I had my last class with a group of 11-12 year old boys who are headed off to junior high next year. I wish it could have been filmed--the discussion was like popcorn. I explained their summer reading requirement and went into detail about adolescent brain development, noting that they can never get this summer back so they need to read every day. They erupted with suggestions of favorite books; they are so ready to devour the adolescent novels awaiting them. A surprising number of them had read Twilight! occasionally on a dare from a sister or classmate. We looked at the list (posted below) of the 100 greatest children's novels and loudly reminisced. After lots of national dialog about boys who don't read (see my web page for more), this class was especially heartening.

One boy said, "You know, I remember I didn't like to read at all when I was younger, but the book that turned me around was Poppy." And suddenly every one of them was calling out the titles of books that had turned them into readers; almost every one of them could remember the exact moment, the book that had changed them:
Captain Underpants!
Hatchet!
Hoot!
Holes!
James and the Giant Peach!

I gradually scrolled down the list, to #1, Charlotte's Web, they all exclaimed and called out. "Oh, man, I loved that book when I was little!" "I remember my mom reading it to me; she cried. I almost cried too."

A boy who was new to the school this year talked about how he loved the culture of reading at Paideia: "At my old school, you were a nerd if you liked to read." I answered, "Yup. And that probably came out in your interview. We are always looking for passionate readers. They're the ones who will take advantage of the resources we offer and help maintain that culture of reading."

And suddenly they wanted to talk about banned books once again. I pulled up the ALA's list of most frequently challenged titles, and several said they thought they might just read everything on the list. (Good luck with the Lauren Myracle novels, boys.) Then one boy asked, "Natalie, if you could ban one book, I know you don't like banning books, but if you could ban one book, what would it be?"

I declined to answer, and he replied, "I would ban Sarah Palin's Going Rogue. I can't stand her." And I explained, once again, that we can't ban books just because we disagree with them; that Sarah Palin may run for President, and it will be important to understand her beliefs as laid out in the book." "Yeah," he agreed, "I guess so. But I still can't stand her."

And suddenly it was time to go. Some of these boys reminded me that they had been coming to library with me for 6, 7 or even 8 years. And several of them even thanked me for being their librarian all these years (sob!). What a job.