Preaching to the required

Sleeping Freshmen Never Lie has been dancing in the extremely low four-figure range of sales rank for a couple weeks, and looks like it might even make a visit down to the trips. While a part of this could be due to its being one of the non-dark (at least, on the surface) YA books out there at a time when dark vs. non-dark is getting attention, the main cause, I suspect, is that it is on a lot of summer-reading lists. In some cases, it is one option among anywhere from two to fifty choices. In other cases, it is a required book.

I feel both flattered and uneasy about this. Uneasy because a handful of kids will hate the book. (I'm optimist enough, or perhaps egotist enough, to feel it will be a tiny handful. Perhaps one of those cartoon hands, with only three fingers and a thumb. Or Barbie's hand, which holds almost nothing, much to Ken's dismay.) I'm flattered because a contemporary required book is often paired with a required classic. This allows me to impress my family by dragging them to the computer and pointing to the list where I'm paired with Farenheight 451, Of Mice and Men, or some other true classic. I am fortunate to have a wife and daughter who both know how to act suitably impressed.

One other cause for unease comes when I see the reading list accompanied by an assignment. Some kids have to write a summary of each chapter. Others have to find five metaphors, or keep a list of fully formed and flat characters. I realize there's a value to this, but I want readers to be immersed in my books. I feel uneasy when I picture a student reading my book with a pencil and notebook on hand. (Though I have to admit I get a kick out of some very cool assignments I've seen, such as mapping the plot to Joseph Campbell's outline for a hero's journey.) I feel most uneasy of all when I see students asked questions I'd be unable to answer. What's the theme of this book? Beats me. Katherine Paterson wrote an essay where she talked about the need for more flashlight readers (kids who are so hooked by a book that they'll keep going after the light are turned out) and fewer stop-light readers (kids who are asked to stop and analyze each line or passage). I'm not sure what the answer is to this. I suspect teachers and librarians might be loosely divided on the issue. In truth, I don't know enough about education to have a valid opinion. Maybe stopping to write a summary of each chapter is a good thing. Maybe it's a bad thing. I'm just not sure how it fits into the concept of summer reading. I suspect some of you will have thoughts on this.

Yikes -- I sort of got off topic. Not that I really had one.

There will be another flurry of sales in August, when the procrastinators realize it's time to start reading. This will be followed, a day or two before school starts, by a wave of "Where can I find this book online?" posts, as well as pleas for very specific information about parts of the book, on Yahoo Answers and other slacker hangouts.

But, really, unease aside, I have to thank all the folks who put me on their lists. It's pretty darn cool to be required reading. Oh, and if you stumble across this post in August because you Googled the title of the book and the word "theme," try "Small actions can have large consequences." It's not what I had in kind, but it fits. And if that information gets you a good grade, you can thank me by skipping Starbucks for a day or two and plunking down the money to buy a copy of the book.