choirfarm Posted June 19, 2010 Share Posted June 19, 2010 I was absolutely appalled that Duke would have this on their suggested summer reading list in a recent letter they sent out: Duke Tip e-Insights College Prep Stories Aspirations Booklist Parents Recommended—Books for All Appetites The following books should be readily available at your public library or at local or online bookstores. In the topic, theme or genre of…If you enjoyed…Then you might want to try…Or perhaps stretch yourself to try…Arthurian LegendThe Sword and the Circle, by Rosemary SutcliffThe Once and Future King, by T. H. WhiteThe Crystal Cave, by Mary StewartAmerican Civil War Historical FictionAcross Five Aprils, by Irene HuntThe Red Badge of Courage, by Michael ShaaraThe Killer Angels, by Michael ShaaraScience Fiction / FantasyA Wrinkle in Time, by Madeline L’EngleThe Dark is Rising, by Susan CooperWelcome to the Ark, by Stephanie TolanNative American ExperienceThe Sign of the Beaver, by Elisabeth George SpeareSitting Bull and His World, by Albert MartinBury My Heart at Wounded Knee, by Dee Brown and Hampton SidesMagic and FantasyHarry Potter and the… (any!), by J. K. RowlingThe Lord of the Rings Trilogy, by J. R. R. TolkienThe Golden Compass, by Phillip Pullman (first in the His Dark Materials Trilogy)Mystery in FictionThe Case of the Baker Street Irregular, by Robert NewmanThe Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan DoyleThe Moonstone, by Wilkie CollinsWitches in FictionA Break with Charity: A Story about the Salem Witch Trials, by Ann RinaldiThe Sacrifice, by Kathleen BennerThe Crucible, by Arthur MillerAfrican American ExperienceThe Watsons Go to Birmingham – 1963, by Christopher Paul CurtisRoll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, by Mildred D. TaylorNarrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, and American Slave, by Frederick DouglassSurvival FictionIsland of the Blue Dolphins, by Scott O’DellDragonsong, by Anne McCaffreyThe Clan of the Cave Bear, by Jean Auel I mean, I remember that book being VERY sexually explicit!!!!! Christine Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NavyWifeandMommy Posted June 19, 2010 Share Posted June 19, 2010 I have the book (whole set) and I wouldn't recommend it. I am 30+ and I skimmed over the racy parts. Do you really need that in a book? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jyniffrec Posted June 19, 2010 Share Posted June 19, 2010 Yowsers! I loved that series but I would not recommend them for my children until they are thoroughly grown up! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nan in Mass Posted June 19, 2010 Share Posted June 19, 2010 I read part-way through the first one when I was too young and haven't tried them since. So no, I wouldn't give them to my 8th grader to read. But have you seen the rest of the stretch yourself list? It is pretty adult. I am guessing that that book isn't any worse than the rest of that section of the list. I wouldn't give them Wounded Knee, either. Talk about traumatic! The stretch yourself list is definately stretching, for my family, not in reading level but in content, if we are looking at 8th grade. -Nan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Granny_Weatherwax Posted June 19, 2010 Share Posted June 19, 2010 I won't be letting my 8th grader read that particular book. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FloridaLisa Posted June 19, 2010 Share Posted June 19, 2010 Not only that, it's just not that great of a book! It's airport lit -- a quick and easy vacation read. One of my favorite books for around the 7th/8th grade year is The Yearling, by Marjorie Kinan Rawlings. Lisa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MamaT Posted June 19, 2010 Share Posted June 19, 2010 No way would I hand that book to my 8th grade daughter. I have it and have read it, but it is definitely not for a child. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C_l_e_0..Q_c Posted June 19, 2010 Share Posted June 19, 2010 An 8th grader is what? 14yo? Or younger than that? While I agree *now* it's not that great of a book, I read it about 15, if memory serves me right. I survived and actually thought it was a great book. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EKS Posted June 19, 2010 Share Posted June 19, 2010 I love Jean Auel's books and read the first two when I was in high school. I would *never* in a million years suggest that another person's child read them without adding a major warning. I can't believe the Duke program would do that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ravin Posted June 19, 2010 Share Posted June 19, 2010 I read Clan of the Cave Bear when I was 13, and quite liked it. Of course, I was absorbed in all the details the author based on her research--in the material culture aspect of the book. Given how outdated it is now, I don't think it would be as good a read--part of what I like science fiction for is the science. As for how well they'd deal with the explicit rape scenes--which is what's in Clan of the Cave Bear (other sorts of explicit scenes come in the second and later books), it's definitely going to vary from one person to another. I found them mildly disturbing, but not enough to deter me from reading the book. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EKS Posted June 19, 2010 Share Posted June 19, 2010 Given how outdated it is now Could you elaborate on why it is outdated? I reread it a few years ago when my son and I were studying prehistory and I was impressed with how many details Auel included that were based on real archeological finds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcconnellboys Posted June 20, 2010 Share Posted June 20, 2010 No, I read it as an adult. I would not recommend it for any age child.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PollyOR Posted June 20, 2010 Share Posted June 20, 2010 It's airport lit -- a quick and easy vacation read. Lisa Airport lit...I like it. ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xuzi Posted June 20, 2010 Share Posted June 20, 2010 Could you elaborate on why it is outdated? I reread it a few years ago when my son and I were studying prehistory and I was impressed with how many details Auel included that were based on real archeological finds. Well, one HUGE bit of "science" in the books that is now outdated is the "neanderthals can't talk" bit. I guess back when she wrote the book neanderthal remains that had been studied were missing key bones that would make verbal speech possible, but after the first book was published other remains were found that *did* have the bone, so the neanderthals very likely *could* have had a verbal language. That spoils the whole "they're just animals because they can't even talk!" part of the series. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C_l_e_0..Q_c Posted June 20, 2010 Share Posted June 20, 2010 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neanderthal#Language for a quick read about Neanderthal language. It's still unknown if they did speak or not. The potential for speech is now recognised, but the fact that they left no art implies that they had not reached a cognitive level that's necessary for speech. It would have been rudimentary speech, if any. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nlengyel Posted June 20, 2010 Share Posted June 20, 2010 not an appropriate book for any teen! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
choirfarm Posted June 23, 2010 Author Share Posted June 23, 2010 I did send them an e-mail and told them that I had been considering having my son a course, but if this was the kind of literature that they suggested for a 13yo, then I was strongly reconsidering. Christine Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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