I will be resuming Word Nerd Wednesday soonish, but not on a regular basis, methinks. That's it for now. St. Clare of Assisi and St. Philomena, ora pro nobis.
I've decided to do some scavenging to come up with the 2017 SRL. I've taken the summer reading lists from local Catholic High Schools just to see what kids are devouring these days. Of the books on their lists, these are the titles that I haven't read yet. Because there are so many, I'm going to keep my reviews of them rather short. I've also removed the name of the schools because, frankly, I'm going to rip the books to shreds in regards to these 4 ideas:
One sentence summary:
Does it fit the age?
Does it help the reader grow?
Attitude towards Catholicism?
Award:
I'm really interested in seeing what kind of ideas and agendas are being fed to youth these days. Are they being challenged, or are they being placated with fluff that is nothing more than shock-value entertainment? The husband and I are pretty serious about homeschooling Smalls and any subsequent siblings that come along, but I'm not sure (especially in regards to math and science) about homeschooling through high school. This will definitely give me a good taste of any ideals or agendas coming out of some of the schools I would consider in the future.
Since this summer is going to be nuts, and the books themselves vastly vary in size and topic, I'm just going to keep everything contained here and repost throughout the summer. I'll try to stay in order once I get rolling. I've chosen one particular high school to start with, because they seem to have the most books with fluff shock-value. I'm pretty sure I'll be able to breeze through these ones pretty quickly.
I've also decided on a Pass or Fail System for these books. If they're not awesome, I don't think high schoolers should be wasting their time with them. They're either going to be WNA or WASTE.
High School #1:
9th | D’Aulaire’s Book of Greek Myths by Edgar P. d’AulaireReading time: approximately 4 hours, status: completed
One sentence summary: 186 page picture book containing rudimentary stories of popular Greek gods and heroes.
Does it fit the age? Hell no. It's written at a 3rd grade reading level. It's WNA for 3-5th graders, not high-schoolers.
Does it help the reader grow? Yes, if they don't know anything about Greek mythology, it might interest them. But seriously? For your average 9th grader? I'd already read Edith Hamilton's Greek Mythology by the time I was done with 7th grade. Sheesh. If I found this on a required reading list during my 8th grade year, I'd probably polish it off in a day and be a little insulted.
Attitude towards Catholicism? N/A
10th | A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled HosseiniReading time: 2 Days, status: completed.
One sentence summary: This is the story of 2 Afghani, Muslim women, one generation apart, who, through their unfortunate circumstances, end up married to the same abusive man.
Does it fit the age? I wouldn't recommend this to anyone, but I'd say that a 10th grader could handle it. A 10th grade girl from an abusive household would NOT be able to handle this.
Does it help the reader grow? Maybe, if you didn't know anything about the radically horrendous and abusive way of life of Afghan Muslims. I was absolutely horrified by this book because, first of all, if you don't know anything about this extremist and violent culture, you've been living under a freaking rock since 2001. This book is all about shock value, suspense, and terrible abuse. I know it exists, but I don't need to read about it. It may point the reader to what is true, but it doesn't point us to what is good or beautiful. It DOES, however, give the reader a good insight regarding why the cycle of abuse continues because you see the way men favor their sons above their wives while abusing their wives in front of their sons. It's wretched.
Attitude towards Catholicism? This book contains no ilk toward Catholicism. It's all about Afghanistan and Islam culture between the 70s and 90s, with a particular focus on how they treat women in their culture. There's marital rape, domestic abuse, and one character almost performs an abortion on herself with a bent bicycle spoke.. WTF is this doing on a reading list for a Catholic high school?! Seriously? Also, a tesbih is NOT a rosary.
11th | Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathon Safran Foer
Reading time: 3 days, and I really wanted to quit. Status: completed.
One sentence summary: This is the narrative of Oskar, a self-harming, 9-year-old-boy with Asperger's syndrome who deals with the aftermath of the death of his father, who died at the World Trade Center on 9/11, mixed in with letters written to him and his father.
