Why do schools not read anything bloody cheerful ?

[Howlongtillbedtime]

I really think teens would be engaged with reading a wee bit more if they ever read a positive book.....

So far my son has read
Holes

Maggot moon
Of mice and men
Never let me go
Jekyll and hyde

And that is without the poetry and the Shakespeare.

Where is the uplifting or at the very least slightly bloody cheerful stuff?

Both my boys struggle with English which may cloud my judgement but surely we can have something a little more sodding positive !!!

Some of us enjoyed the misery.

Read a lot of cheerful literature, have you?

Ok maybe not cheerful but a cosy Agatha Christie would be nice.

Surely Holes was darkly comic though? I found it hilarious (mostly).

And how is Never Let Me Go not uplifting? The indomitability of the human spirit, innit?

I think it's a good point... where is the comic literature for teens?

I think that is looking at it through an adults eyes

My son found holes bloody grim - child sent to a summer camp that meant he nearly died digging bloody holes and being bullied by the grown ups.

I haven't read never let me go but my other son found that depressing as the people weren't true to each other ( I have yet to read this but .....)

Holes is good fun with a happy ending!

Generally though, I agree with you. In fact, I was saying today (I'm an English teacher) that we really need some more cheerful books for Key Stage Three students. Death and misery could wait until GCSE, or at least Year 9!

Never Let Me Go is about as uplifting as Donald Trump's underpants.

Howlongtillbedtime

Ok maybe not cheerful but a cosy Agatha Christie would be nice

Gosh yes, you really would be introducing first class literature to kids, then.

Confediracy of dunces !
Hitchhiker's guide
Cold comfort farm possibly
As I walked out one midsummer morning

To name but a few

Maybe you need to visit the library and choose more cheery books for home reading.

notheresa I didn't realise that everything had to be first class literature !

As a parent I would like my kids to have a love of reading rather than seeing it as a punishment and a drag!

It should give kids access to decent literature. They are at school, fgs. If they cannot be guided there, it’s a poor show.

As a parent YOU should be instilling good reading habits, too.

@backouch thanks for that!

I did that already but they are spending a lot of their time being put off reading altogether.

All I would like is one out of three books to be a bit more uplifting.

Why is that so bad?

Grim, moody and hard going shouldn't be the measure of a good read.

I love reading and I feel I am losing the battle to keep my boys interested.

I teach secondary English and we do loads of cheerful stuff! Roald Dahl, Ted Hughes, nature poems, satire and Swift, My family and other animals, Shakespeare comedies,... All in ks3

toads that sounds lovely.

I wish our school did similar.

Oh god I don’t know why everyone gets so high and mighty about good literature.
I studied English lit at uni - it’s put me off reading for life! I’ve barely looked at a book for the last 5 years! Bloody Dombey and son nearly killed me off.
I totally agree OP. The children’s lit module I did was by far the best bit.

Thank you @Smarshian
That is exactly my point. It is bloody ruining any love of reading they ever had.

What is wrong with being cheerful or light hearted ?

Ah you've reminded me of my A levels-We read The Wasp Factory. I hated it. Why does such a book need to exist and why must it be inflicted on young minds. Totally agree OP, good literature can be cheerful or the very least not deprived

Literature thrives on tragedy. I did always wish they'd let us read a couple of modern books in there too, fantasy or sci-fi, not just canonised lit.

A mix might not be a bad thing I guess but some of aren't turned off by darker themes or tragedy and enjoy them.

I love reading but the books I read for Alevel could easily have put me off, the closest thing to happy stories were the Alan Bennett plays Talking Heads.

Dd is having to read Coraline, she has to have a set of affirmations in her book as she finds it so disturbing. They said she could swap to another class but all the books were grim and disturbing, she only just turned 11

@Howlongtillbedtime I agree 100%. Trying to encourage a love of reading while the pupils are reading something so grim that 99% of your class hate it, is soul destroying.