Someone gave me a book for my tenth birthday because they knew how much I loved to read. I don’t remember what it was, nor do I even remember what it was about. What I do remember is that it wasn’t a novel I would have chosen for myself. It was the kind of book the adult thought I should be reading. I thanked them, of course, but I never read it.
If that scenario had played on autorepeat across my childhood and I hadn’t had access to books that I wanted to read, I would not be an author today (my debut, Property of the Rebel Librarian, is now on sale). I would not be a reader. I would not have a Ph.D. in education, and I would never have become a high school teacher. Let that sink in a second.
Now consider the restrictions that some well-meaning adults place on today’s kids in their quest to have them read “quality” novels. I can only assume that by “quality,” they primarily mean canonical literature written by old white men at least a century ago. There’s a place for the classics, but there’s also a place for modern works and fun. I often see graphic novels and books in series frowned upon for lacking this so-called “quality,” and it’s ridiculous. Kids love reading series about familiar characters. Adults do, too, and no one bats an eye when they pick up the next Jack Reacher, Jack Ryan, or Kinsey Millhone novel.
So why are children denied the same privilege on the basis that a book doesn’t meet a certain standard? It’s rubbish. A quality book is one that a child wants to read!
When kids have access to libraries and the freedom to self-select books, they develop their identities as readers. It’s part of an education that allows them to learn how to think, not what to think. But still, some adults want to tell them what to read.
This is wrong. Kids need to find themselves in books and to see representation in books that expands beyond their own lives. They need the freedom to choose whether they want to read books as windows, mirrors, roadmaps, or pure entertainment. Without that freedom, they might not read at all. I probably wouldn’t.
If we want to pass a love of reading to the next generation, we have to allow them to have joy when they read. This sometimes means reading books with fart jokes, books with wizards that defeat evil, graphic novels, series, and books that speak truths that resonate with kids. Unfortunately, these books are often challenged within schools and libraries.
We must support and defend the right to read! Banned Books Week gives us an opportunity to celebrate this right.
These are some of my favorite frequently challenged middle grade books:
Harry Potter came out when I was in college, and it was the book I’d been waiting for my whole life. The world-building is incredible (Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans, anyone?), the characters left footprints on my heart, and when I read it, it transported me to Hogwarts. This was also the book that landed me in my principal’s office when I was a classroom teacher and prompted him to ask, “Are you teaching witchcraft?” I was forced to remove it from my syllabus. I’m still waiting for my owl.
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This book is a masterpiece. It makes me so angry I want to cry, then without warning, I do all the way to the end. I love the Logan family so much. Cassie is one of my favorite middle grade characters of all time because she doesn’t hesitate to call out wrongs.
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This book is just plain fun. As a kid who used to draw cartoons and scribble stories in class, I was instantly drawn to it. Plus, there’s a section that shows kids how to flip pages to create animation! I chuckled from beginning to end.
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As I read this one, I was transported back to the magic of make-believe from childhood. Then, when I was completely invested in the story of friendship, I was walloped in the heart with every beautiful word. Those characters meant so much to me, all I could do was sob. This book is important because although some gatekeepers would say otherwise, kids need access to sad books.
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The opening of this book had me from the moment I opened it decades ago. It sounded so real. A world where children smell like fresh dogs’ droppings and it’s up to a small boy to save them from the Grand High Witch? What’s not to love?
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Available from:
Also available from:
Over the past 18 years, I’ve done my share of “traditional” teaching: I chose a book, I decided how many pages my students would read each night, I wrote questions to see if they read the book, I came up with what I thought were awesome projects so the kids could have fun after reading the books.
Then, about six years ago, I started realizing that most of what happened in my classroom was about ME, not about the kids. I try not to beat myself up about it, because that was the way everyone in my department taught, and honestly, it was the way I had been taught. The thing that changed was I started reading more than I ever had before.
I started to read professional books about literacy instruction.
And I stepped up my reading of young adult books in an effort to overhaul my classroom library.
And once I started reading all of those books and talking about the books I was reading with my students, I started to realize that I needed to change the way I was doing things.
So here is what I’ve learned over the past few years about kids and choice, in no particular order.
1. When you let kids choose what they read, they will take risks. This year, I asked my students to read widely across a variety of genres. While I required a certain number of books in particular genres, I left the titles up to the kids. I found in my conversations that students who had been stuck in a reading rut appreciated the nudge to explore other genres and picked up books they never would have read otherwise. I now have students who at the beginning of the year said, “I hate fantasy books, especially ones with dragons and fairies” reading books like The Sixty Eight Rooms and Small Persons With Wings, which is not your typical fairy book!
2. When you let kids choose what they read, they will read more. Back in the day of the whole class novel, I was lucky if my students read five books over the course of a school year. Now, I have students reading upwards of 100 books a year. Of course, not every student reaches that volume, but honestly, my goal is for them to read more than they did the year before. Students repeatedly tell me in conferences, “Mrs. Rench, I’ve never read so much before in my life!” Music to my ears, not because they are speeding through books, because most of them aren’t. Rather, I’m thrilled because these students are discovering reading can have an important place in their lives.
3. When you let kids choose what they read, they become better writers. See Reason #2. We know that kids who read more tend to be better writers. I have found that students not only are better writers, but they WANT to write, often “fan fiction” that takes them farther into the worlds of the books they love.
4. When you let kids choose what they read, they enjoy reading; it’s not a chore. This is the response I got over and over again when I asked my students why teachers should let their kids choose their own books. They related stories of lock-step reading and how frustrating it was. They shared how much they hated filling out reading logs and answering canned questions that didn’t ask about their thinking about their reading. Now my students beg for more reading time in class and are eager to share their thoughts with their classmates AND with me. They know I’m a reader, too, so we have some great conversations!
5. When you let kids choose what they read, they become empowered. When I asked my students about the importance of self-selected reading, I didn’t expect them to tell me that letting them choose their books showed I trusted them. After thinking about it, I realized they’re right… I had to trust them to make good choices about their reading, and they had to trust me to suggest new books and push them to challenge themselves over the course of the year. Because of this foundation of trust and respect, my students are much more willing to make (and take) book recommendations to each other and to seek out new titles even before I can bring them into the classroom.
The communities language arts teachers create in their classrooms are special. In no other content area do kids have the opportunity to think and talk about the issues that affect them in the same ways as they can through the books they read and the pieces they write. When we trust our students to take control of their own reading and give up some of the control we’ve become accustomed to, great things can happen.
Check out my students’ thoughts on this matter in their own words:
Vodpod videos no longer available.
(To see the video larger, click on EMBED and then VISIT THIS VIDEO at Animoto.)
Mindi spreads the #nerdybookclub love as a seventh grade language arts teacher in the Chicago suburbs. You can find her on Twitter as @mindi_r and read her blog at http://nextbestbook.blogspot.com
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