discuss this if you are interested. The three I selected are: first, Matei Calinescu's Reading is the most academic; second, Particia Meyer Spack's reflects on her own reading history in On Reading; Last, Anne Fadiman has a edited volume, Readings, in which 17 academics revisit a favorite text.
What I did want to do was reread the book in order to rethink my perspective on this narrative. There are books I think about reading all of the time. Some I consider teaching every time I design a course. Some I think about just because memory of reading the book is so powerful. Many people consider one of the marks of great literature is it stands up over multiple readings. I think it is also a sign of great YA literature as well. I love the books that keep resurfacing in my mind. I find I have created a list of books to revisit by putting them together on a shelf. Of course, as a YA scholar I am reading new stuff all of the time, but some books just stay in the back of my mind begging to be revisited. I still have favorites from my childhood, Berries Goodman, The Secret Garden, A Wrinkle in Time, and Henry Huggins Jump to mind. These books and many others shaped my life as a reader. I hope we don't criticize kids who we find rereading their favorite books over and over again. Nobody was ever hurt by multiple readings of Harriet the Spy or To Kill a Mockingbird. In fact, they probably gained a great deal.
YA is a bit different than the classics. Those of us that study the field understand that in many ways the field is still trying to claim its legitimate place in the academy. As a preservice teacher I read some of the early books in the history of YA--The Outsiders and The Contender, but I spent too much time focusing on the classics. Not that the classics don't have their place and that some students didn't love them; they did. The problem is that I missed the chance to usher in quite a few more kids into the reading habit. I needed a big dose of influence from the book pusher, Susan James 30 years ago. For the past 15 years, I have been immersed in YA fiction.
I have been think about rereading as a point of academic research since I was in graduate school. That is a post for another time, but I would be remiss if I didn't point out a few texts that discuss this if you are interested. The three I selected are: first, Matei Calinescu's Reading is the most academic; second, Particia Meyer Spack's reflects on her own reading history in On Reading; Last, Anne Fadiman has a edited volume, Readings, in which 17 academics revisit a favorite text.
While I thought about rereading 13 Reasons Why and constructing this post, several more books came to mind. I find myself thinking about these four books frequently and recommend them without reservation. I still feel the most important YA book I have ever read was I am the Cheese, by Robert Cormier. I read it as a preservice teacher in 1978. It was powerful and was one of the only YA books that I continually shared in halcyon years as a confident AP teacher. I often felt that a really good AP essay could be written about this book, because it is truly of "similar literary quality." I also hold in high regard E. Lockhart's We Were Liars, Matt de la Péna's We Were Here, and Jerry Spinelli's Maniac Magee. If you don't know these four books, I think you can stop reading and pick one of these right away and I would feel that I have done my job. Nevertheless, I have more to say about rereading.
Only one of the four books is an award winner. I readily argue that many great books don't get awards. The three above are prime examples. They have great themes, characters, and narrative style. At the same time, I try very hard to keep up with the major YA awards. I try to read the short list and talk about these awards with students, teachers, and colleagues. While I contemplated rereading I thought about the Printz award. I decided to look at the winners and the Honor books and see if any of them begged to be reread. At first, I thought I would highlight the winner (They are grouped below in the gallery.) I was struct, however, with some of the honor books that drew my attention with a stronger pull than the winners. Don't get me wrong, I think these five books are fantastic. It will be a long time before I forget the impact of Jandy Nelson's I'll Give You the Sun--it might never happen. March: Book Three (John Lewis, Andrew Aydin and Nate Powell) was by far the run away winner in the awards category last year and I hope its powerful, visual story will be in classrooms for a long time to come. Again, any of these books are worth your time if you don't know them, so to stop and get reading. I think these particular five winners demand rereading.
For me, the real joy of this exploration into rereading and staying within the last five years of the Printz Award has been how some of the Honor books drew my attention and reminded me of the joy of reading. In some years, I could have easily picked a couple of books. For the purpose of this exercise I decided to pick just one from each year. In all honesty, these five books are books I love. Even though they are relatively new, I have taught several of them and have already read three of them more than once. Most don't need my introduction, the reviews are glowing and most of them are amazingly popular; yet they are of remarkable literary quality.
In my mind there is nothing not to love about Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe. It reminded me of the importance and power of my adolescent friendships. Regardless of your sexual orientation I think the book will motivate you to reach out to old friends.
In my mind there is nothing not to love about Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe. It reminded me of the importance and power of my adolescent friendships. Regardless of your sexual orientation I think the book will motivate you to reach out to old friends.
Some of you know that I think about YA literature and its strong connection to music. (Yes, I promised to archive more of that on separate page in the blog. It is started, but there is more to do.) There is still a great deal to say and write about Rowell's Eleanor and Park. The love story is wonderful. The focus on race and class is compelling, but the cover slays me every time I see it. Music connects me to memories. Hearing Edwin Star's War throws me right back into the middle of a high school assembly. Listening to James Brown's Get on the Good Foot, reminds me that I used to dance like nobody was watching. Maybe we all need to re-listen to The Temptations sing Ball of Confusion (That's What the World is Today). I love how Rowell captures these two characters connecting through music.
I am quite sure that finding Kurt Vonnegut kept me sane in college. His books helped to remind me to think deeply and question the status quo even as I feel in love with the classics. For me, Vonnegut follows Twain and Smith follows Vonnegut. I genuinely feel that we are living in an absurd time. Thank goodness Smith has provided us with something like Grasshopper Jungle.
I could talk about how Ashley Hope Pérez's Out of Darkness is great historical fiction about race, class, and gender, but what you really need to know is that it is beautiful.
My final pick is one of my most recent reads. It has only been a few weeks since I finished Nicola Yoon's The Sun is Also a Star. I love the frame of a story told in a single day. The narrative bounces back and forth between the two main characters. The ending was surprising and wonderful.
I hope you have favorites, like I do. Which books to you love to return to over and over again? I would love to hear about them. If you know these books, let me know if they would be on your list of books to read again. If you don't know them, well, you now have some more books to add to your summer reading list.
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