Does it fit the age? High school juniors could handle it; it's not a difficult read. I don't recommend it, though. The protagonist is only 9, and he seems to have a working general knowledge of sexually explicit things. This book implies that it's acceptable for a 9 year old to know that kind of information. It's not. I think it's pointless, a bit too stream-of-consciousness, and shows a complete lack of respect for traditional dialog format. It's tedious. It reminded me of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime, which I also disliked.Does it help the reader grow? Not in my estimation. Overall, it's a disappointing read. THIS guy sums it up perfectly.
Attitude towards Catholicism? Blatant disregard for the gift and dignity of human sexuality and marriage. There's non-marital sex, voyeurism, adultery, and prostitution, all of which are described somewhat pornographically. Oskar's grandfather is writing a letter to his son (Oskar's father) from the airport as he's leaving his wife. This letter contains a few unsettling descriptions of a non-marital sex scene and, later, the reasons he's leaving his wife (who is the sister of the girl from the aforementioned scene). It seems that he feels justified in turning his back on "a marriage of millimeters and rules," and I'm concerned that the reader will conclude that this is acceptable behavior: to treat marriage as temporary and settle to living "a lie" because "I had only one life" but "it's not out of selfishness that I'm leaving" (132-35). What utter rubbish. Oskar also meets a war vet with (I think) PTSD, who associates everything with war, even Pope St. JP2.
11th | US History Honors: Rise To Rebellion by Jeff Shaara
Reading time: about a week. Status: Incomplete
One sentence summary: An account of the American Revolution as told through the eyes of Franklin, Adams, and others, beginning with the Boston Massacre.
Does it fit the age? Yes.
Does it help the reader grow? Yes. It's kind of a struggle to read this one, especially if you don't like history. I'd especially think it'd be a shocking struggle after the other easy crap these kids have to read. It's not fabricated, shock-value twaddle. Once I realized this, I stopped reading because I approved.
Attitude towards Catholicism? N/A
12th | Year of Wonders: A Novel of the Plague by Geraldine Brooks
Reading time: 2 days Status: Complete
One sentence summary: 20-something Anglican woman gives a gruesome account of the black death that takes 2/3 of the population of her small English village.
Does it fit the age? It's easy twaddle for a 12th grader, harboring on an adult romance novel. I would not recommend this, especially to Catholics. I'm sure there are better novels about the Black Death out there that aren't so hyper-sexualized.
Does it help the reader grow? Wow. In lust, maybe? In the attitude that suffering is a completely acceptable reason to abandon your faith and take up vices like fornication, masturbation, and domestic abuse? Ugh. For a novel that takes place in the 1600s, this has strong sexual innuendo in it that is kind of disgusting- bawdy songs and descriptions, and scenes that titter on the brink of soft-core porn. Unacceptable. It doesn't add anything to the novel. It seems as though the author is afraid that her writing isn't good enough, so she has to add that extra shock in there. There's also a lot of violence, the attempted drowning of a baby, witchcraft, witch-hunts, and the characters who have religious conviction at the beginning of the book are void of it at the end. The only transcendental prevalent in this book is the beauty of perseverance, how Anna continually helps her neighbors. But the weight of this beauty is severely stifled by all of the vice that surrounds it.Attitude towards Catholicism? Not blatantly anti-Catholic for the most part, but it takes place in a time when most people were anti-Catholic. The man character is Anglican, and they share some of the same terms and vocabulary as Catholics. Whenever they talk about Catholics, they refer to them as "papists." It is unclear about the Anglicanism until you look up "the Book of Common Prayer," so that might confuse the reader.
This part really pissed me off:
"For myself, (this is an Anglican minister) I took a page from the Papists. Do you not know that women are the dregs of the Devil's dunghill? Do you know how Papists teach their celibates (meaning priests) to master their desire? When they want a woman, they school themselves to turn their thoughts to all the vile emissions of her body. I did not allow myself to look at Elinor (his dead wife) and see her fair face or to breathe the fresh scent of her. No! I looked at that lovely creature and made myself think of her bile and her pus" (280).
What the actual hell?
