Dragaera

A question re: Begining Fantacy for Youth

David Dyer-Bennet dd-b at dd-b.net
Mon Nov 25 08:32:55 PST 2002

"Peter H. Granzeau" <pgranzeau at cox.net> writes:

> At 18:09 11/24/2002 -0500, Thomas Yan wrote:
> >"H. T." <electrictwilight at hotmail.com> writes:
> >
> > > Since it appears the majority of everyone that had typed in the
> > > discussion of "fantasy" had began reading fantasy when they were still
> > > young I thought I might ask what is appropriate for a young fantasy
> > > reader?
> > >
> > > I have an 11-year old step-brother who very much enjoys fantasy, and
> > > he has asked me what else there is in this genera to read.
> >-snip-
> >
> >Pamela Dean's Secret Country trilogy; it is currently out of print,
> >but will be reprinted in late 2003 by Firebird Books.
> 
> While written about children, I think Dean's books are aimed at an
> adult, and very literate, readership.  I'm a grandfather, and _I_ have
> trouble reading her novels, because of my lack of background in
> literature (only one college course in Modern Literature).

On the other hand, they're being reprinted in a young-adult line, and
quite a few younger readers have liked them.  Probably without getting
every single bit of them; that's true of all the best books and
*especially* the best children's books -- you keep getting more from
them as you grow.

> I would think that many of the other novels being suggested are a bit
> beyond the typical 11 year old.  A look at the "Young Adult" genre
> might find a few gems, however.

Kids vary so much.  I unfortunately can't remember for sure what I was
reading at 11; not that *I'm* in any way typical, either.  I'm pretty
sure I read Heinlein's _Glory Road_ within a year of 11 one way or the
other, for example, and I liked that a *lot*.

> How about Jane Yolen's two "Jenna" books, _Sister Light, Sister Dark_
> and _White Jenna_?  Yolen also edited a series of YA novels, which
> might turn up some good books for kids, as well as authored many more
> herself.
> 
> Diane Duane has also written a series of novels aimed at the YA
> reader.  The "Wizards" series starts with _So You Want to be a
> Wizard_, I believe.
> 
> Patricia Wrede has also written a set of YA novels--the "Enchanted
> Forest" starts with _Dealing with Dragons_.

I've seen these mentioned earlier, but they bear mentioning again
certainly. 
-- 
David Dyer-Bennet, dd-b at dd-b.net  /  http://www.dd-b.net/dd-b/
 John Dyer-Bennet 1915-2002 Memorial Site http://john.dyer-bennet.net
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