I do agree -- there is my 2 cents.
In the next few months I will be asking the group to start nominating
paperbacks for the ALA "PG" fiction committee. That won't be its final
name -- we are thinking of something like "Books that don't make you blush"
or something like that.
This will be for Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults Committee. It would be
great to hear from more school librarians this time around. I noticed last
year when I was on the Heartbreak and Fantasy/Fairytales committees that
mostly YA public librarians were nominating paperbacks.
Allan
Dr. Allan O'Grady Cuseo (Brother Donogh Allan, MGC)
Bishop Kearney High School Library
125 Kings Highway South
Rochester, New York 14617
585-342 - 4000 x231
585-342 - 4694 (FAX)
acuseo@bkhs.org
Education in the tradition of the Christian Brothers and the School Sisters
of Notre Dame
FAC OMNIA BENE (Do all things well)
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----- Original Message -----
From: "Robyn Sager" <rsager@MIDFIELD.K12.AL.US>
To: <LM_NET@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU>
Sent: Wednesday, February 02, 2005 2:17 PM
Subject: Re: [LM_NET] HS Required Reading
You know, I think the whole "bleak literature" think is popular in adult
fiction, too. My book club's selection for this month was _Kite Runner_ by
Khaled Hosseini, and although the writing was excellent, it was just too
depressing for me to finish. I read about the first hundred pages and threw
the book down in disgust (although I read the end just to see how it wound
up). Another month my club read _Heaven of Mercury_ (Brad Watson) and it
was the same thing.
I enjoy good fiction, but if I read for self-entertainment, I don't want to
be depressed. I enjoy a good mass-market paperback because it provides
enjoyable escapism. Don't get me wrong--I have read many "serious" fiction
pieces (I enjoy Walker Percy and Robert Penn Warren) and like them. It just
seems like more and more serious literature is depressing.
I talked to my mom, who read _The Dogs of Babel_ (Carolyn Parkhurst), and
she agreed--that it was good to read literature like that, but it was also
good to have the fluff literature, too (my mom is a retired English
teacher). I did not read _The Dogs of Babel_, but from what she described
of it, it seemed depressing.
Maybe it is not the quality of the writing, but the content that determines
whether or not I will enjoy the book. If you have any suggestions for happy
serious literature, please send them to me!
Maybe that is why I like to read non-fiction more than fiction.
Just my $.02--feel free to chime in if you disagree!
Robyn
********************
Robyn Sager
Librarian
Midfield High School
Midfield, AL
(205) 923-2833
rsager@midfield.k12.al.us
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