Summer Reading and Summer Talking

There's something magical when one of your children discovers a book you really remember loving as a child. One of my favorites was Anne of Green Gables. When the Girl Child needed a second book for summer reading I happened to remember loving it at her age and recommending it. It was only after we had gotten her a copy that I remembered some of the language of the book was rather old fashioned and worried that it might be a bit over her head. The Girl Child is dyslexic and while she did eventually become an eager reader, she still isn't the fastest reader. We made a deal that that I'd read a couple of chapters to her out loud so we could discuss any questions she had about the book (vocabulary, what the characters must feel like at this point in the book, what did she think would happen later, etc.) but she'd be responsible for reading the bulk of it on her own.

I think the funniest thing I discovered in reading it out loud was while I still adored Anne and strongly identified my childhood self with her, I now had a lot more empathy for Marilla, raising an imaginative chatterbox of my own. She was delighted to find out that I was a weird kid who loved making up strange stories too. (My son, who of course sat in the room for part of the reading was surprised that anyone could talk as much as his sister, in fiction or real life).  

The Boy Child's summer reading was The Night Circus, which I also read and enjoyed. He picked it up as "the only thing on the list that didn't sound depressing". I know his taste in books more or less and agreed it was the one he'd be most likely to enjoy; he's happiest reading something of a more fantastical nature. 

We didn't end up talking too much about the book, but spent a decent amount of the summer talking about a variety of things - current events, video games (well, he'll ALWAYS talk about video games when given an opportunity), the big move to high school. I'm not taking these talks for granted - it's a rare thing for a teenager to deign to talk to their parents about more than what's for dinner. The current event talks surprised me the most; he had some pretty well thought out opinions. A recent conversation on Facebook got us talking about the bigger world, and being willing to look, with both a curious and critical eye, at ideas he may not have been exposed to at home. I told him this is the age to start to figure out who he is, independent of what his dad and I are. I made sure to let him know I'd love and support his choices, even if he decided to join the Young Republicans Club (he rolled his eyes at me on that, repeating his usual complaint about not being part of a normal family). For right now his biggest act of self expression is his geek/nerd based hat collection which neither of his grandmothers are fond of. I can live with that. 

Song Choice: Last Rose of Summer

10 comments:

  1. Sounds like a good summer with the child-people, and sharing what one truly loves is part of what keeps us loving and whole. I hope you are spared the Young Republicans, but as you say, it's very important to understand(and somehow deal with) the fact that our kids become themselves, not us. Thanks for sharing your experiences, Rommy.

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    1. LOL, there's a far better chance of him joining the school's Quidditch team (no really, they actually have one). And if he did any kind of community work it'd likely be politically neutral or have a left tilt based on some of the opinions he's expressed.

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  2. I adored the book "Anne of Green Gables" when I was about 10 years old. A friend and I who were "kindred spirits" used to act out the various scenes. The book truly was a central part of my growing up. This summer, I was in Prince Edward Island for the very first time and we went to the Green Gables house! Also went to the long-running musical in Charlottetown based on the book and saw Lucy Maud Montgomery's gravesite. I'll be doing a post on all this in the fall sometime.

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    1. I'll keep an eye out for it! My daughter looks like she's on her way to an obsession of all things Anne. It's too soon to tell if Victoriana will replace her favored Outer Space things (she's a Dr. Who and Sailor Moon fan), but I wouldn't be surprised if an interest in it. We're supposed to have a "girl's night" with a friend who owns DVDs of the mini series soon.

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  3. I read Anne the summer I went on holidays with my grandparents. I loved it. And I too ended up at PEI that summer.

    I think it's fantastic that you have kids that want to read and are willing to discuss books (or any topic for that matter) with you!

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    1. The closest we've gotten to Canada is Maine, but I'd love to visit it someday, especially Prince Edward Island.

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  4. I love both those books! I get happy anytime someone discovers them!

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    1. I was so thrilled she started liking them too.

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  5. Reading of Rosie (excuse me, Miss Rose, since she's so grow up *cough*) liking Anne of Green Gables makes me want to reread the book--I love it, too. And The Night Circus is a favorite, too, which I just reread.

    The Little Princess just read my copy of Anansi Does the Impossible. It's a tiny book, but I was happy that she, too, fell in love with one of my first love. It's nice to see them grow to be themselves, and in a way still be so much like us.

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    1. I LOVE Anansi. I can't wait until they discover Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman. :)

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