We spent the evening discussing The Outsiders and I continue to be amazed how well the book sticks with all readers. Moreover, I am still dumb-struck that S.E. Hinton wrote the story at age 16....and in Oklahoma...capturing time, but also universality. We spent much of the time discussing what it means to be 'classic' and then using the book to explain what we meant. Definitely a classic, voted my students, many wishing they were assigned this book in middle or high school. One young woman told a story that at her school The Outsiders was given to "low" readers while the "college bound" kids were assigned Steinbeck's The Pearl. Hmmm. So much to unpack there. Glad I taught it in a grad class as a "classic YA text." It still holds up today. Another wonderful year discussing "Stay Golden" (I say, crisp, too, if any Cortland apples are reading), and conversing about what it means to be a teenager.
Phew. This would be such a fun course to teach with veteran teachers. If they only had time, funding, and once again, TIME, they would love to take a course on current YA literature and the discussions they'd have about teaching this generation in relation to the text being written for kids, has the potential for being thought-provoking, enlightening professional development.
The evening with another reflection on what it is I do as a teacher that resonates with today's learners, because I am feeling more distant from the generations than ever before. "A kid asked me how old were you when 9/11 happened?" The response from grad students today, "I wasn't even born yet."
What?
And let that be known. This is how time works. I will go to my grave saying history should come first. Read, and piece together global knowledge. Know the history. Ask questions. Recognize our 8 or 9 decades of life (if we're lucky), is only a blip on world history. We are trapped within our timeframes, too. Our realities come from what we live collectively, with too little regard to how those of yesteryear did the same under completely wild circumstances. Yesterday cannot comprehend where we are today...just like tomorrow will see what we're doing today as totally absurd. Still, there are absolutes and themes that carry through over great lengths of time. Pay attention to that.
This is why The Outsiders is a classic. It still resonates with adolescent readers of today. And S.E. Hinton? What an amazing achievement to offer the world at such a young age. It is a book that transcends time (and I'd argue achieves the history of when it was written).
