Book choice for 14 year old boys - lesbian novel

[NC29]

I need some distance and other ppls thoughts.
In an all boys school the 14 year olds in english lit will be reading a novel about the hardship of being a lesbian girl in a catholic household.
Why?
I don't object to the topic, or the book (haven't read it yet, just arrived today - hope it's good)
My issue is I don't understand the choice. It feels forced* and there is so much literature that I would consider foundational that they haven't read yet that this is out of place. Maybe in a year or 2 it'll be more understandable to them, but now?
I am happy for them to read all kinds of stuff, but I think you need context and some life knowledge/experience for certain stuff.

*it seems that there is a culture emerging where kids have to be tolerant towards one or other specific trait, not the person. I don't agree with this approach. They should be taught that one trait doesn't matter by itself. A person is not black OR gay OR nice OR nasty. We are all a mixture of many things. Putting colour or sexuality at the forefront without the understanding of why it matters and why it is good that nowadays it's not a stigma (or why it should not have ever been and should not be now) is more logical to me.

I want my kid to be tolerant, kind (and a lot of other things :)) and behave normally with others because he sees the other person as a whole - not their color or their sex preference. And I want him to be in a world where he can say he doesn't like xyz and it won't come down to "oh, you don't like him because he is gay". Tolerance works both ways. **
And let's be fair: how is it any of my (or anyone's) business who another person chooses as a partner?

And this is coming form a person who just gave him Murakami to read. (and he likes it.) So no issues with actually him reading any book. (ok, maybe I would not be too happy if he was reading Dosztojevszkij or the memoirs of a serial killer....).
Not for a second do I think it is going to hurt him, but i think it'll fly past their heads and it would be more value a bit later.

**I honestly get the fierce need of oppressed minorities wanting more respect or just to be left alone to be who they want to be. I also see there is a shift to be too pc. There must be a middle ground where these things can be treated factual and without connotations. (ok, naivety off)

so question is, what do you think the motivation behind this selection could be? And what would your thoughts be on this being the mandatory English lit book of the term?

You say people shouldn’t be just one thing, and make a valid point about reductionist judgements, but you seem to object to the book on the basis that the protagonist is a lesbian.

Really good writing should bring to life any character to as wide an audience as possible, so by all means object to crap writing if the book isn’t very good, but you aren’t making any sense with the rest of your meandering complaint.

Is it 'Oranges are not the Only Fruit'? (I'm assuming so)
In which case..classic modern literature and a damn good BBC series as well starring Charlotte Coleman (of Four Weddings and a Funeral) and a stellar cast list... worth getting the DVD .

Great book... and it predates the current wave of anything goes sexually (and I say that as the mum of a married lesbian eldest daughter : ) ) It's a coming of age story and very good.

Without knowing the book it's difficult to comment on the additional value of reading the book. I can imagine though that it may touch upon the wider topics of where we get out sense of identity from; for example "I am catholic" "I am a lesbian" etc. How as we grow we can outgrow our upbringing and that that's not necessarily a bad thing.

As a teenager we read a book called Junk by Melvin Burgess in school, about heroin addicted teenagers. I remember at the time though that we were encouraged to look not only at the "just say no" message, but also at class disparity in terms of the characters outcome, at the mental health subtext etc.

There is highly likely at least one 14yo boy in his school who feels trapped by who they really are and how it doesn't fit with the life they are living.

I've no idea what the book is, but surely you can see that having a year group at that age read about someone trapped and struggling with who they are may actually be hugely beneficial? Not only to the boys at that school who are suffering, but to their cohort, who will hopefully be more tolerant and accepting having read this girls story?

@StillMedusa yes it's that book.

I’d dance naked in Waterstone’s if my 14 year old son read any book at all.

They are 14 year olds, in the process of growing up, reading a novel about another person's experience of growing up. Sounds like they have the relevant context and life knowledge/experience . I cant see what you are objecting to.

Maybe you should actually read the book? The character grows up in a Pentecostalist household that views Catholics as the spawn ofSatan. It’s also a coming of age classic and brilliantly funny.

Honestly I find it odd that rather than wonder whether it's just a really great text, with lots of themes and imagery to explore, you've launched straight into wanting to know why boys should read about lesbians, whilst simultaneously trying to remind people that you're tolerant.

That’s a fantastic book! Jeanette Winterson is a great writer (and much more complex than ‘PC’).

Perhaps you should see it as a coming of age novel where the protagonist happens to be lesbian? I get the feeling that's how most of our young folk think, anyway. Maybe you just need to catch up?

It's a British modern classic, as pp said a brilliant coming of age memoir. It's also quite short, and may encourage at least some of the boys to read more books by women which can only be a good thing.

In an age of teenage boys being porn obsessed, reading about female experience (any female experience) can only be a good thing.

It’s not about a lesbian growing up in a Catholic household.
It’s about a young woman growing up and exploring her sexuality within the confines of a fundamentalist Christian (Episcopalian) family and church.

And if you want some more adult context on the real-life experience Jeanette Winterson based Oranges on, read her memoir Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal? Heartbreakingly, the most benign character who acts as a substitute mother to the child narrator in Oranges was a total fabrication — the reality was much sadder.

It's a bit more than "just" a lesbian novel!
I really think you should have read it before you thought about complaining... You've just it very superficially!!

It’s a fantastic book, don’t see the issue.

OP, you wrote many words but the post still reeks of bigotry!

It’s such a great book. Agree with pp that it is a coming of age story.

Its a brilliant book, definitely a modern classic. You should read it too. None of your post makes any sense to me whatsoever.

Dosteoevsky could also be a good choice depending on the novel..! An author who is often misunderstood!
Perhaps you don't know as much as you think you do about English Lit? What would you consider "foundational"?

Yeah, it's because it's a fantastic book. The TV adaptation was also amazing. I'd be delighted if this was set for my secondary age child. He'll probably be set more fucking Shakespeare next year instead. Or bloody Steinbeck.

Think it's especially important in an all boys school as well

@Llareggub

I’d dance naked in Waterstone’s if my 14 year old son read any book at all.

Tell him you'll dance naked in Waterstones if he doesn't read a book, that might have the desired effect!