Wednesday, June 04, 2003

Summer Reading One of the great things about summer for me is the chance to read non-school related things.  During the school year, I don't have much time to read novels other than the ones I teach, or other books and short stories that I'm considering using in class.  But once summer rolls around, then I'm pretty much free to dive into whatever I want.  And believe me, I have a pile of books more than capable of being dove into. First on my list is The Best American Nonrequired Reading 2002.  A very interesting collection of short  fiction and non-fiction with titles like "Why McDonald's Fries Taste So Good" and "Fourth Angry Mouse."  Highly recommended if you want something you can just pick up, read for a bit, and then put down again for a couple of days. I also enjoy reading books that other people tell me I shouldn't.  Or tell someone else that they shouldn't.  Or decide for all of us that we absolutely cannot read this book because it will do disturbing things to our fragile souls.  If there's any controversy surrounding it, I generally want to check it out for myself. What kind of perverted literature am I talking about?  Books like To Kill A Mockingbird.  Or Catcher in the Rye.  Or Lord of the Flies.  Oh, by the way, did I mention I teach all of these books? Those three books, and ninety-seven other books of dubious character are listed in The 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books of 1990-2000 list.  Sure there might be a couple of books on the list that I wouldn't hand to my students, like Sex by Madonna, but I wouldn't tell anyone not to read them if they were able to legally walk into a bookstore and purchase the darn thing.  If you want to read about Harry Potter, knock yourself out.  Why someone would think that a Harry Potter book would corrupt their lil' urchin is beyond me.   Actually, the ALA website tells you that it's because "of its focus on wizardry and magic."  In that case, they should also ban Siegfried and Roy -- which would not be a bad idea. So if you're in the mood for a little reading this summer, I encourage you to try one of the books on the banned list, because isn't doing something a little more fun when someone else doesn't want you to? Related links: Banned Books Online kidspeak!:  Where kids defend Harry Potter 11:18:54 AM     |

© Copyright 2005 Alex L. Mauldin.