Growing Up Well

Written by a follower of this blog – A mother and teacher of middle schoolers

When parents are faced with their elementary child begging to read a book, they should not deny them that opportunity simply because they’ve “heard” it’s an inappropriate book.  Even worse, parents should NOT just let their kids read anything at all with no supervision. Take the Twilight series that so many elementary-aged girls are reading, for example. It seems that very few adults know much about this book; they’ve just heard some things.
Well, I broke down and started reading Twilight. I’m reading it because I was so surprised to hear two middle school English teachers and the elementary librarian tell me how much they liked it. I asked if it was well written to which they responded with some ambiguity, but then they went on to talk and talk and talk about the story. In some sense, it must hold some kind of merit with regards to writing if it inspired so much conversation.

So they dared me to read it. I didn’t WANT to like it. But I did. I read over half of the book in one sitting.

Twilight is a Young Adult book with a more adult theme. There is nothing that is explicit; it’s all implied. I can see why moms like it as much as the girls. It reminds all of us of our high school days and of our first loves. It’s a book geared toward the teenage girl. I felt like I was back in the halls of high school having all of those surface conversations about boys, boys, boys. No, it’s not particularly well written.  After all, it’s written for teens, about teens. But the language and character development is so easy to follow, so you get lost in it. Many reviewers on goodreads.com commented on their frustration with the character’s simplicity and lack of development. The thing is, they are teenagers! They are acting exactly like teenagers, so it’s believable.

The “dare” inspired me to read the book, but the main reason I read it, is to be able to talk, to both students and parents, about a book that so many kids are reading.  Just last night I had a fourth grader ask her mom in front of me if she could please read it this summer. The mom looked at me as if to say, ”Help! What do you think?”  I was able to confidently say ABSOLUTELY NOT! Sure, the girl was capable of reading the book, but she was not emotionally ready for it. I don’t know how these 4th and 5th grade girls even understand all that’s implied in the text. I can’t imagine they have the life experience to even “get” it or experience it the way an adult would. There seems to be a disconnect between the author’s writing style (for younger audiences) and her topic and plot (for more mature audiences).

I wonder if kids are almost defining themselves as Twilight readers or non-Twilight readers? My son and daughter were mortified that I was reading the book. In their opinions, it’s trash. They haven’t read the book, so how do they make this decision? Are they basing it on the kinds of kids they see reading the book? I suppose my son wouldn’t dare read it because it’s a “girls” book.  I explained that we don’t always have to like a book to read it. We can learn something about the world and ourselves from most books we read. It’s good to be informed so you can have intelligent conversations with others.

My personal opinion is that, depending on the child, this book might be okay for 13 year olds and up. There are several other books in the Twilight series. From what my book club friends say, they are truly inappropriate for middle school students and under. Unfortunately, once they read the first book, they will want to read on.

While many books are age-inappropriate, what do we do about the books that are not totally inappropriate but are just not what we prefer our kids to be reading? I feel very strongly that it’s absolutely great when kids are reading. In my mind and the mind of our librarian, if a book is popular and kids love it and are reading it, then it’s a good thing. Maybe not for the reasons we, as adults and educators might like, but it’s good, simply because they are reading!  We need kids with books in their hands more and cell phones and gaming systems less. We need them loving reading so they are more willing to enjoy the classics when we make them read them.

As teachers, if we read these books with our students, then we open ourselves up to have a conversation on our thoughts on the book. If the teacher simply says, “That book is bad, and I don’t want to read it,” then it becomes a put-down.  It may make the student lose confidence in their ability to select a book simply for the enjoyment. We don’t want kids to think that only difficult, boring books are worthy of reading. Unfortunately, there are plenty of trashy, almost-x-rated Young Adult books in our bookstores. Just take look for yourself. Twilight is not the worst of them.

From now on if there is a book like this that kids are reading and loving, I am going to pick it up and read it alongside them, as opposed to waiting or never reading it at all.

Parents, please read what your kids are reading or at least research the book so that you can ask your child questions on their thoughts on the good and bad of the book. Make a condition that if your child wants to read a book of which you are unsure, that they must as least have a conversation with you about it. You can discuss the writing style (or lack thereof), the character’s decisions and lack of depth, and why so many like the book.  Open it up for an actual conversation!

Imagine you and your child discussing a book? It sounds magical.

Here’s a related post about reading – The Youth Reading Crisis

Here’s another article related to Twilight – Is Twilight Appropriate?