There were no bookstores in the small city where I grew up but there was a library. I could spend a couple of hours trying to decide which books to take out. After I had read all the hard covered Nancy Drews, I graduated myself to the adult fiction just for the lack of other choices. My older sister was unimpressed with one selection in particular. I had shamelessly chosen a paperback with a nude man and woman on the cover. "What was the librarian thinking," she said but I was undeterred and snuck my way through to the end anyways.
Afterwards, I quietly returned the book to the librarian's desk with the cover of the couple in the garden faced down.
6 comments:
My daughter has read every Nancy Drew ever published, I think. Also some Hardy Boys, Boxcar Children, and then she and I read through the entirety of Sherlock Holmes. We're finding him a difficult act to follow.
No nude cover art books as of yet... that I'm aware of.
The book review sounds interesting. Did you find it that way?
Hi Happy and Blue:
No, fortunately, most of it went over my head, but that didn't stop me from reading it anyways.
I used to work in a public library. Worked there for nearly four years in high school then on-again, off-again after I was married, until my son was born. I didn't ever dare to bring such books home, but from time to time when I thought nobody was checking on me, I would pull out one of those sordid paperbacks and scan for the steamy parts. I'm embarrassed to admit it now!
This is the secret appeal of libraries for smart curious kids, that parents won't and shouldn't mention. The access to the most appealing and human subjects that make authoritarian adults nervous. But well informed children grow into intelligent adults that make good informed decisions. Free will is closely tied to freedom of information, you have to know your choices to chose well. I was not damaged by my reading of a scatological dictionary, true crime stories, or bodice rippers- all only at the library, in a corner. I never read another romance novel because I glutted myself on them when I was 13.
Hi Zhoenw
Thanks for your interesting comments. You have got me thinking about the concept of "well informed children."
I think that children should be aware of the options but I believe it is the parents' responsibility to teach them what is right from wrong to the best of their ability. Children will grow up and have to decide for themselves eventually but at least they will have been instructed. I think this is when free will really kicks in,when a person knows right from wrong and makes their own choice.
Hi Jennifer
It appears we are not alone!
Hi Candid
Check those library aisles.
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