Multicultural books

        I really enjoyed reading The Geography Club and The Order of the Poison Oak. They were easy reads and were very intriguing. I found it to be interesting to learn a little more about the gay community and how a teenager would survive. While this is not a content area novel book, I feel that the topics brought up throughout these two books need to be addressed to students in this informal way. This is a very touchy subject, and I cannot imagine trying to bring it up in my classroom. I know I would get slurs and laughter, and it would just be one big mess. I know the term “gay” is used in everyday language for some people. “That’s gay” or “Don’t be gay” are very common phrases I even hear on this college campus. Instead of teaching students about this subject manner through lecture, it would be great to use these two books to enlighten my students.  

            I know many Middle School students will be able to relate to these books because they are not all about being gay. There are stories about surviving the bullies of the school and having boyfriends and girlfriends. I felt that these two books had the right amount of subject depth without making readers uncomfortable. I never once thought that something was inappropriate in these two novels. It was interesting to be informed of how children struggle with who they are as individuals. It is also important for me to know this because I need to know what troubles they may be going through as their teacher. These books can serve as a resource for struggling teens. They can also open up the eyes of the reader as to what some people may be experiencing.

            I thought it was interesting how the author chose to pair up a nerd and a jock. This just goes to show that ANYONE could be gay; it’s not just the “misfits”. Society needs to change their view on what is normal because clearly normal people do not even fit into society’s definition of normal. It also makes me wonder who at my high school was gay. Not that it bothers me, but I would find it interesting. I think that most male athletes could not even think about being gay because it was so out of the question. People associated say the football players with manliness. To find out that the quarterback was gay would be mind blowing. Someone somewhere would probably argue to get the kid off the team for some made up reason. So maybe many athletes back in high school wanted to be gay and come out, but couldn’t for the fear of being punished. That is an interesting thought.

            I liked the first article, Self Censorship, which is about the three picture books. These kind of books should be in libraries of schools. Gay and lesbian families are becoming more and more prominent in society so students should be informed of what is going on in the world. The article said it perfectly how the school libraries are stocked with books that make the adults comfortable. These three books aren’t THAT bad. It is nothing like what might be traveling along through the halls of a school. I would rather my child read a book then overhear conversations he or she doesn’t understand leading to wrong assumptions based on word of mouth. Also if these books are put on the shelves, it may make it easier for the children who relate most to the books to understand their lives more. For instance, the article mentions how in the first book the young girl notices she has two mommies and not everyone else does. But then she goes further to observe some have two daddies or many combinations of the two. These books can help students understand the world around them. The books would help, not hinder, education.

            In the second article, Moving Beyond LGBT, I thought the TIGers group was really cool. People need to be informed of these newer issues in society. Just because something is not the norm does not mean that it is bad. People often fear what they do not understand or know enough information about. I know after reading this article I understand Heteronormativity and Intersectionality way more than before (I really didn’t even know about them). I will agree that Heteronormativity is exactly what school systems are trying to hold on to. They do not want homosexuality to become “normal”. I feel that heterosexuality and homosexuality both need to been seen as “normal”. As I said before, different isn’t always bad.

            In the third article, From Queer to Gay and Back Again, I learned that there are so many more books out there with coming out stories. Honestly, I think that my two books for this week were the first books I have ever read in school about people being gay. Now I may be missing one, but I really racked my brain, and I do not believe I was ever required to read one. This is sort of mind blowing. Maybe my ignorance is to be blamed on my school system. This is not to say that I had no idea about the topics of debate. I definitely did, but I do not remember ever learning from classmates or in school what “gay” is. I know back in grade school people would think it was cool to throw around the term and if they ever got caught saying it they would blame it on its other definition of “happy”. Now while I do agree that more of these books need to be in the schools, I definitely think that it should be age appropriate. You can’t just throw mature topics to a class of immature students; I can’t even imagine that even sitting well. As we get older, I believe the trend is to be gradually more accepting of people that are different from us. If these issues are addressed early on, students may learn to be more accepting of differences.

Hartinger, B. (2003). Geography Club. New York: HarperTempest.

Hartinger, B. (2005). The Order of the Poison Oak. New York: HarperTempest.

Blackburn, M.,& Smith, J. (2010). Moving beyond the inclusion of lgbt-themed literatur inenglish language arts classrooms: Interrogating heteronormalitivity andexploring intersectionality. Journalof Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 53(8),625-634.

Jenkins, C. (1998).From queer to gay and back again: Young adult novels with gay/lesbian/queercontent. Library Quarterly , 68(3), 298-334.

Stewig, J.(1994). Self-censorship of picture books about gay and lesbian families. Concepts and Themes, 7(3), 184-193.