Every year I try a new vegetable in my garden. Last year it was corn, which immediately attracted a 157,000 new garden pests. The chipmunks were thrilled by the addition of the corn, but no one else really was (see: 157,000 new garden pests) so this year we replaced the corn with broccoli. My kids have never been broccoli’s No. 1 fans, but they’ll eat it so I figured it was worth a shot.
Score.
Turns out broccoli is incredibly easy to grow as it’s a crop that can be started early, before mosquitoes and heat and humidity make you wonder why you’d ever hoed a garden in the first place. It doesn’t take up too much room. And the only pests that came with it were the caterpillars for cabbage butterflies, which ate some of the leaves, but left the crowns alone. On top of that, broccoli is incredibly prolific. After the first, perfect crown is harvested, all sorts of little shoots start growing off the plant. They’re not as compact or pretty, but they taste great. When the kids need a snack, they go to the garden, break off a stalk, and eat.
So what does this have to do with books? So glad you asked!
I heard a story recently about a 15-year-old who is going to have a bummer of a summer: she’s spending it in and out of the hospital, recovering from an injury. A friend wanted to send her some books, but was told not to. “She’s not really that into reading.”
I won’t go into the rant I went into the other day. But I can’t help wondering: If you grow the broccoli, will she eat it? If you find, somehow, the perfect crown, will more shoots follow?
The fine people over at PBS Booklights have been writing recurring posts about growing young readers. The optimist in me says that readers can still grow at any age; that the expression “late bloomer” didn’t come from nowhere. So I’m on a quest to find the perfect book. If you’ve got a suggestion, leave it in comments.
I am a bit bothered by the response “she’s not really that into reading”: I can’t imagine my parents turning down the offer of books for me when I was a teenager – even if they weren’t sure what I wanted to read, they would at least have shared some of my intests to the person making the offer. But my parents were, and still are, avid readers.
Although I can’t make a suggestion for the perfect book (impossible to make a suggestion for someone you don’t know), if someone had offered me anything by the original vampire chronicler Anne Rice – perhaps a bit racy for 15 – I would have been totally smitten (I think I was 18 when I went on my Anne Rice binge). I also remember reading “The Color Purple” in high school and absolutely loving the story. I don’t think I would offer those books to someone I don’t know, and books that I think every teenager should read (such as “To Kill a Mockingbird” and “The Heart is a Lonely Hunter”) would probably be a bit dull to the modern teenager.
What about an audio book? Unabridged, of course…all of the narrative in an enticing format…
I so often hear about adults who were helped through a long childhood illness or injury by the presence of books.
There are so many different books on so many different subjects–it’s hard to believe there isn’t something somewhere that would appeal.
I can’t recommend anything without knowing more about her. If dense blocks of text are the problem, why not verse novels or graphic novels? Does she like sports, romance, mystery? Would she like something set in the future or the distant past or the present day? Does she want a gritty read or a comfort read? Does she want fantasy or realism?
Best thing to do, probably: ask a librarian or teacher, “What book is constantly being checked out/taken off your reading shelf? What book have your reluctant readers loved?”
And btw I love the phrase, “If you grow the broccoli, will she eat it?”
Good suggestions. And I suppose if I don’t find the PERFECT book I can just get one by somebody I know. (Then at least I’d still be helping someone, even if she doesn’t read it …)
Hmmm. Hard to recommend without knowing more about her, but maybe The Hunger Games? or something by John Green or E. Lockhart?
A friend’s teenage daughter went on and on and ON recently about the “Generation Dead” series by Daniel Waters. So much, in fact, that I bought the first book despite my loathing of “Twilight” and the vampire/undead genre in general. Haven’t started it yet, but I thought it might be a good one for this girl. 🙂
Sad to hear she’s “not into reading.” I do think that with the right book, she can be converted! Can’t think of anything off the top of my head, though. Something humorous to cheer her up?
I’ve always been afraid of those caterpillars you find in fresh broccoli. Otherwise, I love it, and it’s so good for you :). I’m impressed with your gardening skills!