Books and the Teenage Reader by G. R. Carlson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

As a college educator who frequently sees the product of both homeschools and Christian schools, I've seen that both can be done well, and I've seen that both can be done badly. Sadly, many homeschool and Christian school students that I've had in the college classroom have not developed a love of reading. One reason for this, I believe, is that some parents and educators simply do not understand how young people develop into lifelong readers. This is a book that can remedy that problem.

As Carlsen points out, educators often force-feed books to students that are simply not ready for them: "Oddly enough, adults do not seem to realize that teenagers are changing in their literary tastes just as in their physical bodies. They assume that [if a young person has a reading level beyond his/her age,] the teenager is ready to move into great literature. Nothing is further from the truth. Recognizing that teenagers are still passing through reading phases is important in nurturing enthusiasm for reading."

This reminds me of my own high school education: for years, I had little interest in Victorian literature or Charles Dickens in particular because I was forced to read A Tale of Two Cities in 11th grade, before I was ready for it. Unfortunately, my own Christian school thought heavy doses of Shakespeare and Dickens were better for highschoolers than Newberys and books on a highschooler's reading level. (I never even read a Newbery winner till I was an adult.)

Carlsen counters that type of methodology in this book: "Reading patterns have been carefully mapped through research studies conducted with thousands of adolescent subjects, coming from diverse home backgrounds in all parts of the country. According to these studies, chronological age is more important than mental age in determining what a child will enjoy reading. The average and above-average 13-year-old are interested in reading books with the same subject matter and themes. . . . Accelerating the intelligent child by giving him or her the adult classics of literature will not increase the enjoyment of reading."

In my own experience, I can see that Carlsen is right. The students who I find most consistently to be serious readers tend to be public school students, students who were taught the Newberys and have had access to a lot of YA (Young Adult) novels.

To sum up, this book would be a great resource for home school parents and Christian school teachers who want to better understand how young people grow in their literary tastes. Carlsen has extensive bibliographies full of resources and novels for each stage of reading that an adolescent passes through. Although it's out of print, you can easily find it used on Amazon and other sites.

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