Month: May 2009

King of the Screwups

| Tasha

King of the Screwups by K L Going.

Liam messes up everything that he touches, especially in his father’s eyes.  When screws up again, Liam is kicked out of the house.  His mother engineers it so that Liam is sent to live with his gay, glam-rocker uncle in a trailer in the middle of nowhere.  This is Liam’s chance to be different, be what his father wants, and not mess up.  But things aren’t that easy.  Liam tries to be unpopular, but can’t seem to manage it.  He tries to befriend the next-door neighbor but she dislikes him at first glance.  Though he tries to be a great student, he continues to get into all sorts of trouble at school: being late, not finishing assignments, and never bringing his materials to class.  What can a handsome, well-dressed teen do to make himself something he’s not!

Going has created a teen novel that takes stereotypes and turns them on their heads.  Here we have a straight kid with an eye for fashion, a popular kid who wants to be unpopular.  There is a delight to reading this novel.  One never knows what is going to turn out to be a screwup and what will be an amazing success.  That unexpected nature combines perfectly with Liam’s voice, creating a novel that is impossible to put down.  The strength of Liam’s characterization is central to this book, avoiding anything that could be stereotypical and instead being about an individual living in a world of unique people. 

A great teen novel, this book deserves to be widely read and applauded and shared with friends.  Appropriate for ages 14-17.

Getting Children to Read

| Tasha

The Telegraph has a great article about what schools need to do to inspire a love of reading in children. 

"This is my reading group," one of the teachers proudly explained to Rosen. After two prodigiously active years promoting a love of books, in schools and out, Rosen’s antennae are well tuned to a telling trend. "Wonderful," he thought. "But what are the others doing?"

"Between the ages of four and nine," he says, "reading books is regarded as optional. Some schools take it seriously, but others say there is no time and fall back on worksheets which are torn-up extracts of books. It is really dangerous. Children don’t even read the whole chapter. The idea of engaging with what happens, with the thoughts and feelings of a story, has disappeared.

"It is not built into most schools’ ethos. If we want children to have access to complex ideas then the most fruitful way is the reading of whole books."

I agree with this.  But don’t we also need to tell parents that it is their job to raise readers?  And how about librarians?  Isn’t it our job too to try to entice, entertain and encourage young readers?  I don’t think it’s a simple answer of if only teachers would do more.  I think it is a complicated formula of parents, teachers, librarians and great books that make the difference.

How about you?  What’s your reaction?