The Truth about Book Lists

I have had a lot of questions about the use of book lists in deciding what students should be reading. Book lists have their good qualities and bad qualities. Okay, I'll give you the good qualities first. Book lists give us a general idea of what students might like to read. I say might, and that leads us to the bad part. Most book lists are compiled by adults. That is to say, most book lists are simply a list of children and adolescent literature that adults like. And you know as well as I do that most of the time what adults like and children like are two different things altogether.

The best way to pick books for your child is to allow them to choose their reading material themselves. They know better than anyone what they like. Also, you might ask a librarian what is popular, or if you are in a book store, ask the manager what most students your child's age are reading. But perhaps the best means to determine if your child might like or dislike a book is simply ask another child. But if you are really looking for book lists, try the following link. It is a list of book lists put together by the American Library Association (ALA). It will more than get you started.

www.ala.org/yalsa/booklists