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Hiassen writes a very wide variety - he has a very free flowing style that is pretty much reflective of his experiences and where he is from .... i wouldn't classify any of it as really pornographic though
a lot of his work is environmental themed though - including probably his most scathing book, "Tourist Season"
he is also the author of the not racy at all, environmental targeted, movie adapted childrens book "Hoot"
he has another young readers book called "Flush" where a kid fights against a casino boat flushing raw sewage into the ocean
I'm a huge Mark Twain fan and his stuff goes well above and beyond Tom Sawyer & Huck Finn ...... just because he held some very strong views doesn't make those other novels inappropriate
the patterson novel is probably more for the tween/early teen audience and may be above 5th graders and the teachers sci-fi zeal could of gotten the best of her
the hiassen novel seems to fit into that category
here is a Q&Q from Hiaasen about it
Quote:
SCATQ. What made you decide to write another novel for young readers?
A. I had planned on only doing two, but HOOT and FLUSH turned out to be so popular that I couldn’t say no to writing a third. More than anything, the letters I received from kids were so touching and funny and smart that it made me want to do another book.
Q. SCAT is about a teacher who goes missing on a field trip. What gave you that idea?
A. It seemed like a neat mystery, especially since the teacher in the story, Mrs. Starch, is one of those intimidating classroom characters we all remember from our school days. So, when she disappears on a field trip into this foggy swamp, there’s lots of wild speculation among her students about what really happened.
Six pages in and I was hooked on this contemporary new novel by the highly acclaimed author Carl Hiaasen. This book is full of snappy one-liners and fun references to Hiaasen's hometown, Florida. Scat deals with so many 'real' aspects of today's young teens -- Nick, one of the leading characters, is dealing with his father being in the Army Reserve. The book also deals with age-old teen elements, such as: friends, fitting in, a hint of young love, and most importantly (for this story) ... awful school teachers.
Quote:
The other half -- or the real message, if I may -- involves political matters: endangered species (the Florida panther plays a large part in the story), animal cruelty, the human-race, and even a gentle reminder to just say no! to drugs and alcohol.
the book isn't that thick ... why don't you try reading it so you know what you are outraged about?
Last edited by toobusytoday; 11-19-2009 at 06:20 AM..
Reason: Copyright - PLEASE - A link and a SNIPPET
Ummm. Not exactly the "classics" I would want recommended for my 10 y.o. There are the illustrated classics, like Heidi, Little Women, etc. And how about biographies written for children about great scientists, sports figures, etc. How about the schools teaching some geography, history, science, etc. in fifth grade? You really don't believe its graphic sex and violence or nothing, do you??? LOL
I didn't say anything about giving them to a fifth grader. Your initial stance was that you wanted your child to be reading classic literature rather than contemporary literature, and I merely pointed out that the classics are no less violent, sexy, explicit, or graphic than modern literature. So I'll thank you very much to refrain from putting words or opinions upon me which I have not stated.
Ummm. Not exactly the "classics" I would want recommended for my 10 y.o. There are the illustrated classics, like Heidi, Little Women, etc. And how about biographies written for children about great scientists, sports figures, etc. How about the schools teaching some geography, history, science, etc. in fifth grade? You really don't believe its graphic sex and violence or nothing, do you??? LOL
I don't think kids should be reading all graphic sex and violence, either, however, I do think by age 10 they should be reading books other than Nancy Drew, etc. Not to say that it's bad to read mysteries, I am a big time mystery fan myself. However, I don't think it's too early to broaden their horizons a bit beyone that genre and biographies. The teacher would probably have a hard time getting the boys interested in Heidi, Little Women, etc.
But not as graphic. I really wish they had less of an emphasis on science fiction/fantasy books. Pretty much that is all that has been read to or recommended to dd this year (okay, one rather disgusting realistic fiction and a murder mystery.) Why not some biographical novels, historical fiction, etc.?
While a wide variety of lit topics and genres are a good thing, I've got to defend SF&F, which can be wonderfully subversive and thought-provoking and at times simply flat out great literature. Loved and still love books like William Sleator's 'House of Stairs', Madeline l'Engle's Wrinkle in Time series, Susan Cooper's Dark is Rising sequence (hate what Disney did to those) and the Narnia books.
