I don't teach sci-fi in this class.  I teach Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go in another, but Ishiguro himself has argued that his novel is not sci-fi (I don't agree, but what do I know?)

The students' arguments for reading things they love aren't usually articulated beyond their general enthusiasm ("This book was great!") and their disdain for works they don't like ("I do not recommend that you teach this book next term.")  I can certainly see the advantages, both for them and for me, for giving them works that they'll actually read and be excited about.  So every term I try to put something in there that I think they'll glom onto, as well as something that they'll find more challenging.

(I have to note, too, that one reason I put F&Z on the syllabus is because there are always a few students that love it, and a few who tell me later that they came back to it when they were more ready for it.  I always tell students this when we discuss my reasoning: you might not love it, but someone else did, and you might find that later in life you remember it and give it another try.)

When I was little (elementary school), I read mostly teen girl novels, and stuff like the Boxcar Children, Goosebumps, and Animorphs. I also read a lot of non-fiction from the library. When I was 11 my mom bought me Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, and that started my love affair with fantasy. The bulk of what I read to this day is fantasy, especially urban fantasy, though I try to mix it up with other genres every now and then. It's so very important for kids to read what they like. That's what led me to be the crazy, book-hoarding bibliophile I am today (600 books and counting, and I'm only 20).

Through a serendipitous series of searches this morning I stumbled on to your blog and have now whiled away several hours reading your posts and enjoying the comments - including all 185 of the Creationism/Evolution series. (Wow. Talk about the patience of Job.) 

I think responding to a post about reading for pleasure is perfect.

I too, was raised in a bible-rich but literature poor southern home where reading was considered quite a "waste of time" second only to watching TV or listening to music, both of which were completely banned. For me, school assignments were both a pleasure and a curse. I kinda liked to read and having the homework excuse was great, unforetunately, I ended up with the next step on the creativity killer scale, horrible grades on my reports becuase, quite frankly, they sucked. I was one of those sad kids mentioned in some other post who lacked the ability to critique beyond the obvious. Back then I thought it was because I just didn't get it or was obviously stupid. 

The light turned on one day in Ms. Unold's Eng. Lit. class in 1981 when we were assigned to read "To the Virgins to Make Much of Time" and write a one page report on the poems relevence to our lives. After listening to a considerable amount of nonsensical drivel from her backwards 15 and 16 year old students, the dear woman turned to the class, spread her arms to heaven and exclaimed "It's about sex! It's about getting it on! It's about 'what are you saving it for?' Are you seriously telling me that you don't see the relevence to your lives?!"

I re-read that poem, reead another, moved on to more varied types of literature, discovered Willie Shakespeare and the theatre, and eventually became an actress and a now, a writer. All because, I think, that sweet lady made a connection between sex and reading for pleasure. By the way, if I recall correctly, the same can be said - in spades - for the "Chronicles of Gor." 

As a forty-something year old adult I now engage in pleasure reading where ever, and whenever, I find it and it has been a pleasure reading your blog today. Thanks and I'm sure I'll visit again!

My twelve year old is an avid reader and will read almost anything you give her.  Her favorite book so far is Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. http://www.scholastic.com/thehungergames/

I read it too, as I usually read all the books she purchases or brings home (we live across from the library), I'm not sure if it would be considered sci-fi as much as fantasy.  I truly enjoyed the read though and the conversation about war and society that my daughter and I had as a result.

She is in 6th grade and her teachers are very creative and asked them to dress up like their favorite character from their favorite book and my daughter is going to be Katniss from Hunger Games.  She's re-reading the book and really enjoying the project.  My point is that a love of reading comes from reading books we love and not books we don't love.  Unfortunately, all children will not love the same books so I really like the idea of allowing children to pick from a few books rather than a rigid curriculum.

One of my favorite books in high school was Farenheit 451, which we read in sophomore English.  I'd go on to read 1984 on my own, though for some inexplicable reason, I've never read Huxley's "Brave New World."

At the time, my "on my own" reading was comic books and things that related to comic books and sci-fi.  Sometime around the sixth or seventh grade, I got really into the "Star Trek" novels as well as the first few "Star Wars" novels (Timothy Zahn's "Heir to the Empire" trilogy) as well as the serialized novels based on the "Robotech" series of my youth.

Then, of course, there were comics.  I'd read "G.I. Joe" and "The Transformers" when I was 10 but what started my serious comic book addiction was the first Tim Burton "Batman" movie in 1989.  Before I sold most of my collection to pay for an engagement ring, I'd accumulated a couple thousand comics.  I still have a couple of boxes, including a pretty comprehensive "Teen Titans/New Titans" collection (I even had a few letters published).

I also remember that the moment I felt I was "old enough," I went right for Stephen King.  My parents had been reading him like crazy all through the 1980s.  My dad gave me his copy of "The Eyes of the Dragon" in the seventh grade and I read it and absolutely loved it.  Then, I picked up the Dark Tower books (and stayed with them all the way until the seventh book came out). 

My biggest accomplishment, however, was reading "It" in the eighth grade.  This was around the time the miniseries with Tim Curry as Pennywise came out and my friends and I were reading the book in study hall and on the bus.  Funny thing, you'd think someone would have said something because of how vulgar that book is, but no teacher ever said a thing.  I remember feeling pretty big at the time because not only had I finished a book that was more than 1000 pages, I understood quite a lot of it.

I haven't had any students who have read much of King's stuff.  I think that's due to it being a good 20 years since his heyday and because of the glut of teen-targeted books on the market.  A couple of my students in past years read "The Shining" and one read "The Stand," only to get ticked off at the ending.  Quite a few read comic books and so I can geek out with them every once in a while, and even bring some English to it since my last paper in college was titled: "The Perpetuation of Mythology in Modern Literature and Modern American Popular Culture" (read: 1/3 of the paper was Wonder Woman and the Greeks, Superman as a Christ figure, and Crisis on Infinite Earths as Revelation).

I'm actually looking forward to my next two books, though--"Lord of the Flies" and "All Quiet on the Western Front."  Oh, and much of Willie Shakes is not for high schoolers, but I had success with "Macbeth" in 12th and my 10th is comparing "The Taming of the Shrew" and "10 Things I Hate About You."  Good stuff ... so far.

I looooove Shakespeare. Not that I've read that much of it (only Macbeth, Othello, and A Midsummer Night's Dream, plus a few soliloquies). A Midsummer Night's Dream is my favourite. It's so funny once you learn to understand the language enough to get the jokes.

Great article, Clay. I love reading "great adult" stories like this as well.

My favorite novels when I was 17 were all written by Chuck Palahniuk, besides Jazz by Toni Morrison and House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski. I actually kept a journal during the month it took me to read House of Leaves (I started shortly after my 17th birthday) and wrote entries about my reactions to the book, and my experiences reading it. It was a great exercise that I think more high school English teachers should consider - of course you can only do it with an exceptional novel that is sure to catch a high school student's attention, and of course you don't need the extra stimulants I employed at the time to "inspire me," haha.

My younger brother, who was 15 at the time, read A Clockwork Orange at least five times during that period and it's still his favorite book. Before Palahniuk, I was all about Francesca Lia Block novels and anything written by a Beatnik (Kerouac, Ginsberg, Burroughs, Amiri Baraka, Diane DiPrima, etc). I particularly liked reading anything on the banned book list as well, haha. I used to wish there was an English course purely devoted to banned books.

Ah, I love Isaac Asimov. He has largely shaped who I am today.