A Wrinkle in Time by Madeliene L'Engle is one of those coming of age books that I find referred to again and again in contemporary literature. It seems that many of today's novelists (at least the ones I read) love this novel and read it again and again throughout their childhoods.
I've heard many moms refer to it too, and they simply can't wait for their daughters to read it and love it too. Unfortunately, I fell into the common trap of giving it to my daughter to read when she was too young to really appreciate it. She thought it was OK, but she wasn't really crazy about it.
Recently, I had the privilege of reading the 2010 Newberry Award winning novel When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead. Stead brilliantly manages to intricately weave the story from A Wrinkle in Time into her novel without ruining either book. Needless to say, I loved it!
My daughter is now 12, and was looking for a good book to read. I encouraged her to reread A Wrinkle in Time before reading When You Reach Me, and for once she took my advice. This time, she LOVED the L'Engle book and consequently also loved Stead's. I am currently reading A Wrinkle in Time aloud to my 8 and 10 year olds, and hopefully they too will choose to reread it when they are slightly older, before they read When You Reach Me.
Time travel, boy/girl friendships, relationships with parents and siblings and other themes run through both books in ways that we can all relate to. Why not reread one and introduce yourself to the other today?
Showing posts with label books 9 and up. Show all posts
Showing posts with label books 9 and up. Show all posts
Thursday, July 14, 2011
Monday, July 26, 2010
Dealing With a Difficult Topic
Death is not a topic that is dealt with very often in children's literature, although it is present in some of our most memorable novels like Bridge to Terabithia
. My 11 year old daughter recently read Ways To Live Forever
a first person account of a boy with leukemia who has just few months left to live.
I'll admit, I cry very easily in books, movies, tv shows, you name it, so I wasn't terribly excited about reading what would have to be a sad book. There's no doubt that it was a sad book, but I didn't cry as much as I thought I would; in fact, I laughed more than I cried.
Sally Nicholls tackles tough issues in her book by having the main character, Sam, pose questions related to dying that adults don't like to answer like why do we have to die, and how do you know that you've died? Sam writes lists, journal entries, stories and questions as part of his school project, intending it to be a book for people to read after his death.
Readers join Sam in figuring out what his wishlist is before he dies and how he goes about checking off the items on his list. Readers also catch a glimpse of what it feels like to sit with dying friend, attend a funeral, and to think of life as a cycle.
Death is an inevitable part of life, and reading this book will make it more real and less scary for children. It is believable and well written, with humor, anger, and sadness, but not overwhelmingly so. I highly recommend this book for children ages 9 and up, including adults!
. My 11 year old daughter recently read Ways To Live Forever a first person account of a boy with leukemia who has just few months left to live.I'll admit, I cry very easily in books, movies, tv shows, you name it, so I wasn't terribly excited about reading what would have to be a sad book. There's no doubt that it was a sad book, but I didn't cry as much as I thought I would; in fact, I laughed more than I cried.
Sally Nicholls tackles tough issues in her book by having the main character, Sam, pose questions related to dying that adults don't like to answer like why do we have to die, and how do you know that you've died? Sam writes lists, journal entries, stories and questions as part of his school project, intending it to be a book for people to read after his death.
Readers join Sam in figuring out what his wishlist is before he dies and how he goes about checking off the items on his list. Readers also catch a glimpse of what it feels like to sit with dying friend, attend a funeral, and to think of life as a cycle.
Death is an inevitable part of life, and reading this book will make it more real and less scary for children. It is believable and well written, with humor, anger, and sadness, but not overwhelmingly so. I highly recommend this book for children ages 9 and up, including adults!
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