Age ten was about the age when I decided that Sweet Valley High and the like were worthless drivel that weren't worth the time to pick up.
I agree with the OP and her concern wrt reading material. Moreover, the term "classics" is very broad; I think what the OP meant were "[children's] classics." Yes, Lady Chatterly's Lover is a classic but it is not usually recommended until high school (for obvious reasons.)
Frankly, I see no need for a teacher to be recommending James Patterson as an author for 5th grade literature. His books are entertaining and some are thought-provoking but his books are not what I would consider "literature" nor appropriate for a 5th grader, regardless of the age level by which it is classified. I mean no disrespect to JP fans; I just think that there is an appropriate time and place for his books, which does not include a 5th grade classroom.
When I was growing up, I remember reading some great books in 5th grade that I still remember and that were thought-provoking without being graphic in any way. Here are some of my favorites:
The Witch of Blackbird Pond Island of the Blue Dolphins Little House on the Prairie Rascal The Secret Garden The Mouse and the Motorcycle Charlotte's Web The Incredible Journey
I agree with the OP and her concern wrt reading material. Moreover, the term "classics" is very broad; I think what the OP meant were "[children's] classics." Yes, Lady Chatterly's Lover is a classic but it is not usually recommended until high school (for obvious reasons.)
Frankly, I see no need for a teacher to be recommending James Patterson as an author for 5th grade literature. His books are entertaining and some are thought-provoking but his books are not what I would consider "literature" nor appropriate for a 5th grader, regardless of the age level by which it is classified. I mean no disrespect to JP fans; I just think that there is an appropriate time and place for his books, which does not include a 5th grade classroom.
When I was growing up, I remember reading some great books in 5th grade that I still remember and that were thought-provoking without being graphic in any way. Here are some of my favorites:
The Witch of Blackbird Pond Island of the Blue Dolphins Little House on the Prairie Rascal The Secret Garden The Mouse and the Motorcycle Charlotte's Web The Incredible Journey
WoW! Someone actually gets it!!! Thanks. Great book recommendations, btw. Thanks again!
Anytime you have a concern about curriculum, it's best to go in armed and informed. Your concerns about the books will be taken with more seriousness, and you'll appear more credible, if you've actually read the books.
You mean like Anna Karenina, War & Peace, Oliver Twist, Catcher in the Rye, Tom Sawyer, Uncle Tom's Cabin, Roots, et cetera?
Hate to break it to you, but the "classics" are just as violent, sexy, racist, and misogynistic as anything out there today.
I think we're operating on two different registers or dealing with two different issues:
1. Is a classic book always acceptable to a general audience?
2. Should teachers teach classic books instead of non-classic books?
First of all, you're absolutely correct -- Oliver Twist is blatantly anti-Semitic in the character of Fagin; the language in Catcher is often gleefully obscene; the unintentionally racist stereotyping in Uncle Tom's Cabin is seriously problematic -- granted, granted, and granted.
However, I also don't think they're appropriate for fifth graders, partly because of those reasons you justly listed above. "Classic" doesn't always mean "G-rated, all audiences permitted" -- and that certainly includes (as I think you or another poster said a little later) classic works such as 120 Days of Sodom or Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure. Heck, it even includes Moll Flanders and Of Mice and Men.
However again, I think it's relevant to look at the very serious other issue here, which is that many of the child-appropriate classics are disappearing from the classroom. One might argue that the works replacing them appeal to modern audiences, and that might be so -- although I'm not convinced that the classic books do not also do so -- but very often, their literary quality, their use of language, complexity of sentence structure, complexity of figurative language, complexity of conflict and theme, leaves much to be desired. Obviously, this is a broad brush I'm painting with and doesn't describe every single novel written after 1980, of course. Nor is every classic automatically brilliantly written because it was written a long time ago.
That said, though, I think it's incumbent on a teacher to make the classic core of fiction richly available to her or his classes, and to recommend other works of fiction based on fairly stringent criteria: How smart is it? How well-written is it? Is the hero/ine a Mary Sue type *coughtwilightcough*, or is s/he a complex and well-drawn figure who moves beyond static characterization? Is the language and syntax vivid and challenging, or is the writing the (fairly typical) stale style? Does the story question assumptions, or does it play to stereotypes? In short, the fiction needs to be high-quality.
