LNC Posted October 14, 2012 Share Posted October 14, 2012 (edited) My daughter hates different books I pick out and is pokey about finishing them. When I read them after to see what the problem is, I usually understand where she is coming from. I didn't have time to pre read every choice before I made my list! Anna of Byzantium- this one is on a lot of homeschoollists but is pretty dark.... King Arthur, Roger Lancelyn Green - violent Midwife's Apprentice - Karen Cushman, she thought it was almost dystopian and "wierd" I'm dreading assigning many of the Bethlehem titles we own or Shadow Spinner (about a harem and didn't pre read). She is also doing LLoLotR and loves that. I'm trying The King's Shadow next and we have the Viking Quest series. I think these will be uplifting. Does anyone else run into this problem? What to do! Does anyone else run into these problems? Edited October 14, 2012 by LNC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrysalis Academy Posted October 14, 2012 Share Posted October 14, 2012 I've definitely run into problems assigning books (after seeing them on hs lists) that I haven't pre-read or previewed the content. I got Calico Captive, and in thumbing through it realized that the baby the heroine cares for falls into a fire and burns to death - um, no thanks. I also had My Brother Sam is Dead and The Bloody Country on this year's list, but after realizing that in one of them (can't remember which) the boy sees his mother killed and scalped by Indians - again, no thanks. I'm realizing I need to do a better job of previewing books for content my dd will find disturbing. Not censoring, but protecting her from stuff that will upset her, she is really still a little girl. For the Medieval period, what about some Rosemary Sutcliff books? She's got a ton of books set in that period, and we've really liked everything we've seen of hers so far. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LNC Posted October 14, 2012 Author Share Posted October 14, 2012 I've definitely run into problems assigning books (after seeing them on hs lists) that I haven't pre-read or previewed the content. I got Calico Captive, and in thumbing through it realized that the baby the heroine cares for falls into a fire and burns to death - um, no thanks. I also had My Brother Sam is Dead and The Bloody Country on this year's list, but after realizing that in one of them (can't remember which) the boy sees his mother killed and scalped by Indians - again, no thanks. I'm realizing I need to do a better job of previewing books for content my dd will find disturbing. Not censoring, but protecting her from stuff that will upset her, she is really still a little girl. For the Medieval period, what about some Rosemary Sutcliff books? She's got a ton of books set in that period, and we've really liked everything we've seen of hers so far. Thanks for your input. My daughter is in 8th grade though. I think part of it is I'm trying to get her to read all the middle grade readers that she missed during the grammar MA. She's beyond it in some ways reading level wise, but doesn't like gritty MA context. She loves her spines - Famous Men, Island Story and Middle Ages by Mills. It is her readers she can't stand! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sebastian (a lady) Posted October 14, 2012 Share Posted October 14, 2012 Thanks for your input. My daughter is in 8th grade though. I think part of it is I'm trying to get her to read all the middle grade readers that she missed during the grammar MA. She's beyond it in some ways reading level wise, but doesn't like gritty MA context. She loves her spines - Famous Men, Island Story and Middle Ages by Mills. It is her readers she can't stand! When my kids did this period, I assigned some of the Rosemary Sutcliff books (battle or disaster is often part of the plot, so you might need to pre-read - I definitely do not recommend Song for a Dark Queen, which has some very brutal sections) Some of the King Arthur legends. Sutcliff does have a good trilogy for this that starts with The Sword and the Circle. The Sword and the Stone is the first section of White's The Once and Future King. I also like the Margaret Hodges retellings of Saint George and the Dragon and some Arthurian stories. They are lush picture books with lovely writing. Norse mythology (d'Aulaire's book or Padraic Column's retellings) or stories from the Niebelungenlied. Folk and fairy tales were often construction in this period, even though they were collected much later. The Ramsey Scallop is a pretty good book. Howard Pyle has some nice books set in this period. He did a Robin Hood and a couple King Arthur books. He also wrote Otto of the Silver Hand and Men of Iron. I read The Little Duke by Yonge, which I really liked. The Trumpeter of Krakow is a great story. The Shakespeare Stealer was pretty good. There are retellings of Canterbury Tales, or you could slowly read through a couple of the stories (I would start by working through the Prologue, The Knight's Tale is a standard, The Nun's Priest's Tale has Chanticleer the Rooster) I think that in general older books are more prone to having bad things happen to characters (Otto of the Silver Hand in fact has lost his hand) while modern books are more prone to having characters who behave outrageously (imo). I don't want to dwell on horrible things, but I also want to teach my kids that death, disaster, poverty and sickness are not the last word. To me, there is a joyfulness in overcoming these adversities. IMO, that is the factor missing in many of the modern stories set in historical eras. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sebastian (a lady) Posted October 14, 2012 Share Posted October 14, 2012 I added a couple tags that might help you find other threads on the topic. One of my favorite threads for the medieval period is this one. I especially liked the idea of going slowly through the prologue of Canterbury Tales reading in the Middle English and then translating it (or reading a translation) into modern English. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MicheleinMN Posted October 19, 2012 Share Posted October 19, 2012 Anna of Byzantium - heartbreakingly sad (not having dd read this one) I remember liking Shadow Spinner (she read this awhile back) The next 3 are on her shelf now: Taste of Chaucer (This one is good as a read together book) A Proud Taste of Scarlet and Miniver The Second Mrs. Giaconda HTH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farrar Posted October 19, 2012 Share Posted October 19, 2012 I adore The Midwife's Apprentice, but I think Catherine, Called Birdy is far more accessible and fun. I taught it to a middle school class several years ago and we enjoyed it. I think Avi's Crispin series is another medieval book that's good, accurate, and yet more accessible than some of the other options out there. I am a bit baffled why this book isn't read more among people doing their medieval history year. It was a Newbery winner and is very good. One more potential pick - I think The Road to Damietta by Scott O'Dell, which is about St. Francis of Assisi and the Crusades is a wonderful book, a bit more of a challenge and has some great details that aren't in any other historical fiction books for this age group that I've seen. It is a book about spurned romance though, so it might not be the uplifting choice you want. Seconding the Rosemary Sutcliff and The Ramsay Scallop too... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
love2read Posted October 19, 2012 Share Posted October 19, 2012 I've gone down this path with several children and learned the hard way that historical fiction does not have to be paired with history studies to make history meaningful. Your daughter enjoys LOTR and probably other fantasy, so just give her that for this year. Honestly, many of the books from that time period are boring and we've really been pushed into believing that history textbooks and other spines have to be paired with related fiction. Let yourself break free from that mind set. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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