I must be getting old because I can still remember when literature was still included in the High School curriculum. Maybe it's just Ontario but it seems to me that the books that I was told to read (and which I secretly loved) in High School have all but vanished.
I work with a lot of teenagers and it bothers me that not only can they not spell but they have never been made aware of the joy of reading a really good book. When I asked one them today what she was reading in her English class she replied 'I don't read books.' When I pressed her further she produced a book called 'Slam!' that she was supposed to be doing a report on. Apparently this book is required reading now. When I asked her if she had started on 'Animal Farm' yet, she looked at me like I had two heads. She had never heard of 'Animal Farm'.
She had also never heard of '1984', 'To Kill A Mockingbird', 'Watership Down' or 'The Outsiders'.
This is what really frightens me about this generation, they have no idea what they are missing.
I remember being so enthralled by these books, 'The Outsiders' especially, and it makes me sad to think that they are being lost to so many. I also remember when English teachers took a keen interest in what their students were reading and they tried to open their minds to different avenues.
Maybe I am getting old.
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or Flowers for Algernon or The Chrysalids (which is still one of my all time favourites). I use to ask for extra reading because I would devour what they gave us!
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