SUBSCRIBE
SUBSCRIBE
SLJ Blog Network +
  • 100 Scope Notes
  • A Fuse #8 Production
  • Good Comics for Kids
  • Heavy Medal: A Mock Newbery Blog
  • Teen Librarian Toolbox
  • The Classroom Bookshelf
  • The Yarn
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • About TLT
  • Reviews
    • Book Reviews
    • A to Z Book Lists
    • Book Review Policy
  • Teen Issues
  • Middle Grade Mondays
  • Programs
    • TPiB
    • Tech Talk
  • Professional
    • Teen Services 101
    • Things We Didn’t Learn in Library School
  • MakerSpace
  • Projects
    • #SVYALit
    • #FSYALit
    • #MHYALit
    • #Poverty in YA Lit

November 22, 2015 by Karen Jensen, MLS

Sunday Reflections: Behold the Power of Books

November 22, 2015 by Karen Jensen, MLS   1 comments

selection2“No, No, No,” I heard The Teen scream from the living room, so I went running to see what was happening. She was sitting in the chair that we all call “the reading chair” yelling at her book. I have done this. This I understand.

Suddenly, she started crying. Not the silent tears streaming down your face crying but the wild, air gulping sobs of someone who has just watched their puppy get kicked. This one brought The Mr. running from the other room to see what was happening. It was distressing to see her so upset.

SCROLL TO KEEP READING THIS POST

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

The book? Book 2 in the Selection series by Kiera Cass, The Elite. Her favorite character, she explained, was being brutally beaten and it was awful to read. “It’s just a book,” her father said in an effort to comfort her. “But this really happens to people,” she reminded him, “people get beaten and abused.”

She continued reading and crying and it was clearly making her dad uncomfortable. “Why don’t you stop reading for a while,” he said, “so you’ll stop crying, we have to go to karate in a few minutes and you don’t want to look like you have been crying.”

“I don’t care about that!,” she yelled. And she kept reading. And she kept crying.

It lasted for a good solid twenty minutes, this crying and reading, reading and crying.

As she got into the car with me to go to karate she proclaimed, “I’m so glad I’m going to karate, I need to punch something. I feel so emotional.” She was really focused in karate that night, not gonna lie.selection1

The next day I drove by her bus stop taking her little sister to school. As the other teens stood around talking she was sitting on the corner reading the book. I’m not gonna lie, I was a little bit proud.

SCROLL TO KEEP READING THIS POST

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

That evening she told me about how some of the characters were calling another character a whore, so we talked about slut shaming. It turns out that even though I talk a lot about slut shaming in my work with teens, I had never talked to my daughter about it. So we did, we had a talk where I reminded her that I hoped she would make the decision to wait much later in life to have sex, partly because of our religious beliefs but also because I want her to choose education and find herself on solid ground before she potentially finds herself in sexual relationships. But I also told her that even though we made those choices for ourselves, that we respected other people’s rights to make other choices for themselves and that we shouldn’t shame or judge them for them. Not for the way they choose to dress. Not for how and when they may choose to be sexually active. Shame and judgment, I reminded her, can be harmful. And I reminded her that in our Bible, our God clearly tells us that we are not to judge others because we ourselves are in no way perfect.

It was a good conversation, one of many good conversations I have had with my daughter. Another example of a conversation that I hadn’t really thought to have with her but was prompted to do so by a book. Books are good spring boards for conversations. They help us ask questions we never thought to ask.

selection3The next day she walked through the door after school and went to her room to finish reading. She was so close to being done and she was ravenous to know what happened. And since I was doing some Cybils reading of my own, I laid down in bed next to her reading my own book. There we were, the two of us reading our own books when she suddenly sat up and leaned on her elbow, turning to me. “This man,” she said, “is willing to destroy his own country because he is so hungry for power. This caste system is horrible. Those people in the lower caste have horrible lives.” Again, this led to a great discussion about power and politics. This time, I mostly listened as she was processing what she was reading and sharing her thoughts with me. I was struck by how smart she was, how compassionate, how thoughtful.

In a little over a week and a half she read the first three books in the series. She raged. She cried. She thought. She talked. We bonded. We grew. And I feel like she is just a little bit better to live in this world.

And that is the power of books.

