A question for all you readers....

[Mosbonian]

Has anyone read or have their children read the series of books "The Black Book: Diary of A Teenage Stud"?

They are reading this in my son's school....I have heard good and bad things about it. Anyone got any input?

mmaddog
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[Hammock Parties]

Wow. The times sure are changing. We read Tom ****ing Sawyer.

[Buns]

For real WTF happened to Johnny Tremain?

[Mosbonian]

For real WTF happened to Johnny Tremain?

Not sure..I was asking myself the same thing when I heard they were reading the book.

mmaddog
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[Logical]

How old and what grade is your child in?

[JohninGpt]

Wow. The times sure are changing. We read Tom ****ing Sawyer.
I'm sure Tom and Huck are considered quite politically incorect these days. Mark Twain would probably roll over in his grave the first time one of his books was printed with "African American Jim" as one of the main characters.

[Mosbonian]

How old and what grade is your child in?

He is a 9th grader Jim....

mmaddog
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[FAX]

Wow. This looks really, really weird to me, Mr. mmaddog, I'm sorry to say.

Apparently, it's part of a series of 4 books (Girls, Girls, Girls/Stop, Don't Stop/Run, Jonah, Run/Faster, Faster, Faster). It almost sounds like borderline softcore to me. Available as an e-book for about 5 bucks - may be worth the purchase just to find out more. These are the only abstracts/descriptions I could find on the web ...

E-book Abstract:

The Black Books: Diary of a Teenage Stud is a revolutionary new fiction series: a no-holds-barred, darkly comic take on one seventeen-year-old's inner life. Jonah Black chronicles his shrouded-in-mystery return from boarding school and his reentry into a life he'd left behind. His Proustian eye for detail and self-deprecating humor combined with his sexual appetite unique to the seventeen-year-old male make these books truly compulsively entertaining.

From Publishers Weekly:

Through his journals, Jonah Black (who's listed as the official author) narrates this engaging, if offbeat, first installment, chronicling his return to Pompano Beach, Fla., after he's booted out of his Pennsylvania boarding school. He's forced to repeat his junior year, listen to his mother, a self-appointed "sexpert" and author of the bestselling Hello Penis! Hello Vagina! host a shallow radio call-in show, and watch the best friend he's crushing on fall in love with a worthless womanizer. These often painful doses of reality are overlaid with surreal sexual fantasies, the majority of which involve the girlfriend he left behind (in one, Sophie does a striptease in a classroom). Readers willing to navigate these unannounced imaginative episodes will race through this fast-paced read to collect clues about the cause of his expulsion and to see if Jonah's breaks from reality mean he's crazy or just creative. Regardless, he's instantly likable, and his vulnerabilities, acute description and tenuous hold on reality make for gripping and often humorous reading. Some readers may be frustrated by how many strings are left untied, even as they eagerly anticipate Jonah's next book. Ages 9-up.

Crazy. I'm with Mr. GoChiefs. Whatever happened to Mark Twain?

FAX

[Mosbonian]

I guess I am a little concerned that a teacher is reading this aloud to students.

mmaddog
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[Hammock Parties]

I guess I am a little concerned that a teacher is reading this aloud to students.

mmaddog
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That is pretty ****ed up. I think a 15-year old could read it on his own.

[Mosbonian]

That is pretty ****ed up. I think a 15-year old could read it on his own.

While I am not one to foist my beliefs upon others when it comes to setting moral standards, I guess I am a little concerned about this being read in school.

If a parent wants to let their child read it at home, fine with me. But for the school to allow this book to be read aloud is a little beyond good taste. What's next.....Lady Chatterly's Lover?

mmaddog
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[Jenson71]

I've never read it. But after reading the descriptions, I would certainly have a talk with the teacher, if that were my kid. Hey, maybe the teacher can point out the literary value. Maybe there is "a method to her madness."

In 9th grade, we read "All Quiet on the Western Front", about a generation abandoned and the toll of war on man. We read "The Catcher in the Rye" about becoming your own person and the tribulations of becoming an adult. There was "To Kill a Mockingbird" and "Lord of the Flies" and "Great Expectations" and "A Separate Peace" and "The Pearl". I loved "The Pearl".

Now there is more of an emphasis on diversity, and books like "Things Fall Apart" (Africa) and "The Good Earth" (China) and "The Invisible Man" (African American) are becoming more popular.

Why should your child's literary education foresake the classics, for this?

[smittysbar]

God and we were stuck with Twain and Where the red fern grows, Of mice and men.


I would be a little concerned

[FAX]

To each his/her own, Mr. mmaddog. Certainly. But, I'm confident that the beautiful and witty Mrs. FAX wouldn't allow our son to read about oral sex in the 9th grade. Not officially, anyhow. Just wouldn't happen.

More to the point, I'm not sure what the intended "educational" outcome young people are supposed to derive from books of this nature. If it truly is a book dealing with teenage "sexploits", to me that's what Playboy is for. For my part, I'd rather see them attempt to comprehend classic literature and get used to thinking with their big head before the little one. I sound like Prudence but, sometimes, I think the world has gone a little mad.

FAX

[Third Eye]

I sound like Prudence but, sometimes, I think the world has gone a little mad.

FAX
Perhaps, but I think you are right.

To the OP: is this a private school? Honors? Or is this standard 9th grade English, cuz this blows my mind.

[Braincase]

It says 9 and up in the review. Was that age or inches?

[NewChief]

I haven't heard of the book, and my students and I read a lot of modern Young Adult (and adult) fiction that people would probably find questionable.

That being said, they read the books as books of choice, not as mandated books that the whole class reads. Parents know that their kids are going to be exposed to and read a ton of books (my students goal for a year is 25 books), and that I can't possibly monitor or censor what each student reads. Therefore, it's their job to keep up with what their kid is reading and decide whether it's appropriate.

Anyway, I don't want to turncoat on this teacher without knowing the full story, but I don't think I'd choose that book as a mandatory read for 9th graders. If you're going to bring it up with your child's teacher, I'd highly recommend that you read the book yourself before doing so. We've had parents bringing censorship lists of 30 books or so that they want removed from our libraries, and it's pretty obvious that the parents haven't even read the books they want removed. It's much more effective if you've read the book, and you can address specific passages and issues you have with the book rather than just speaking in terms of, "I heard the book has oral sex in it."

For those bemoaning the classics, I hear you. Unfortunately with the diverse classrooms we now face, unless you're teaching AP, you have to make a choice between creating students that like to read or creating students that have read some "classics" because very, very few kids develop a love (or ability) to read from being forced to read classics.