Post #4294295
2026-07-16 12:39 UTC
@andyjennings@aus.social
I’m not familiar with that one. Partner is right into fantasy & some sci-fi. There is some I like, but some is too dystopian and just plain sad.
When working in a primary school a few years back, some grade 6s were reading an Australian youth fiction novel set in a coastal city beset by rising sea levels. The rich had withdrawn inland, the poor left stranded.
It was so bleak, & I couldn’t help but wonder if this was really suitable for primary aged kids, regardless of their reading level. (I was working as a tutor, not a teacher, & not a party to such discussions.)
Replies (1)
-
@chozari@aus.social 2026-07-16 12:46
@Susan60@aus.social @andyjennings@aus.social I respectfully declined to study The Chrysalids when I was 15. I’d just plain had ENOUGH Lord of the Flies and bloody Bridge to Terabithia & all that stuff. It was like the teachers were TRYING to put me even more at risk than I already was. The English head teacher said I was making a lot of fuss over nothing, so my mum rang the Principal, who forced the English HT to read the book then do the assignment & offer me the option of doing an alternative. Suck eggs, Mr Caine.