BAck in February I reported on my 13 year-old-grandson's summer reading in a blog entitled, What my grandson learned about lying. I've been shocked to learn that several thousands have read that blog, so I decided to update you on this summer's reading. Evan is fourteen, and will be starting his sophomore year. In case you haven't read that post, I want to say up front that he's definitely not a nerd. He's into sports up to his ears: snow-boarding, swimming, skate-boarding, plays piano and guitar in the school jazz band, and is on the school golf team. And no one would ever think of his folks as helicopter parents.
Last year in preparation for prep school he read five books, one of which was the inestimable, Lies My Teacher Taught Me by James Loewen.
This summer Evan started out with Malcolm Gladwell's Outliers. His take was that "being smart includes a lot of things, but luck and context are very important." When I asked him what that meant, he responded that it was "important to take advantage of the opportunities that you have, whatever they are." He also thought that Outliers was a bit slow in some of the sections. I disagree, but didn't challenge him. After all, I want to know what my fourteen-year-old grandson really thinks.
But Evan was fixated on A Civil Action, the 1996 non-fiction novel by Jonathan Harr that depicted the water contamination case from Woburn, Massachusetts in 1980s. It was the best seller that became the movie of the same name with John Travolta and Robert Duvall. Evan has not seen the movie.
His comments were enlightening. "It's what happens when people don't keep watch over the environment. Maybe strict regulations will help. But citizens have to be responsible and willing to take action."
Although I suspect his comments are rare for a fourteen-year-old, the school he attends emphasizes not only academics, but also the importance of serving school and society with "integrity, respect and compassion." So the links between his education and his reading are tight.