Laurel Guillen's Blog - Posts Tagged "tweens"
Introduce Young Readers to Christian Authors Part 1
From the moment I started reading A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle in grade school, I completely identified with Meg. Like her, I felt strongly protective toward my younger brothers and didn't entirely understand my parents. As for strange, lovable, old people, we had those in our family too.
Many decades later I can still remember Mrs. Who illustrating a tesseract, and the absolute astonishment and chills I felt when I learned what "It" was.
This was my first science fiction book, and it changed my life. I would read so many science fiction books by the time I was in my 20s, that I'd be asked to help edit a science fiction magazine. But rarely did any of those books inspire the feelings of courage, wonder, and powerful love that this one did.
Only decades later did I finally realize why: L'Engle, I discovered, was a Christian, and her faith infused her writing and shone through her words. Parents, forget the Disney movie version and give this book to your middle grade daughter instead.
Many decades later I can still remember Mrs. Who illustrating a tesseract, and the absolute astonishment and chills I felt when I learned what "It" was.
This was my first science fiction book, and it changed my life. I would read so many science fiction books by the time I was in my 20s, that I'd be asked to help edit a science fiction magazine. But rarely did any of those books inspire the feelings of courage, wonder, and powerful love that this one did.
Only decades later did I finally realize why: L'Engle, I discovered, was a Christian, and her faith infused her writing and shone through her words. Parents, forget the Disney movie version and give this book to your middle grade daughter instead.
Part 3 The Lord of the Rings, Introduce young readers to Christian authors
It was the summer between seventh and eighth grade, and a town librarian who knew my thirst for books handed me a copy of The Hobbit, by J.R.R. Tolkien. It was wholly new and wonderful thing and when I returned to him asking for more, he handed me the three volumes of The Lord of the Rings.
At first, I was taken aback by all the genealogies and the strange languages. But my 13-year-old self didn’t get bogged down, I just kept reading. This was the first time I’d entered a fictional world that so absorbed me: the real world seemed dim and inconsequential by comparison. I distinctly remember one summer weekend when I started the second book, the Two Towers, and did not sleep until I finished the Return of the King about forty hours later. In the middle of one night, I reached a climactic scene in which an evil being is defeated by someone who is not who they seem to be. I jumped up and went running around a dark, sleeping house, I was so thrilled. The movies that have been made of Tolkien’s works may be fabulous, but nothing compares to reading the series that was voted the best work of fiction in the 20th century. Make sure every teenager you know gets that chance.
At first, I was taken aback by all the genealogies and the strange languages. But my 13-year-old self didn’t get bogged down, I just kept reading. This was the first time I’d entered a fictional world that so absorbed me: the real world seemed dim and inconsequential by comparison. I distinctly remember one summer weekend when I started the second book, the Two Towers, and did not sleep until I finished the Return of the King about forty hours later. In the middle of one night, I reached a climactic scene in which an evil being is defeated by someone who is not who they seem to be. I jumped up and went running around a dark, sleeping house, I was so thrilled. The movies that have been made of Tolkien’s works may be fabulous, but nothing compares to reading the series that was voted the best work of fiction in the 20th century. Make sure every teenager you know gets that chance.
