Read a good book--or a bad one!

Make the most of the summer for you and your kids. Read a good book…or a bad one.

Every school knows what the kids will read next year, ask them for a list. Read those books now so you can be ready for your kids’ questions or be able to initiate intelligent discussions with them at the dinner table in the fall.

If the school stonewalls you with “The teachers are all gone” or “we don’t have that list” check their website on line. You might get lucky. If that fails ask if you could have the admin staff forward an e-mail to a language arts teacher for you. (They won’t give out addresses or phone numbers for reasonable privacy issues.) If that fails try a friend whose kids are older than yours and find out what they read. If THAT fails, try the PTA president for some contacts. If all else fails…try the obvious: ask your kids if they know. They are probably dreading a couple books. (Everybody HATES Dickens – but Tale of Two Cities has so much Christian imagery, that it ought to be taught in Sunday School).

Though the elementary reading lists have their issues (Two Daddies…etc.) the high schools have some real land mines. Pay particular attention to foreign and ethnic authors. Some are naturally wonderful in prose and message but others can be quite negative and coarse. You don’t want to be surprised in mid-semester with a book you feel is inappropriate when you could have quietly found a replacement book before school started (making both your student and the teacher happier).

Some books the schools teach were selected to match requirements like those for the International Baccalaureate. Capitol High here in Olympia, for instance, teaches The Death of Artimio Cruz, by Carlos Fuentes and The Stranger by Albert Camus to satisfy IB requirements. The former is highly objectionable to most Christian readers for its crudeness and sensuality. They both are dramatically negative and dark for the sake of being dark. As a teacher, I participated in student/parent protests against both.

There are alternatives. Try Night Flight by Antoine de Saint Exupery, Don Quixote by Cervantes, or Cyrano de Bergerac by Rostand. Even Hemingway’s work qualifies for some IB requirements (if memory serves – “translated from a foreign language or in English by an author immersed in a foreign culture.)” Try The Sun Also Rises or For Whom the Bell Tolls which meet the locale and theme needs of IB.

Even books like the rightfully acclaimed To Kill A Mockingbird (Harper Lee) should be read so you can add to the classroom discussions. Most teachers, from fear or ignorance, for instance, fail to note the repeated Christ image (character sacrificing for the lives of others) in that book. They tend to emphasize the civil rights issue of the story and miss the Pulitzer Prize winning quality of the symbolism. (Hint: ask yourself as you read, “Who is the Mockingbird?)"

Many schools teach One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest which can also be crude in spite of its Christ images. (Note the main character’s initials and how many people he ultimately dies for).

Ethnic literature is all the rage now as we try to become more diverse and celebrate various cultures. That certainly has its place. I love sushi and enchiladas more than the next guy but in a true melting pot we choose what we like from the stew and let the rest fall away. I don’t eat blowfish soup or snails and neither do I embrace all that modern ethnic literature has to offer.

Whereas earlier offerings were often artful like Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man, or the poetry of Langston Hughes, the post-death of Kennedy and King literature tends to be more angry, crude, and destructive. A mere description of ghetto life or ethnic injustice does not make a novel worth reading and tends to give teachers a chance to blame Americans for having crushed the African spirit for 200 years. (They inevitably fail to note that 90 percent of the slaves brought from Africa were sold by Spanish and Portuguese traders to Spanish and Portuguese colonies in Central and South America).

Watch out for themes that justify suicide, drugs, gangs, or sex as natural acceptable responses to oppression. Grit your teeth for the language as well.

Schools teach a lot of fun stuff as well. A lot of what you read is just good lit. A Separate Peace, Tom Sawyer, Huckleberry Finn, and Shakespeare are all great lit. (Twain is wasted on kids. Adults recognize the irony and foibles of youth much better than youth itself). Don’t forget the short story collections either if you can get them.

So, no mindless beach books for you this summer. If you want to win the battle of influence you must work as hard as those who want your children’s minds. Just as you spend time each day with God, spend time each day for your kids. Read a good book before they do. Read a bad book so they don’t have to.