I think it's also important to note, though, that this specific teacher recommended a book for (I presume) nongraded casual reading -- a very different situation from mandating the class read this work for a grade. I think it would be politic of the teacher, though, to specify that it contains some material some families might consider unsuitable and advise the parent to read the Amazon reviews first. That's fair.
Okay. We moved to a new school district.Ten y.o. DD is now a fifth grader in middle school. Her teacher is a voracious reader herself and is constantly recommending books to the class, giving mini book reviews on the young adult books she reads as well as reads aloud to the class everyday. She seems to love fantasy and science fiction and mystery. I just picked up a book my dd is reading that was recommended by her teacher and am disgusted by it. Its called Maximum Ride/The Angel Experiment by James Patterson. It is so violent, it disturbs me. I checked it out on Amazon and found that this author also has written a slew of adult fiction books that are very inappropriate for kids. The teacher is also reading aloud to the class a book called Scat by another author, Carl Hiassen who writes very racy, cheesy adult fiction; e.g. Stripper, etc. In this book, being read aloud to my dd's fifth grade class, a naked man gets tied to a tree, and words such as "dumbass" are used.
Four months ago, my sweet dd was reading Nancy Drew and Fairy Realm books. Now, this??? She may benefit from advancing her reading selections a bit, but I feel what this teacher is giving her is just plain trash. It may benefit some reluctant readers who need to be pulled into reading, but my dd has always loved reading. Now, she's being encouraged to read and being read stuff that seems to appeal to the lowest common denominator. If these books were movies, they'd be rated "R."
I personally like Hiaasen's books. Many authors write for both children and adults; as with most, Hiaasen's children's books don't have the same language, situations, or characterizations of his adult novels. We used Flush as one of our literature selections last year to illustrate the concept of authorial platform (combined 5/6, homeschool).
I don't know Patterson's YA novels (his adult novels aren't my cup of tea), but I will say Amazon has that particular book listed for 12 & up. Scat is grades 5-8.
If I were you, I would read the book, not just look at reviews or take a glance through it. Yes, Patterson is primarily an adult writer, but the Maximum Ride series is NOT for adults. I don't think it's especially good for ten year olds, but I would suggest you read it so you can at least have a substantial reason to say that it's inappropriate.
Yes, this Patterson series is for kids, and yes he writes books for adults too, so what. I love the Peter and the Starcatchers series. My Dad is friends with Ridley Pearson so we are lucky to get autographed copies of the books.
Quote:
Originally Posted by FarNorthDallas
Barnes and Noble lists the Scat book as being for ages 10-12.
I always read the books my son was reading or having read to him in class. I never found one I disapproved of, but I liked to know what he was learning. I usually read them before he read them.
These are most definitely kids books-Hoot and Flush are great books, my kids LOVED them.
Quote:
Originally Posted by StarlaJane
I agree with the OP and her concern wrt reading material. Moreover, the term "classics" is very broad; I think what the OP meant were "[children's] classics." Yes, Lady Chatterly's Lover is a classic but it is not usually recommended until high school (for obvious reasons.)
Frankly, I see no need for a teacher to be recommending James Patterson as an author for 5th grade literature. His books are entertaining and some are thought-provoking but his books are not what I would consider "literature" nor appropriate for a 5th grader, regardless of the age level by which it is classified. I mean no disrespect to JP fans; I just think that there is an appropriate time and place for his books, which does not include a 5th grade classroom.
When I was growing up, I remember reading some great books in 5th grade that I still remember and that were thought-provoking without being graphic in any way. Here are some of my favorites:
The Witch of Blackbird Pond Island of the Blue Dolphins Little House on the Prairie Rascal The Secret Garden The Mouse and the Motorcycle Charlotte's Web The Incredible Journey
Except that these books are generally for younger kids.
Quote:
Originally Posted by maja
WoW! Someone actually gets it!!! Thanks. Great book recommendations, btw. Thanks again!
See above-nice list but how about something challenging for a 5th grader--these are pretty much on the 3rd grade level-or that is when most kids read these books.
OP, there is nothing that says your DD has to read the books her teacher is talking about but I know plenty of 5th graders that would love the Patterson books and know the difference between fantasy and reality.
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