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William Sleator Dies

Lois Duncan (Down a Dark Hall) and Mildred Ames (Anna to the Infinite Power) terrified me first but when I think of the first truly creepy, crawled-inside-my-head, book that I read, it’s always House of Stairs by William Sleator. The viciousness of what even children will do to each other in desperate situations, the trapped claustrophobia, the idea that adults would experiment on children so cruelly… it left a permanent mark. I’ve read many of his other books- Blackbriar, Fingers, Interstellar Pig, The Green Futures of Tycho, Singularity… I remember waiting anxiously for The Boy Who Reversed Himself. My middle school book discussion group read Fingers and wrote him a letter, and he wrote us back from Thailand. And as a teen I was lucky enough to take part in a one day writing workshop with him. He’s tagged as a science fiction writer a lot of the time, but the very human darkness and, sometimes even evil, that pervades so many of his books is what left its mark on me. Whatever genre you want to assign his books to, William Sleator was a brilliant writer. A quarter century after I first read House of Stairs (which was published originally in 1974) those books are still on my bookshelves. And I still read them.

This great author of YA fiction died Tuesday at age 66. I am glad he wrote so many books. I know he touched many lives with his writing. I hope his books will stay in print, and that libraries will stay in schools, so the teens of today and tomorrow will have the chance to discover them, just as I did, in my school library.

Posted on August 4, 2011 by , Reply

Help a Reader Out: Entering the Twilight Zone

No, this has nothing to do with a certain series by Stephenie Meyer, or even with Rod Serling. I’ve received a request from a science teacher moving from teaching high school to teaching eighth grade who needs to build a classroom library appropriate for middle school students. If you follow trends in YA fiction at all, you might have noticed that  some YA books are very dark, and they can be very explicit. In fact, there’s a debate going on right now about this very thing.  Most of these books are aimed at older teens, ages 15-18, and that means that they aren’t terribly appropriate for a classroom library for middle schoolers.  Just because younger kids CAN and DO read some of those books, doesn’t mean they are the best selections for their classroom library. However, in spite of the fact that I personally enjoy reading books for upper elementary students, most middle schoolers are moving beyond those. It is a tricky age to find reading material that walks the line.

This doesn’t mean books can’t have dark themes. But  books with foul language, explicit sex, and extreme violence and gore are not great choices for the majority of middle schoolers. As with any age, though, many of them love suspense, cliffhangers, a good scare, adventure, a little romance, humor, mystery, and stories about kids who might be going though the same things they are.  Among other things.

Do you have any ideas as to good titles for a middle school classroom library? What did you read for pleasure at that age? Honestly, I probably read more of a variety of titles and genres in middle school than I have at any other time of my life, and I’d be happy to share some of my favorites with you, and with her, but I’m one person. What are your suggestions?

Posted on July 20, 2011 by , 4 comments

Help a Reader Out: New Kid on the Block, Over and Over Again

Ah, the 1980s. A time of YA fiction of all kinds, and of many, many series books. Sweet Valley High, The Girls of Canby Hall, Alfred Hitchcock and the Three Investigators… okay, I admit those are not the right genre for those of you who were reading Point Horror, but some of us took the long route.

Somewhere in the 1990s I became a children’s librarian- this was at the height of the popularity of the Goosebumps books, and I remember their massive popularity. Oh my gosh, there is no way I could EVER forget. But you all will have to help me out here, because apparently, somewhere in between, Jay found a YA horror series with a very specific formula for the plot. It’s not Point Horror, and R.L. Stine didn’t really get going until the 1990s… but somebody MUST know the name of this series.

Jay writes:

I came across this site and it seemed like it had a lot to offer. What I am looking for is some help with some titles/books from the 1980’s. The books were geared for young adults and were written in the 80’s. They had a very standard format to almost all of them. “New kid moves into town and right away becomes the target of the popular guy, new kid develops crush on bully’s girl and eventually may even be a couple with her by the end of the book. Sometimes the new kid is an athlete. Usually there is some kind of mystery/conflict in the new town; sometimes zombies, vampires, or some kind of satanic force that confronts the new kid.” I must have read over 100 of these books during the 80’s, but never kept any of them. It’s been roughly 30 years since I read them and certainly cannot remember any of the titles or the authors. Any help would be greatly appreciated! I want my son or daughter to start enjoying these type of books, but can’t find them anywhere. I hope to hear back from you soon!

Thanks, Jay, for your confidence in us. Can anyone help Jay find these books so he can share them with his kids?

Posted on July 19, 2011 by , 2 comments
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