Many thanks to everyone who took the time to reply. Your responses have
been very helpful. I think I'll talk to my principal about adding the
first two or three copies of the books to our middle school library.
Thanks again!
My original post:
Hello,
Last week's discussion about A Boy Called It was very timely as
yesterday I had a middle school student request those books. I've never
been sure if they are appropriate for middle school. I'm hoping some of
you will let me know if you have them in your middle school library and
how they are received by your school community.
Thank you very much!
Jan
Hi. I have the whole Child Called It series in my middle school library,
and they are very popular. I have never had a challenge on any of them.
Phil
I've been the librarian in a 7-12 setting for 11 years, and the only
complaint I've had from a parent was when a mother returned A Child
Called It to me and said it was too intense for her 7th grader.
I thanked her for her feedback, and the situation went no further.
If I had only middle schoolers, I would not have the book on the shelf.
Just my opinion.
Our middle school students love them. I was losing so many of them, I
decided I wasn't going to replace them anymore. When they were gone,
they were gone. I think we have 3 copies right now, not sure how many
of those will be returned at the end of the year. The other book I
couldn't keep from being stolen (I mean borrowed indefinitely) was
Tupac's Rose Grew in Concrete (or something to that effect). It
disappeared after the first person checked it out, both times. Hope you
have better luck with students returning them.
I've HAD (emphasis on HAD) the Dave Pelzer series in my 7-12 library. I
don't have them anymore. No problems with them (censorship, etc.) but
after they were ripped off for the 3rd time, I quit repurchasing them.
I have not read it but have 12 copies in my library-it is immensely
popular with 8th graders,esp the reluctant readers.
We have 10 or more copies of it and the other books from Pelzner because
our 7th and 8th graders all seem to want to read them.
I have 2 copies in my school because it was requested so frequently.
When a younger student (6th or even 7th grade) takes it out, I mention
to them that some bad things happen in the book, and they should stop
reading it if it bothers them. It is almost always in my top 10 list of
most circulated non-fiction.
Our middle school had them. 7th and 8th graders ate them up. Some
teachers didn't want them in the library. Our school is now grades 4 -7
(was 6 -8). I wouldn't buy them now for this younger population.
We have at least 3 copies in my middle school library and they are
checked out fairly regularly. The kids like them and I have never heard
of parental complaints in the district regarding the series. We only
have the first 2 of the 3 books. Our section of the county tends to be
more conservative, if that helps in your decision making.
The first three books are hugely popular here with all age levels. The
newer ones haven't caught on as much.
I have them, but only check them out to very mature students.
Fortunately, we only have 146 kids in the entire school, so I know the
students who can "handle" it and the ones who can't.
We have them in our middle school as the person who I replaced had
ordered them. In my opinion, I feel that they are better served at the
high school mainly do to the amount of cussing and some of the incidents
are very graphic. But, that being said, it is one of the most popular
books at my middle school. I just pray that no parent of a junior high
kid picks it up and reads a little bit about it or I am sure there will
be a challenge coming due to the community where I teach.
They're in my library and have actually been here longer than me. We
haven't had any problems with them.
We've had them in our middle school for years. One year they were read
as a unit in a 7th grade reading class. Their popularity continues -
we've replaced the first two books several times.
Jan
Jan Burgess, Librarian
Lone Rock School
1112 Three Mile Cr. Rd.
Stevensville, MT 59870
jburgess@lonerockschool.org <mailto:jburgess@lonerockschool.org>
(406) 777-3314
Currently reading: The Year the Swallows Came Early by Kathrun
Fitzmaurice
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