Arlen's Blog Down Memory Lane

Hi, my name is Arlen Saner and I am looking forward to our adolescent literature class and learning methods to encourage young people to read and develop a love for reading.  I have always read for pleasure and cannot imagine life without reading.  I grew up in a home without television and remember looking forward to going to the public library and choosing a new book!  At that age, I was fascinated with the Hardy Boys and usually picked a new adventure to read.  I wish I knew how many of those books I read, but I do remember that in the sixth grade we created worms by writing book titles on cutout circles of paper and my worm extended the whole way around the classroom.  Other books that I remember reading were Brighty of the Grand Canyon by Marguerite Henry and Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell.  I also remember reading adventure books such as Ramona and Beezus by Beverly Cleary and other fictional titles such as Cricket, Amanda Fair, and Charco by Dorothy Hamilton.  I was (and still am) drawn to adventure stories that are based on a realistic character and relates their life adventures.  Similarly, I primarily read biographies or inspirational/faith-based type books.  In junior highschool, the book I remember reading is To Kill A Mockingbird.  The only other book that I clearly remember reading and studying is The Outsiders  by S. E. Hinton.  Even though the street life depicted in the book was entirely foreign to me I could relate to the younger brother status of Ponyboy and was fascinated with him and the events of his life.  Outside of school, I always read for pleasure and read the entire Anne of Green Gables series by L. M. Montgomery and many books by Christmas Carol Kauffman who wrote fictional faith-based inspirational novels.  These books have become favorites and I have re-read many of them more than twice.  The only fantasy books I remember reading is Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings trilogy.  At this point in my life, I am interested in learning more about other genres such as the graphic novel and science fiction.  I have had little exposure to either genre, in my own experience and are excited to learn more about them and methods of incorporating them into the classroom.  In our culture today, it seems to me that literacy does and can extend beyond "the classics" and that students can be reached through other genres if they are encouraged to read material they are familiar with and would choose to read.  It seems that the most difficult aspect of teaching literature will be reaching the students who have never been around adults who read and take an oppositional attitude toward reading of any kind.  Hopefully, those student's can be reached through example and effective teaching practices.