Two magical novels responding to classics
Plus my thoughts on the reading wars and the beginning of the "best of" lists
Hey, readers!
This newsletter is always about books, but today I want to share some thoughts on the act of reading—more specifically learning to read. Over the last several weeks I’ve gotten really invested in the investigative podcast series Sold a Story. Throughout the six episodes, journalist Emily Hanford explores the science of reading and exposes the fact that many popular school reading curricula ignore this science to the detriment of students across the nation. If you’ve been an elementary teacher and/or had a child go through school in the last two decades, you may be familiar with the cueing method Hanford describes, made popular by reading specialists Irene Fountas, Gay Su Pinnell, and Lucy Calkins. These strategies have students use context rather than phonics to determine the words on a page, so students might be encouraged, for example, to look at the picture rather than sounding out the letters.
When you hear Hanford describe this system in the podcast, it sounds crazy. I mean, it is crazy to basically be encouraging students to guess at what the words on the page might be rather than breaking down the sounds to figure them out. And the science of reading now shows us that our brains do in fact need to go through that decoding process in order to store a word in a way where we no longer need to decode it every time we see it.
It’s a true tragedy that this method has failed so many children when learning to read is essential and foundational—not only to academic success but to feeling confident and unlocking the ability to enjoy a good story. I’m glad that Hanford’s reporting has led not only to parents questioning the methods they’re seeing in their childrens’ classrooms, but also to proponents of this system—including Calkins herself—to revising their curricula. When Louise enters kindergarten, I’ll know the right sort of questions to ask about how reading is taught, and I hope Hanford’s work inspires parents and teachers to make sure kids are learning to read with research-backed methods.
But some things about the podcast also gave me pause. I’ll admit that I have personally used and loved the workshop models popularized by Lucy Calkins in every classroom I’ve been in from kindergarten through college. I took issue with the way the podcast presented the workshop model as if teachers get a nice little break in their day while students curl up with books for 40 minutes. In my experience, using a workshop model (a short lesson followed by independent reading/writing/work time) is one of the only ways teachers can ensure themselves the opportunity to work with children individually or in small groups. In other words, using this model even infrequently is one of the ways teachers have to assess where students are with their reading or writing.
And this specific quibble points to my larger issue with Sold a Story. I really wish Hanford had spent a little more time touching on the realities of teaching in this country. While she doesn’t make teachers the villains her—they have been “sold” this inaccurate story about how children learn to read—I couldn’t help feeling like she could have done more to advocate for teachers. There’s nothing in here about what it’s like to walk into a school and inherit a curriculum as a young, first year teacher. Nothing about how challenging it is to have a class of 25 five- and six-year-olds ranging from kids already reading Harry Potter to those who don’t yet know their letters. There’s nothing about the way vital academic skills have continued to be pushed down to lower and lower grade levels, resulting in little to no play time for our youngest students and how free time to look at books might be one tiny way to give kids choice in their school days.
All of this is to say that, yes, I am a firm believer in phonics education. And I’m horrified at how widespread the harm these non-scientific methods have had on a generation of readers has been. But I think the larger context matters here and I wish this podcast could have found a way to do that. I do highly recommend both listening to Sold a Story and investigating the way reading is being taught in your own school community. The kids are the most important stakeholders in this debate and every child deserves to learn to read. But I also urge you to do so with grace for our teachers who have so much on their plates and have been so villainized in recent years. I hope everyone who cares deeply about literacy can come together to embrace the science and ensure that every child can become a confident and eager reader.
This week in books.
