One of the worst things about my elementary education was the lack of literature therein. In fact, I don't remember being required to read one book. Actually, that is not true. I do remember in third grade being required to deliver an oral book report. That's right, an oral book report in third grade. The teacher had us go into the tiny library room and pick out a book, any book. The day came to give my report. I had picked out a 400 page book on the planet Jupiter. Needless to say I hadn't read any of it and had nothing to say when it came time to deliver the report. I didn't know what I was doing, but I don't think the teacher knew what she was doing either, as guidance was completely lacking.
Fast forward to eighth grade, when we read Romeo and Juliet. It is not that I don't think that kids that age can handle Shakespeare, but it is tough when it is suddenly thrust upon them without any "warm-up" books. My memory is a little foggy. We might have read Great Expectations that year too, but I don't think so. I think I read that one on my own, and then an abridged version (yuck!) was assigned my freshman year of high school.
Other than that I don't remember any other assigned books. I know we had a "reading" class, but that involved very forgettable short stories without much meaning or depth. Anything good would be too adult or controversial for most kids that age. Fortunately I read a lot of books on my own, though none was at a very high level before my teen years. My mom read a lot of books herself, and she was always good about taking me to our town's library. I would take a sharp right and head to the juvenile section. I devoured dozens of Hardy Boys books. They were easy reads (all about 180 pages). While the narratives were sometimes compelling, the characters themselves were as bland as rice cakes. Staying in the mystery realm I read another series of books under the label "Alfred Hitchcock and the Three Investigators." Since the Wikipedia entry is so good I'll limit my description. The Hitchcock connection is coincidental since I would not become really interested in classic movies until I saw some Hitchcock movies for the first time during a WGN marathon back when I was in high school.
It is shocking to me that they have made a Three Investigators movie. Why now? From what I've read the books aren't even currently in print in this country. The movie entry does not give me much hope that the movie will be good or true to the original books. When they don't even cast Jupiter Jones correctly-he was a pudgy kid, an important trait that was played up in the book-then there is not much hope that they will get anything else right either. Also, the kid actors are too young. The books don't say how old the characters are, except that they are not old enough to drive. I always imagined them as 14 or 15, somewhere around the start of high school.
I liked these books because the characters seemed real (to a grade schooler), with colorful stories and strong continuity between the first several books. The first edition hardcovers, the first 11 of which I wish I had, are somewhat pricey on Ebay, with the prices ranging from $50 to $150.
