Fall Book 2024 – Through the Eyes of a Child

Why Through the eyes of a child?

Very few parents and grandparents have not shared stories about the wisdom that young children express. In our family, a comment from a five-year-old that adults seem to get angry over nothing was a bit of wisdom that was passed around whenever someone started to get red in the face. In literary terms, for many years, young adult literature was thought to be “elementary” or simple, so it was often ignored by adult readers. However, an article by Caroline Kitchener titled “Why So Many Adults Love Young Adult Literature” appeared in the 2017 issue of The Atlantic Ocean stated that although children’s literature is primarily aimed at young adults, over 55% of YA readers are adults.

The Atlantic Ocean article is worth reading. It gives a number of reasons why more adults are reading YA literature. The first of these refers to the idea of ​​’coming of age’. You could say that we continue to grow up throughout our lives. The article includes an explanation of the term itself, which originated in the 17^e century in Germany with the writings of Goethe and his contemporaries. Perhaps “coming of age” is one of those eternal elements of life. We recognize it. We see ourselves in the stories of youth navigating it.

You may want to read the entire article below, but my experience parallels that of the authors in recognizing that the quality of the writing and the stories they are are superior, in many cases so good that YA books win awards and land on prestigious lists of notable lists. Simply put, “a good story is a good story.”

Malcom X once said, “Children have a lesson that adults need to learn, not to be ashamed of failure, but to get up and try again. Most of us adults are so afraid, so cautious, so ‘safe,’ and therefore so shrinking and rigid and afraid that it is the reason so many people fail. Most middle-aged adults have resigned themselves to failure.”

So, we give you the Fall 2024 Lecture – Through the eyes of a child and we walk through the books with the children, exploring the messages and ideas, the problems and concerns, the dreams and hopes contained in these stories.

The fall of 2024 – Through the eyes of a child

Alice in Wonderland: The Original 1865 Edition by Lewis Carroll, Sir John Tenniel (illus), 2021 (classical)

Everything that is sad is untrue: (a true story) by Daniel Nayeri, 2020 (memoir)

The Blue Book of Nebo by Manon Steffan Ros, 2021 (Dystopian)

Long way down by Jason Reynolds, 2017 (verse)

Radio Reader BookBytes will air every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday during All Things Considered and Morning Edition. And be sure to mark your calendars for the season finale, scheduled for Sunday, November 17, 2024, from 1:00-3:00 p.m.

REFERENCE

Kitchener, Caroline. “Why So Many Adults Are Loved by Young Adults,” The Atlantic. December 2017 https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2017/12/why-so-many-adults-are-love-young-adult-literature/547334