Here's the emotions I experienced, as illustrated through gifs:
Finally, some of the situations in this book are directly opposed to Catholic teaching on the sanctity of human life. SERIOUSLY. One of the characters in this book performs an abortion on herself with a fire poker. Yes, she is clearly remorseful for what she's done and has repented, but it's rattled off like nothing at all with no follow up. WHAT THE HELL?! WHY is this required reading at a Catholic school?
Final summation: This school, I'm assuming, ranks lowest with a 1/5 WNA rating (D’Aulaire’s doesn't count because it's age inappropriate). I'm thoroughly tempted to out this school so people can see what kind of agendas they're feeding to students, but I'll restrain myself. Shame on them for the books they've chosen, especially since two of the works substantially support abortion.
High School #2:
9th| I've already read To Kill a Mockingbird, Lord of the Flies, and Of Mice and Men. Great novels for freshmen. These books are classics that definitely challenge the reader. Not sure about the attitude toward Catholicism contained therein, but if it was horrible, I wouldn't recommend the books.10th| Inherit the Wind – Lawrence and Lee
Reading time: a few hours Status: complete
One sentence summary: Social commentary drama based on the Scopes monkey trial of 1925 that could fit contemporary times.
Does it fit the age? Yes.
Does it help the reader grow? This is one of those works that "makes you think," kind of in the way that The Matrix makes you think.
It makes you think in a good way, but it takes a few bad ways to get there. The premise is that a teacher either taught/said something about evolution in a town where they staunchly uphold creationism to the point that teaching evolution is illegal. (Which, I think is somewhat ridiculous).10th Honors| Atlas Shrugged - Ayn Rand
I've decided, upon the recommendation of Flannery O'Connor, to forego this novel. This
great author, who was also a very devout Catholic, had this to say about it:
"I hope you don’t have friends who recommend Ayn Rand to you. The fiction of Ayn Rand is as low as you can get re fiction. I hope you picked it up off the floor of the subway and threw it in the nearest garbage pail. She makes Mickey Spillane look like Dostoevsky."
Hah! I'm not even going to waste my time. If Flannery O'Connor thinks Rand's writing is crap, then I'm pretty sure it doesn't do anything for high-schoolers. This is the first time I've ever judged a book (harshly) without reading it, so I feel like the world's biggest hypocrite right now. BUT, if a well-known Catholic author says it's garbage, then it's garbage. I really didn't want to read it anyways.
11th| Tears of a Tiger – Sharon Draper
Reading time: approximately 3 hours Status: Complete
One sentence summary: Andy Jackson, a sigh school senior, gets drunk at a party, drives his friends around, crashes, his best friend, Robbie, is burned alive in the crash, and said Andy goes into a downward emotional spiral and eventually commits suicide.
Does it fit the age? Yes. But this book was written in 1994. I feel like it's out of date.
Does it help the reader grow? Somewhat. Amidst the hysteria that's going on with other works that actually glorify suicide these days, this work, I'm glad to say, does NOT glorify suicide. First, it shows consequences for actions like drunk driving. This book also shows the emotional aftermath that suicide can leave on a community- and it's not pretty at all. The protagonist doesn't also commit a huge amount of scandal by using his suicide to "get back" at people. However, I think one of the things that pissed me off the most is that parents, teachers, adults, and most authority figures (except for the basketball coach), are portrayed as inattentive, incompetent morons. Throughout the book, Andy is certainly reaching out for help, but most of his attempts to get the help he needs go unnoticed by most teachers, ignored by his emotionally unavailable parents, or he lies to any adults in his life that he really trusts. Ok. I was already annoyed with Draper by page 4. She has a complete lack of concern for traditional dialog, and it looks like this:
Attitude towards Catholicism? NA
11th| Life of Pi – Yann Martel
Reading time: 3 days Status: Completed
Does it fit the age? Yes- there really isn't anything in here that is inappropriate. The first part was tedious, the middle was a great survival story, and the third part provided us with a WTF moment. (Hence the rating)
Does it help the reader grow? UGHHHHHH. Yes, in moral and spiritual relativism. This book boasts that it will help the reader believe in God. I think that it will confuse the hell out of any non-practicing or poorly-catechized person, and help them come to the conclusion that, perhaps God exists, but "my beliefs work for me, and that's fine. I can style them however I want by picking and choosing from the multitude of faiths out there in the spiritual cafeteria." UGHHHH.
