Yr 9 English - Catcher in the Rye - Suitable?

[SecondhandRose]

Am I just being a prude here? Is this book suitable for year 9's. Anyone else got a copy? I just opened it at page 84-85 and it is about an encounter with a protitute.

That should have said prostitute!

I would have thought it was more of an A' Level text, myself. It's a pretty tough book for that age. I've taught it to a bright Y11 top-set in the past.

There's a maturation issue when it comes to texts within English Literature and sometimes their empathetic skills just haven't developed enough at that age.

Is is something your DC is studying then?

It's just not that good a book. I'd be surprised to hear it was being studied at yr 9, just because it's a "coming of age" novel and they need some maturity to cope with all of Holden's angst.

My favourite teacher once said that the best education is one where there is no censorship applied to books. She told me us that her own father had a huge library and that his literature was never off limits to any of his children. I tend to agree. If the child is too young, then they will probably find the book boring and never get as far as the "unsuitable" bits. If they are interested enough to keep reading, then chances are they can handle the themes, if dealt with sensitively.

I think that it is good that children start to encounter some of these themes in their early teenage life - before they start to seriously discuss them with more insidious sources of information (namely their peers)

Agree with bluebutterfly

And if it's a text they're studying at least there will be teacher-led group discussion (hopefully)

I agree with you Blue. And that's great if a child is discovering the book for him/herself and choosing whether or not to carry on reading. But in class, giving them something that emotionally they may not be ready to cope with will mean that it probably goes over their heads and is boring to them. There are so many fantastic books for 13 year olds; why put them off with a less than fantastic book that would never have been so popular anyway, if not for the link to John Lennon? Sorry - am feeling cynical!

I've had to teach it at Yr 9 before (wouldn't necessarily have chosen to but largely because I think it's overrated) and it never occurred to me that it was unsuitable for them. But then I tend to be a very matter of fact teacher in this sense - I've had to teach so much sex, violence and death in my role as an English Literature teacher and I don't feel it does them any harm to have a controlled forum where they can discuss issues like this through the medium of 'what happens in the text' - they are still learning about the messy business of being a human but in a safe way, a way that allows them to distance it from them at little.

I guess it is tough because a teacher has to balance out the needs of all the children - the ones ready for more mature discussions who might get bored by more childish literature and the ones who might get bored by the more mature literature. I guess, just sometimes, the slightly earlier developers need to be considered so that they do not lose interest - as long as English classes cover a variety of books and styles over a year then hopefully everyone can cover something that interests them. It never hurt me to have to read a book that I found boring when I was a teenager. It was just that - boring. And if a dc is bored, chances are the prostitution angle will either a) spark his/her interest or b) be of no interest because it is all too boring. Either way, not really the end of the world...

Not the end of the world no - but why waste time on it when there are so many better books to be taught?!

My HT (North American) was obsessed with CitR and used to bang on and on about it.
I deliberately didn't read it on principle for several years
When I did finally read it, it was a big disappointment - I just didn't get it really.

I'm with janeite & roisin - didn't see what all the fuss was about, v dull novel with unlikeable protagonist.

If you are concerned re: suitability, ring teacher & discuss concerns - I'm a secondary English teacher & would welcome this.

(Actually I quite often get it - year 9's a funny old year for choosing texts which will engage students without freaking out parents...)

I'm chuckling at the fact that all of the English teachers are slating it for being rubbish, rather than for being inappropriate - she says, as another secondary English teacher!

But of course .

By year 9, it's to be devoutly hoped that any able reader will have read all sorts of stuff that will their elders & betters. It's a big part of the fun of being an avid teenage reader, surely?

CITR = bor-ing.

Not sure it would be my choice for a year 9 set book - seems to me that there are tons of more age appropriate and interesting books to read!

In my school I'd be very surprised about a parent questioning the suitability of a set text for yr9 though. I was reading highly unsuitable books by this age, and I have not censored the reading material of ds1 (11) for years. It's part of the reading being escapism thing, isn't it?

The only thing I regret ever reading was a particular Stephen King (horror) book. But I think that's more a personality thing than an age thing, as I'm sure I'd still find it very disturbing now.

On the same theme what age is Stone Cold by Robert Swindell aimed at?

Stone Cold is aimed at around 11-13 I should think. I use it with year 8 or 9.

Thanks Janeite, DS is year 8

Stone Cold is a great text. It's hard-hitting stuff though in parts. I'd have no problems with it being used from yr7, but I could still see 15-16 yr-olds enjoying reading it.

It's so hard setting ages, isn't it? That's why I object to age guidance on the back of books!

It certainly has got DS thinking, he came home very concerned about how soldiers are treated once they leave the army, don't know if that is because of what is in the book or where the class discussion led to.

The discussion will have led to that. Basically one of the narrators had to leave the army because of "health issues" and we are encouraged to think that it was mental health issues: he goes on to become a serial killer. It's a pretty good book but Swindell's "Abomination" is much better imho: a girl is isolated and bullied at school; her parents are in an extreme religious sect called "The Righteous" and there is something, known as "Abomination" in the cellar. A VERY thought-provoking and hard-hitting book and rather less cliched than "Stone Cold" which is let down by quite a poor ending and a couple of stock characters.