Filed under: Sunday Reflections

SHARE:

Read or Leave Comments

About Karen Jensen, MLS

Karen Jensen has been a Teen Services Librarian for almost 30 years. She created TLT in 2011 and is the co-editor of The Whole Library Handbook: Teen Services with Heather Booth (ALA Editions, 2014).

ADVERTISEMENT

Related Posts

March 2023

Sunday Reflections: My Child Deserves Representation in the Library

by Karen Jensen, MLS

July 2022

Sunday Reflections: What Do We Mean Both Sides of the Holocaust?

by Karen Jensen, MLS

June 2022

Sunday Reflections: On being a Librarian and a Christian parent to an LGBTQ kid with a uterus in 2022

by Karen Jensen, MLS

August 2021

Sunday Reflections: Endings and Beginnings

by Karen Jensen, MLS

July 2021

Sunday Reflections: In Which TLT Turns 10 and I Reflect

by Karen Jensen, MLS

ADVERTISEMENT

SLJ Blog Network

100 Scope Notes

U.S. Gov: ‘All Books Must Have Round Corners’

by Travis Jonker

A Fuse #8 Production

Review of the Day – Bear and Bird: The Picnic and Other Stories by Jarvis

by Betsy Bird

Good Comics for Kids

Review: Swim Team

by Esther Keller

Heavy Medal

March suggestions: early Mock Newbery possibilities

by Emily Mroczek-Bayci

Teen Librarian Toolbox

Write What You Know. Read What You Don’t, a guest post by Lauren Thoman

by Amanda MacGregor

The Classroom Bookshelf

The Classroom Bookshelf is Moving

by Erika Thulin Dawes

The Yarn

Jarrett and Jerome Pumphrey Try Something New

by Travis Jonker

ADVERTISEMENT

Related Articles on SLJ

6 Middle Grade & YA Novels on Repeat for Groundhog Day

Books in Verse: These middle grade works speak to the heart through lyrical language | Great Books

20 Sci-Fi & Fantasy Middle Grade Books for Excellent Summer Escapes | Summer Reading 2021

Three Action-Packed Adventures for Fans of 'Spider-Man: No Way Home'

16 Sci-Fi & Fantasy Middle Grade Books for Exciting Summer Escapes | Summer Reading 2020

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Wendy says

    November 25, 2015 at 1:35 am

    This is wonderful. How wise your daughter is, to know that books reflect the real world. You have raised a very thoughtful reader!

ADVERTISEMENT

Archives

Follow This Blog

Enter your email address below to receive notifications of new blog posts by email.

This coverage is free for all visitors. Your support makes this possible.

This coverage is free for all visitors. Your support makes this possible.

Primary Sidebar

  • News & Features
  • Reviews+
  • Technology
  • School Libraries
  • Public Libraries
  • Age Level
  • Ideas
  • Blogs
  • Classroom
  • Diversity
  • People
  • Job Zone

Reviews+

  • Book Lists
  • Best Books
  • Media
  • Reference
  • Series Made Simple
  • Tech
  • Review for SLJ
  • Review Submissions

SLJ Blog Network

  • 100 Scope Notes
  • A Fuse #8 Production
  • Good Comics for Kids
  • Heavy Medal
  • Neverending Search
  • Teen Librarian Toolbox
  • The Classroom Bookshelf
  • The Yarn

Resources

  • 2022 Youth Media Awards
  • The Newbery at 100: SLJ Celebrates the 100th Anniversary of the Award
  • Special Report | School Libraries 2021
  • Summer Reading 2021
  • Series Made Simple Spring 2021
  • SLJ Diverse Books Survey
  • Summer Programming Survey
  • Research
  • White Papers / Case Studies
  • School Librarian of the Year
  • Mathical Book Prize Collection Development Awards
  • Librarian/Teacher Collaboration Award

Events & PD

  • In-Person Events
  • Online Courses
  • Virtual Events
  • Webcasts
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Advertise
  • Subscribe
  • Media Inquiries
  • Newsletter Sign Up
  • Content Submissions
  • Data Privacy
  • Terms of Use
  • Terms of Sale
  • FAQs
  • Diversity Policy
  • Careers at MSI


COPYRIGHT © 2023


COPYRIGHT © 2023