Attitude towards Catholicism? This books claims that one can practice Catholicism, Hinduism, and Islam at the same time. FALSE. WRONG. NO. The protagonist is practicing all three faiths at the same time, AND he is baptized by the priest while the priest KNOWS that he is practicing the other two faiths. 1. Being baptized Catholic means that you promise uphold the Creed, faith in the Trinity, and accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. Practicing or clinging to any other faiths and holding them true at the same time is contrary to those promises. A decision must be made. You can't have them all. 2. A well-formed priest would never baptize a person with the full knowledge that he or she is practicing other faiths. The practice of other faiths alone speaks loudly that the person is not ready to commit to a life lived for Christ. 12th| A Long Way Gone:Memoirs of a Boy Soldier—Ishmael Beah
Reading time: Status:
One sentence summary:
Does it fit the age?
Does it help the reader grow?
Attitude towards Catholicism?
12th Honors| Catch 22 - Joseph Heller and one independent novel
Reading time: Status:
One sentence summary:
Does it fit the age?
Does it help the reader grow?
Attitude towards Catholicism?
High School #3:
9th | Greek Myths (Hamilton, Edith) I read this in 8th grade but it'd be nice to revisit.Reading time: Status:
One sentence summary:
Does it fit the age?
Does it help the reader grow?
Attitude towards Catholicism?
10th | Myths of the Norsemen (Green, Roger Lancelyn)
Reading time: Status:
One sentence summary:
Does it fit the age?
Does it help the reader grow?
Attitude towards Catholicism?
11th | Praise of Folly (Erasmus)
Reading time: Status:
One sentence summary:
Does it fit the age?
Does it help the reader grow?
Attitude towards Catholicism?
12th | Frankenstein (Shelley, Mary) (I read this in college, but it'd be nice to revisit)
Reading time: Status:
One sentence summary:
Does it fit the age?
Does it help the reader grow?
Attitude towards Catholicism?
High School #4:
9th| The Good Earth by Pearl S. BuckReading time: Status:
One sentence summary:
Does it fit the age?
Does it help the reader grow?
Attitude towards Catholicism?
9th| The Time Machine by HG Wells
Reading time: Status:
One sentence summary:
Does it fit the age?
Does it help the reader grow?
Attitude towards Catholicism?
I've read all the fiction books they have for Soph-Senior, and I must say, these are great selections and they're age appropriate. Brave New World might be pushing it a little, but they're old enough.
10th| Lord of the Flies
11th| Their Eyes were Watching God
AP 11/12| Pick one fiction title: 1984, Brave New World, Fahrenheit 451 AND one nonfiction title from a list of 26.
The NF title I chose is:
The Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity, and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary by Simon Winchester
Reading time: Status:
One sentence summary:
Does it fit the age?
Does it help the reader grow?
Attitude towards Catholicism?
High School #5
Lastly, my alma mater. I'm thrilled with most of the things that they're required to read during the school year for classes. During the summer, though, students are required to read two books (3 if they'll be in an honors class), of any kind, and by any author. Ugh. Luckily, their teachers have some great recommendations. Unfortunately, I've read most of those on their lists, so I've decided to pick one from each that I haven't read.
Night by Elie Weisel
Reading time: Status:
One sentence summary:
Does it fit the age?
Does it help the reader grow?
Attitude towards Catholicism?
The Jungle by Upton Sinclair
Reading time: Status:
One sentence summary:
Does it fit the age?
Does it help the reader grow?
Attitude towards Catholicism?
The Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer (Which I was going to read anyway, hah)
Reading time: Status:
One sentence summary:
Does it fit the age?
Does it help the reader grow?
Attitude towards Catholicism?
1: NDA, KY
2: Cov Cath
3: Chesterton
4: Cov Lat.
5: NDA, GB
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