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What, the Kids are Reading?

  • Sep. 24th, 2008 at 6:22 AM
Saturn Ring Blues
Just for the heck of it, I asked two classes of kids yesterday what recreational reading books they had with them.  The books couldn't be ones they were reading because it filled an assignment.  I didn't count books they had in their lockers or at home (about 20 other kids said they were reading a book for fun, but they didn't have it with them).

51 high school students.  Here's what they had with them:

Brisingr, Paolini (2 kids)
Angels & Demons, Brown
Lolita, Nabokov
Flags of Our Fathers, Bradley
Eclipse, Meyer
Watchers, Koontz
Kitty and the Midnight Hour, Vaughn
Rose Madder, King
Breaking Dawn, Meyer
Guards! Guards!, Pratchett
Horseman, Pass By, McMurtry
Airman, Colfer
A Million Little Pieces, Frey
Galloway, L'Amour
No Place Like Home, Clark
Atlas Shrugged, Rand

So, if someone tells you that high school kids don't read anymore, send them to this list.  At least some of them are!
  • Mood: cheerful
  • Music:"The Shadow of the Past," Lord of the Rings soundtrack

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Comments

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[info]barbarienne wrote:
Sep. 24th, 2008 01:37 pm (UTC)
Every now and again, something gives my jaded old bones hope for the future. Thank you for today's boost!
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[info]jimvanpelt wrote:
Sep. 24th, 2008 03:02 pm (UTC)
You're welcome. I was boosted too.
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[info]lmarley wrote:
Sep. 24th, 2008 02:19 pm (UTC)
I wonder, Jim, if YOUR students are a cut above? This is an impressive list. I find, on my school visits, that the kids read, too--but they read what they want to read, and they don't get no respect for it, as it were!
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[info]jimvanpelt wrote:
Sep. 24th, 2008 03:04 pm (UTC)
The two classes were my Creative Writing (a mix of 10th, 11th and 12th graders) and the Honors 10 class, so the classes might have made a difference. I'll bet my regular 10th grade classes wouldn't have as many recreational books per kid, but I check on what they have on their desks all the time, and even in the lower level classes, there are readers.
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(Anonymous) wrote:
Sep. 24th, 2008 04:01 pm (UTC)
WOOT!!!!


(Carrie)
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[info]catrambo wrote:
Sep. 24th, 2008 04:34 pm (UTC)
Thank you, that really made me smile.
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[info]madwriter wrote:
Sep. 24th, 2008 08:30 pm (UTC)
It's been my experience here at the college level that a lot of students enjoy reading...as long as it's not something they've been told they have to read.
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[info]jimvanpelt wrote:
Sep. 25th, 2008 01:08 am (UTC)
My feeling too.
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[info]chipmunk_planet wrote:
Sep. 25th, 2008 03:39 am (UTC)
I just took my 13 year old son to the bookstore (he's been begging me to all week, as he wanted to get Brisingr). He got Brisingr, Orcs by Stan Nichols, and The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. He would have gotten Blue is for Nightmares but I limited him to three books.

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[info]jimvanpelt wrote:
Sep. 25th, 2008 03:44 am (UTC)
Oh, good for you! Best thing my parents ever did for me was to buy me books when I wanted them, and to take me to the library when I asked.

I never got candy or toys on demand, but books were a sure thing. I've done that for my boys too. They're all readers.
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(Anonymous) wrote:
Sep. 30th, 2008 12:56 am (UTC)
paolini and meyer don't count :P
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