Tell Me: Would You Read This Book?
There was an interesting piece in today’s Washington Post Style section about the famed Newbery Award for children’s literature. It seems that the winners over the past years have dealt with such challenging subjects that they may not be reaching their intended audience. Some of the experts involved in the debate argue that “quality and popularity need not be mutually exclusive,” while others stand firm in their beliefs that literary merit must triumph.
As I type, President-Elect Obama is announcing his pick for Secretary of Education, Arnie Duncan, and speaking about the importance of easing our children away from video games and “reading to them at night” in the struggle to make our nation’s education system stronger. Those of us who love books and reading know that the Newbery debate isn’t just some frivolous chat about fiction; it’s about keeping kids engaged with narratives at a crucial stage, ages 8-12.
As the article points out, many previous Newbery winners like 1999 winner Louis Sachar’s Holes and 1953 runner-up E.B. White’s Charlotte’s Web, have become enduring bestsellers. The winner, with its cover earning the right to sport the distinctive gold embossed medal, usually becomes a bestseller in its own right for a time — but recently, the winners have been purchased by adults but not embraced by younger readers.
Gosh, I can’t imagine why; look at the 2008 winner. Now, first: Please let me say I don’t want to diss Laura Amy The 2008 winner has been called inaccessible to young readers.Schlitz. She deserves great praise for winning the Newbery. Second: I’m probably the biggest geek out there when it comes to medieval history (and no, I’m not a member of the SCA and I don’t want to join), and I plan to run out a buy a copy of this for myself, since I’m currently writing a popular history of the medieval world.
But is this a book that my Mini Maven would choose? Some people might argue that not every book a child should read is one that child would choose, that an adult should participate in book selection. Those people probably do not have tweens. At age seven, age eight, age nine, the Mini Maven was thrilled to have her school librarian recommend books to her. At age ten and eleven? Not so much!
Again, let’s not blame Schlitz for writing a book about medieval voices. It’s probably really, really good. I blame her publisher and her book designer, to tell you the truth — the tinted line drawing image and the antique-y font look more like a Reader’s Digest book design from the early 1960s than something that would attract today’s middle-schoolers. There’s absolutely no reason why this book couldn’t have had an edgier look and style. So, tell me, would you read this book? Would your child read it? I could be entirely wrong, but I believe that the Newbery judges need to keep readers in mind, and I think this book bypasses them.
