I always wait until Monday...

I'm going to post this week about the book I read. For this unit, I read the New York Times Bestseller, A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray. It's a magical tale set in turn of the century London about a girl sent to live a reform school. I actually found myself surprised at how scary the book actually is and how seriously it dealt with issues of magic, death, and witchcraft. In fact, for out unit on those topics, I'll read the sequel. I had no idea (though it's clearly marked on the back) that this book dealt with such issues, but more importantly, I was fascinated with the range of female issues present in the text. I cannot say enough good things about this book and, in a world free from textbook adoption committees and conservative parent groups, I would definitely consider teaching the novel in the classroom. The story deals indirectly with issues of sexuality (or rather sexual discovery), female social hierarchy, class and racial prejudice, and of course, magic. But more pedagogically viable, the text offers a rich examination into the values of perception and appearance. Through magic, the heroine discovers a way by which she may break free of her established gender roles and assume her own unlimited agency. She learns the dangers of self control and realizes that with great power comes great responsibility. I'm oversimplifying the plot drastically and wish to clarify that the book never resorts to corny cliches as the one I just used. What the book does offer, however, is a study guide at the end of the book with questions (surprisingly detailed) about gender issues in the novel as well as questions regarding the pervasive idea of gender roles and the illusion of perception.
So, yeah, read the book! I enjoyed it. From what the staff at Borders told me, and from what I collected from my basic research on the book, it is tremendously popular with the middle school crowd. I can certainly understand how such a book would be considered dangerous, however. The story not only appears to encourage rebellion against authority (in particular, the family) but also portrays characters who are well aware of the dangers of their actions but become so intoxicated with power, they lack the ability to cease in their indulgences. I don't know if I would go so far to concede that books like this are responsible for aggressive behavior in girls, but I can certainly see how, based on society's depiction of girls as docile, one may view any deviation from that norm as potentially harmful. Which, of course, leads into an interesting discussion of values associated with girls and aggressiveness. Separate spheres, anyone?