This week I read…
Babel by R.F. Kuang. Readers, I finished it! I took in this rich fantasy story at a leisurely pace, and I think it made of an even richer experience. This is the story of Robin Swift—a young boy taken from China after his mother’s death and prepared through rigorous tutoring and emotional withholding to become a student at the famed Oxford Institute of Translation, otherwise known as Babel. Robin’s indoctrination into Babel and his connection with the other outsiders in his college are reminiscent of beloved fantasy texts like Harry Potter or The Magicians as well as darker campus novels like The Secret History. But Kuang is doing something special here by laying bare the true darkness of these hallowed Western systems and the way they appropriate and exploit other cultures. The brilliance of this book is the way it works on two levels: both a love letter to and an evisceration of the genres it fits into. Just like the paired phrases on the mystical silver bars at the heart of Kuang’s world, it’s the tension of this dichotomy that alchemizes the book into something truly magical. Amazon | Bookshop | Libro.fm
The Chosen and the Beautiful by Nghi Vo. I loved this dark yet sparkling reimagining of The Great Gatsby. This version is told from the perspective of Jordan Baker—a minor but pivotal character in Fitzgerald’s classic—who, in Vo’s hands, is queer, Vietnamese, and something of a magician. Jordan is a fantastic character and an intriguing narrator. She’s “within and without” in a way that Nick Carraway can only pretend to be and I thoroughly enjoyed her take on Gatsby, Daisy, and the whole affair, so to speak. I’ll keep the rest of my thoughts on hold until our Novel Pairings episode about this book drops on Tuesday, November 29th, but I highly recommend picking this up if you enjoy Gatsby for the lush language and hedonistic setting. Join the NP Classics Club | Amazon | Bookshop | Libro.fm
Now I’m reading…
Lucy by the Sea by Elizabeth Strout. Oh, Lucy! How glad I am to be back in the mind of one of my favorite narrators. This novel explore’s Lucy and her ex-husband William’s Covid quarantine in Maine and I am loving the experience of processing such an unprecedented time with a beloved familiar voice. I like to imagine that after writing three books about Lucy Barton and her extended world, Elizabeth Strout couldn’t help but consider how quarantine would go for her fictional crew. I’m so glad she decided to share this extension of their story with all of us. Amazon | Bookshop | Libro.fm
The Night Singer by Johanna Mo. Nordic noir is not a familiar genre to me, but I’m very much enjoying the moody mystery vibes of this novel, which is the FictionMatters Book Club selection for November. Join the FictionMatters Book Club | Amazon | Bookshop | Libro.fm
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Links I love.
The best of the year lists have commenced! Check out The Washington Post’s top 50 and Time’s 100 Notable Books to plan your final reading list of the year.
The 2022 Tournament of Books lineup was announced this week. This year’s books include a lot of books I absolutely adored and many more I haven’t heard of.
And as the final book lists of 2022 add up, readers are also gearing up for what looks to be a fantastic 2023 publication year. I loved perusing this list to start curating my early 2023 TBR.
The New York Review of Books is having its annual sale—40% off a fantastic collection of modern classics and under-the-radar gems!
The National Book Award winners were announced this week. I’ve only read the winner for translated fiction, but I hope to read the nonfiction and YA winners at some point.
Six new books in paperback this week.
End notes.
Three things making me happy this week:
Ilia Super Serum Skin Tint SPF 40. This stuff is MAGIC. It offers exceptional coverage without feeling like makeup. Plus I love that it’s packed with other good stuff for my skin, including SPF so it’s pretty much one and done.
Black Friday sales. We have so many things to buy for the new house and while we’re trying to take things slow and not feel like we need to rush to fill this space, this week is going to be a good time to get a few essential pieces at a discount. I’m eyeing these shelves from Nathan James because we need something bolted to the wall in our reading nook.
Louise’s language skills are exploding right now and I am astounded. It seems like she picks up something new every day! My favorites include “hot” for fireplace and our coffee mugs, “hello” for phones, and “cheers” both for actually cheers-ing and anytime she wants to bang two objects together.
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Happy reading!
Sara
What grade levels did you teach, and how fluent were your students at reading? Did most of them learn from parents or learn when they got to school?
I'm a high school math teacher and I know our school's English and reading scores aren't too hot, so I assume at least some of them must not have learned to read properly. But I haven't had to teach reading firsthand so I couldn't really have strong opinions (other than that phonics is good and cueing is bad). You're definitely right that the way Hanford frames it is that one simple curriculum switch fixes everything when really teaching is much harder than that. I can hardly control 17 year olds haha let alone 5 year olds
I’m so glad you linked those shelves because I hadn’t realized Nathan James had some of their headboards on sale too! I was in the market for one, and just found one for wayyy discounted! Book adjacent so I can luxuriously read in bed 😂