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Post by eternalstudent on Aug 11, 2021 9:35:48 GMT -5
I never understood why they had such a dislike for Nancy Drew books in particular, considering that fact that she's hailed as this ideal role model for girls. Perhaps it's because the Stratemeyer syndicate - where the books originated - had a "factory model" approach to their series, meaning multiple people were involved in writing and editing. Thus it doesn't fit the model of "great literature."
Still, I wish there were some actual explanation for why they disliked the books so much, because it drove me crazy as a kid!
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oldhickory
Sitting For The Arnolds
Heather Loves Boys and Gym
Posts: 3,257
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Post by oldhickory on Aug 11, 2021 10:59:10 GMT -5
I think the only real reason was that Nancy Drew wasn't "highbrow" enough. Janine probably didn't read much fiction and was a successful young woman by all accounts, so I could see the parents wanting that from Claudia also. But the whole thing felt like a hollow excuse. I don't see how any parent, let alone a librarian, would look at their child enjoying a book and think it's not right. I feel like whodunits deserve a pass that I wouldn't necessarily extend to romance novels, so Nancy Drew was better brain food than other books Claudia could have chosen.
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Post by CharlotteTJohanssen on Aug 11, 2021 15:43:53 GMT -5
I wonder if Mrs. Kishi "forbade" it in the sense it would make her want to read it. Like how kids do the things parents don't want them to do. Maybe Claudia wasn't reading at all and this was Mrs. Kishi's way to get her reading.
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Post by sparklymouse on Aug 11, 2021 17:19:54 GMT -5
Haha, reverse psychology? Did Claudia ever say what they did want her to read?
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Post by anzuhana on Aug 11, 2021 18:17:22 GMT -5
I wonder if Mrs. Kishi "forbade" it in the sense it would make her want to read it. Like how kids do the things parents don't want them to do. Maybe Claudia wasn't reading at all and this was Mrs. Kishi's way to get her reading. I actually like the sound of that. Perhaps she's secretly happy that Claudia's reading something.
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Post by booklover85 on Aug 12, 2021 0:35:27 GMT -5
Mr. and Mrs. Kishi are some of my least favorite parents in Stoneybrook. In their own way they can be as strict as Richard Spier was back in the day.
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oldhickory
Sitting For The Arnolds
Heather Loves Boys and Gym
Posts: 3,257
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Post by oldhickory on Aug 12, 2021 11:43:30 GMT -5
Maybe not as strict (Claudia had a lot more personal freedoms than Mary Anne), but the Kishis definitely had high expectations. Janine came out and pretty much validated all their parenting decisions. It was probably really hard to unlearn those lessons when they had a second kid who didn't fit that mold.
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Post by CharlotteTJohanssen on Aug 14, 2021 22:12:44 GMT -5
Haha, reverse psychology? Did Claudia ever say what they did want her to read? Probably more her grade level? Like reading magic tree house in third grade but she was still having fun looking at the art in picture books.
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Post by sparklymouse on Aug 17, 2021 19:35:12 GMT -5
I think she mentioned that she should be reading the "classics". I don't know what this website is, but I've read 2/40 books listed. I'm still not as cultured as Mr. and Mrs. Kishi would like me to be. (#38 Shane, author Jack Schaefer. Coincidence? That book is a Western written in 1949. It looks like something my 67 year old dad might dig, not some poor teenage girl. Haha.)
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Post by CharlotteTJohanssen on Aug 17, 2021 21:22:34 GMT -5
^ I've only read four of those, mr. and mrs. kishi wouldn't have approved lol.
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Post by booboobrewer on Aug 17, 2021 22:28:59 GMT -5
My dad loved the movie version of Shane
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oldhickory
Sitting For The Arnolds
Heather Loves Boys and Gym
Posts: 3,257
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Post by oldhickory on Aug 18, 2021 12:13:58 GMT -5
Huckleberry Finn has been challenged and banned so many times. I don't know how it made that list.
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Post by anzuhana on Aug 18, 2021 14:43:32 GMT -5
I only read The Diary of a Young Girl and Gulliver's Travels. I've read that there are two/three editions of Anne Frank's diary. One of the editions has her exploration of her own genitalia as well as her thoughts on sex and childbirth.
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Post by sparklymouse on Aug 18, 2021 17:07:40 GMT -5
Hmm, I didn't get to read that version of Anne Frank in 8th grade English. It would have livened things up a bit. The other one I read was To Kill a Mockingbird in 10th grade English. We are a group who specifically likes to read, and it sounds like none of us have touched these books. Claudia didn't have a chance. I'm sure there are different lists out there, btw. I just picked that one because it was specifically for 8th graders.
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Post by booboobrewer on Aug 18, 2021 17:09:23 GMT -5
I’ve read six of those.
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