Odds are that when you were a small child someone, perhaps a
parent or grandparent, read to you. Likewise, we're told that when we have our
own children we should read to them. Studies and statistic prove reading to
young children helps them learn their letters and helps them learn to read. At
some point in their schooling, however, we're told they need to venture out and
read to themselves, by themselves. Eventually our children become self-sufficient
and don't wish for us to read to them anymore. This could be seen as the final
chapter on a shared love of literature, but I say think broader.
One of the things I hear from fellow
parents of tweens and teens is they have trouble communicating with and
relating to their children. Reading YA (young adult) books is a good way to
bridge that communication gap. It reminds you of what it was like to be so young,
and can keep you up-to-date with what is happening now in their world. While
many things we experienced will be experienced by our children, in some ways
it's a whole new world. With the introduction of cell phones and the maturity
of the information highway embarrassing situations can now be immortalized.
Cyber bullying is such a common place occurrence that schools now have rules
specifically written against such practices. As a parent, you can use YA
books as a tool to open conversations about these subjects with your child as
well as other, more controversial and touchy, topics.
There are a number books on any given
topic, but you can use YA books as the gateway into just about any subject.
Take, for instance, the book 'The Fault in Our Stars' by John Green, it's an excellent way
to breach the topic of cancer. The book 'Thirteen Reasons Why' by Jay Asher can be used to bridge the
topic of suicide. 'Speak' by Laurie Halse Anderson, is a good
opening for a conversation about rape. While the above books are very topic
specific, you can find other books that have behaviors you might want to curb
or prevent in your child that are a little more subtly touched upon. 'The Coldest Girl in Coldtown' by Holly Black, for instance, has a
girl who drinks too much and loves beating people at dares. Her need to be
accepted leads her to some disturbing choices and behavior that can open up
conversations using the character as example of what not to do. You can ask
your child what they think about what the character did and whether they
handled things appropriately. But don't make reading YA books with your kids
just about life lessons or a means bridge tough subject matter. Instead make it
a means for rekindling or maintaining that love of reading. A way to share a common
hobby. A mechanism for bonding.
Now I know not every child loves reading,
so here are some of the sneaky ways I get my kids interested in books.
1) On the way to school or when going on a
long trip we listen to audio books. I will listen all the way through which
means they usually miss parts and I purposefully try to make sure they aren't
around when I listen to a good portion of the ending. They beg me to tell them
what happened and are now used to my standard response of, "I guess you'll
just have to read it to find out."
2) If I find out a popular book is being
made into a movie I make my kids read it before they can see it. Some of the
books made into movies we've read before seeing over the years include The Hunger Games series, the Harry Potter series, the Twilight series, the Divergent series, 'The Hobbit' (not a YA
book, but you can see how this can continue on as they get older), 'The
Maze Runner', the Percy Jackson series, 'The Giver', 'Diary
of a Wimpy Kid', and many more.
3) I also like to discuss the books we
read together. I ask questions about what they thought about what certain
characters did and how they reacted to things that happened to them and around
them. When a movie is involved, I ask which version they liked better. The
book, by the way, almost always wins. My daughter is now of an age that when I
ask some of these questions she'll respond, "Well if they'd done that
there wouldn't be much of a story to tell now would there?" They truly do
grow up too fast.
4) Another thing I do is to make sure the
kids see me reading. The old adage "Lead by example" really does
apply to your children. As an added bonus, it's a great way to keep your own
mind nimble.
5) I also tend to gear my kid's birthday
party themes towards books. For instance, one of my daughter's favorite
birthday party was based off of 'The
Hunger Games'. The party included a portion where points were earned by
answering questions based off of the book. At the end of the party and many
games and points later, prizes were given out based off of who had earned the
most points. If you're wondering, everyone received a book as a prize.
Even if you don't have kids, however, you
shouldn't be afraid to read YA books. They hold a vast amount of fun, impressive,
and brilliant stories. Can you imagine thumbing your nose at the Harry Potter series, 'The Book Thief', or 'The Giver' just because they are labeled young
adult? Besides, according to the Young Adult Library Services Association
(YALSA), "the conventional definition of “young adult” has expanded to
include those as young as ten and, since the late 1990s, as old as
twenty-five." I wouldn't be surprised if the age eventually expands beyond
that, so you can consider yourself a trend setter. Plus, reading helps you
maintain brain heath as you age. According to the Mayo Clinic Study of Aging,
reading books significantly decreased the odds of older people having mild
cognitive impairment. So if you read YA books, and they make you happy, tell
the naysayers that there is clinical proof that reading them is good for you.
While the study didn't specifically focus on individuals who read YA books, you
don't have to tell them that. Hey, I say it's all in how you interpret the
data. *Grin*
YA books can also be a helpful resource
and/or tool for teachers. You can use them to capture your students’ attention.
If you're a history or government teacher, you can use some of these books as
jump starters to talk about different types of societies and governments.
If you're an English teacher, you may want to consider substituting some of the
more current YA books for Classics or pair some of the classics with more
modern tales which can be found in YA books of similar themes. Some examples
would be 'Speak' by Laurie Halse Andersen and 'The Scarlet Letter' by Nathaniel Hawthorne, 'Juliet Immortal' by Stacey Jay and 'Romeo &
Juliet' by Shakespeare, 'Epic Fail' by Claire LaZebnik and 'Pride & Prejudice' by Jane Austen. There are several
good lists floating around that contain even more pairings so the possibilities
are numerous.
Notes to Keep You in the Know:
For more information about YA literature and Classic pairings, check out these two posts:
- An Epic Chart of 162 Young Adult Retellings by Epic Reads: http://www.epicreads.com/blog/an-epic-chart-of-162-young-adult-retellings/
- Pairing Young Adult Literature with Traditional Text(s) Books (a power point presentation) by
Jung Kim, Ph.D. of Lewis University: http://bhsd228.schoolwires.net/cms/lib6/IL01001099/Centricity/Domain/31/YA%20Lit%20Pairings%20-%20Kim.pdf
Sources quoted:
~ Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) article on The Value of Young Adult Literature: http://www.ala.org/yalsa/guidelines/whitepapers/yalit
~ The Mayo Clinic Study of Aging: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3204924/
