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Thanks for the great list--even as a student I really detested that most
of the "great literature" we had to read seemed to be all about the
message that life and humanity and fate were really miserable,
depressing, and hopelessly fallen, and that nothing had much of a happy
ending or deserved one.

The dog or the horse or the deer or the baby or the friend or the lover
would die in the end, and that seemed to make it more "important" and
"deep" than the stories where the dog got better or the baby was found
in time or the couple found a way to work things out, and I was never
sure why.  Didn't sometimes good, happy "deep and important" things
happen in real life?

I remember that after reading Lord of the Flies, to get the taste out
of my mouth, I started writing a story about my friends and I getting
marooned on an island, and WE didn't act like that! :)  Okay, so it
wasn't the kind of story that will ever be nominated for an award, but I
think these parents do have a point.  Is that really what we want
students to think that this "real life" we are sending them out into is
ALL about?  That the painful, wrenching, slam-you-to-the-mat bad stuff
is the really important and "real" stuff that should be focused upon?

Lauri Cahoon-Draus
K-12 Library Media Specialist
Suring School Libraries
draus@suring.k12.wi.us

"It is a capital mistake to theorise before one has data. Insensibly
one begins to twist facts to suit theories, instead of theories to suit
facts." Sherlock Holmes - A Scandal in Bohemia.

>>> TinaHudak <tinahudak@COMCAST.NET> 2/2/2005 6:57:54 AM >>>
Dear folks,
I will just throw this out...on the HS parent list-serv (which I am a
parent...) there is an ongoin and sometime heated discussion about the
required 10th grade books...many parents are upset that they are all so
depressing...Farenheit 451, Hiroshima, Lord of the Flies, Native Son,
MacBeth...etc. and that there is not comic relief - nothing to show
another side of life...I just came across the required reading list for
8th grade (posted) and noticed many of these books have the same
themes...does ANYONE's school system consult the librarians/media
specialists when composing required reading lists?  Just a thought...  I
sent out a list of some of my favorite YA books that aren't too
depressing  and not so commonly used (this genre always seems to be
overlooked by English departments), as alternatives...use what you can
if you need any titles -


Howe, Norma*Adventures of the Blue Avenger (great for boys)

Nicholson, William*The Wind Singer (trilogy)..great..about a society
based on grades!

Napoli, Donna diAnything*.reinterprets fairy tales from a different
character's perspective*great books

Gibbons, Alan*Shadow of the Minotaur (Greek myths & video games
combined*great audiotapes)

Woodson, JacquelineMiracle's Boys (many, many wonderful novels)

Bloor, EdwardStoryTime (funny about a school for "gifted"
students!)

Almond, DavidThe Fire-Eaters (and MANY more great titles)


Crossley-Holland, Kevin
*At the Crossing Places (King Arthur)

Crutcher, ChrisWhale Talk (athletes who play an individual sport)

Dessen, Sarah
Keeping the Moon

Engdall, Sylvia
*Enchantress From the Stars

Farmer, Nancy
The House of the Scorpion (3 awards)

Ferris, Jean
Love Among the Walnuts

Flake, Sharon
The Skin I'm In

Fleischman, Paul
Whirligig (Newbery)

Gardam, Jane
Bilgewater

Hardman, Ric
Sunshine Rider (first vegetarian western)

Hidier, Tanuja Desai
Born Confused


Jimenez, Francisco
Breaking Through (non-fiction) * sequel to The Circuit

Jones, Diane Wynne
Too numerous to mention (fantasy)

Kindall, Patrice
Owl In Love

LeGuin, Ursula
Too numerous to mention (fantasy)

Lubar, David
Dunk (anyone from NJ boardwalk?)

Martinez, Victor
Parrot in the Oven: Mi Vida

McDonald, Joyce
Shades of Simon Gray

Pullman, Phillip
*The Dark Materials, The Golden Compass

Singer, Nicky
Feather Boy (about bullying*great story)

Virginia Euwer Wolff
*Making Lemonade

Zindel, Paul
The Pigman ( a classic)

Myers, Walter Dean
Slam!

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