Recently I read a Young Adult novel that one of my students recommended. There were many good aspects of the story, but one thing bothered me: The end of the story led me to feel like the future was hopeless.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the far past, kids’ books could sometimes be too<\/em> happy, so happy that they seem ridiculous to us now. But for many years, although kids’ books took on challenging problems, they were almost required by publishers to have a hopeful ending. No matter how much difficulty the characters went through, at the end there had to be a sense of hope for them and for our world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I want you to know that I think that the idea of writing a book for children that ends with no hope is not only unnecessarily depressing, but I think it’s unethical<\/a>. The fact is that human history is full of struggles. But the other fact that always goes along with those struggles is that humans thrive when we have a sense of hope for the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It’s unethical<\/a> to write hopeless books for kids because those books are teaching you something that is untrue: you are not living in a hopeless time, and no problem is so great that you can’t find a shred of hope within it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Reading books that tell you that the future is hopeless is not good for you.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n So here’s my advice: <\/p>\n\n\n\n Don’t read them! You can read reviews to find out what others think of the book. And I give you permission to look at the end of a book before you read it. And if it’s a big, fat bummer, set it aside.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But won’t reading the ending spoil the story? It turns out that research says NO! Read or listen to my episode called “There are no spoilers<\/a>” to find out why.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If the book has been assigned by a teacher, speak with them about your concerns—chances are, the teacher has found a good reason to assign it. But if you’re doing pleasure reading, don’t seek out books that make you feel worse about our world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Life is challenging enough without being told that there’s no hope. There is hope, and I have hope that you will always be able to find hope within every challenge you face…. and the great books that you read!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Recently I read a Young Adult novel that one of my students recommended. There were many good aspects of the story, but one thing bothered me: The end of the story led me to feel like the future was hopeless. In the far past, kids’ books could sometimes be too happy, so happy that they … Continue reading Are your books bumming you out?<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":874,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"episode_type":"audio","audio_file":"http:\/\/sukiwessling.com\/kidblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Are-your-books-bumming-you-out_.mp3","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"http:\/\/sukiwessling.com\/kidblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/KidsLearn-booksbumming.jpg","cover_image_id":"878","duration":"2:37","filesize":"2.88M","filesize_raw":"3019708","date_recorded":"2024-11-07 20:48:15","explicit":"","block":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[17,5,47],"tags":[],"series":[66],"class_list":["post-869","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-being-a-kid","category-reading","category-understanding","series-kidslearn"],"aioseo_notices":[],"episode_featured_image":"https:\/\/sukiwessling.com\/kidblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/annie-spratt-oOEz7c7V3gk-unsplash-1.jpg","episode_player_image":"https:\/\/sukiwessling.com\/kidblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/KidsLearn-booksbumming.jpg","download_link":"https:\/\/sukiwessling.com\/kidblog\/podcast-download\/869\/are-your-books-bumming-you-out","player_link":"https:\/\/sukiwessling.com\/kidblog\/podcast-player\/869\/are-your-books-bumming-you-out","audio_player":"https:\/\/sukiwessling.com\/kidblog\/podcast-player\/869\/are-your-books-bumming-you-out<\/a>","episode_data":{"playerMode":"dark","subscribeUrls":{"apple_podcasts":{"key":"apple_podcasts","url":"https:\/\/podcasts.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/kidslearn-with-prof-suki\/id1703325213","label":"Apple Podcasts","class":"apple_podcasts","icon":"apple-podcasts.png"},"rss":{"key":"rss","url":"https:\/\/sukiwessling.com\/kidblog\/feed\/podcast","label":"RSS","class":"rss","icon":"rss.png"},"spotify":{"key":"spotify","url":"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/show\/7DuOuT1jXWSctSexcdC97s","label":"Spotify","class":"spotify","icon":"spotify.png"},"tunein":{"key":"tunein","url":"","label":"TuneIn","class":"tunein","icon":"tunein.png"},"youtube":{"key":"youtube","url":"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=mECGrb_UsoA&list=PLhcbiKBzJvJLnU2R4q1eSNuE_jBTCm6Iu","label":"YouTube","class":"youtube","icon":"youtube.png"}},"rssFeedUrl":"https:\/\/sukiwessling.com\/kidblog\/feed\/podcast\/kidslearn","embedCode":"Are your books bumming you out?<\/a><\/blockquote>