Z had to read The Hobbit and The House on Mango Street and answer some questions. The House on Mango Street went well; he appreciated the book and the struggles of the main characters. The Hobbit has been a problem for him. He doesn’t like fantasy and sci-fi. Is this genetic? We both feel the same way about contemporary fiction in that we prefer dealing with realistic situations and characters (I’ve read that this preference is prevalent among black teens). All hope isn’t lost, after about fifty pages, he has started to embrace The Hobbit.
Last week he went to a math and science camp and he said the other students said they did not like The Hobbit or The House on Mango Street. It seems they did not connect to either book. Z said one boy said he loved The Hobbit when he read it years ago, but now that he’s a freshman, he doesn’t like it. I wonder if he doesn’t like it because it’s required reading. Who knows? Our reading tastes change, right?
