Classics Part II: Kids/Teen Edition
Passing Down "Unhinged Classics" from the front seat of the car
ROAD TRIPS & AUDIOBOOKS
For as long as I can remember the car has been a refuge for us. I enjoy it specifically because I get to watch people and scenery without having to exhaust my social meter. The rest of the family enjoys it because going for a drive usually involves a long drive around town (or road trip), treats for the road, and something fun coming out of the speakers.
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Audiobooks have been our thing for most weekdays on our way to school, on the ride back home, and anywhere in-between where it is just me and the kids. We started out with fantasy books like Harry Potter ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (which is actually on some classics list now) and Netherwings by Django Wexler ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️. The kids would get so excited and make me promise not to listen ahead, which sometimes I did and just went back to where we stopped together. They’d never notice.
FIRST REAL CLASSIC
It was about 5 years ago that I really started putting in hardcore work into getting through classics. I was picking at least one a month to listen to or read. So one afternoon on the ride home from guitar practice, they fell asleep (or so I thought) and started playing Animal Farm by George Orwell. I knew it was a little gory, but nothing more than some cartoons or TV and figured if they woke up it’s a book about animals. How wrong was I to assume they’d be so simple. Kids are much more perceptive than adults give them credit for. So, anyway, of course they woke up midway through the start of Animal Farm, and when we were pulling into our drive I had an interesting conversation.
M (son): Hey mom, those pigs sound like they’re being sneaky.
J (daughter): Yeah!
Me: Well, they are. Ok, I’ll be brief because this probably won’t make too much sense, but the pigs are pushing for a rebellion because they want to take over in the end. The book isn’t really about pigs and farmers. It is meant to be a satirical, which just means a kind of fun and interesting way, to explain how some countries end up in totalitarian governments like when I talk about Cuba or if you’ve about Russia.
M: That makes sense. During our social studies class last unit, our teacher was teaching us about capitalism, socialism, and communism. Those type of totali….whatever governments have communist economies where it is centralized and controlled by the government.
Me: wide eyed and trying to process this conversation I’m having with my 10 year old
J: Oh, is this like democracy, autocracy, and oligarchy? We were learning about that too. So, the pigs want to be like an oligarchy? The few that control everything?
Me: more baffled open mouthed staring
BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS
After their understanding of the circumstances, I upped my game as we continued to listen to the book and stopped to discuss certain things I thought would be beyond them and answered questions. It was one of the most incredible books I’ve ever read, but it was so much more interesting because I got to hear their perspective too. Needless to say, it was the beginning of me bringing them into the fold on some of the age appropriate classics. They’ve enjoyed so many, but we’ll start with these 4.
Animal Farm by George Orwell
Find it on Amazon or support local & listen to the audiobook on Libro.fm.
My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Their Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
This classic is usually under 150 pages, so it is a short, easy read. It is about farm animals that begin a rebellion against their farmers because they wish to create a society where all animals are free and equal. It starts off innocent enough. However, some of the farm animals begin to have louder voices and use harsher tactics to get their views and agendas pushed forward, which feels oddly like they’re not equals anymore. In the end, those same farm animals that pushed for the rebellion in the name of freedom become the oppressors of their own kind until the new society is worse than the one they started with. Fear is the new currency, and all animals are equal until they’re not. It is a satirical story about totalitarianism.
The kids ended up loving this one btw! We had a lot of conversations about how dark it was and the meaning behind the words, but it is a fan favorite. My daughter bought a nice copy of it for her book collection.
The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis
Find it on Amazon or support local & listen to the audiobook on Libro.fm.
My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Their Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
“Can we stay in the car for a little longer to keep listening? Just until this chapter is over? Pretty please.” - M
Need I say more? This is an epic fantasy of 4 children who walk through a wardrobe and find themselves in a wintry land ruled by the White Witch. Every creature in this strange new world is cursed, as is the land. It is always winter, but it will never be Christmas. The adventure!! The kids must join Aslan, the lion, to try and break the curse and free everyone. It is about friendship, found family, and betrayal. My husband even told us there is a religious component to it and went on and on, but I may have tuned him out. I personally found it to be a good book with a few lulls here and there, but the kids were absolutely in love. We went on to read books 2 & 3 soon after, which they did not find nearly as good as the first.
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
Find it on Amazon or support local & listen to the audiobook on Libro.fm.
My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Their Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
“Oh no, this is the same guy who wrote Oliver Twist? Ugghhh….” - M
Can you tell we had a run-in with Dickens already? That’ll be for another day but the kids were mixed on starting A Christmas Carol. On the one hand, we’ve obviously seen dozens of TV series and movies inspired by this tale. It is the classic Scrooge is too grumpy and selfish to appreciate the magic of Christmas, so he is pursued by the ghosts of Christmas past, present, and future in an attempt to remind him that he wasn’t always this version of himself. The premise is beautiful, and despite our reservations about Dickens, the original was actually quite sweet. However, Dickens strikes again with an overwritten and incredibly dense book. Was he paid by the word? Because if he was, it shows. Overall, good to read the original once but that was more than enough. We’ll be sticking to the remakes in the future.
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
Find it on Amazon or support local & listen to the audiobook on Libro.fm.
My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Their Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
“I rate it 5-stars. I mean, it was sad, but it actually made me feel everything which is exactly what you want from a book. To make you feel it.” - J
My kids and I read this book separately. I read it back in 2023 because my husband kept recommending it to me. He said it was a short read, and it would be a good introduction to Steinbeck. He was a local author, so I’ve been really interested in reading his work. However, it feels intimidating, like I’m stumbling into true great literature here that I won’t appreciate because I’m too simple. It’s hard to get out of this mindset of being worthy enough for classics btw. Anyways, so at his recommendation I read it and was blown away by how well-written it was but of course it has a emotionally fraught end. Fast forward 3 years, my daughter’s middle school English class had a project where they had to choose a classic and do a whole report on it including an oral presentation. She chose Of Mice and Men, despite my warning that it would not be her fav because she is usually into bizarre mysteries or HEAs. I remember when we first discussed it after she read it; her eyes were watery and puffy from her emotions about the ending. We had a good, deep talk about how heavy life was back then, and how an author can write something so simple yet utterly devastating.
Sometimes it feels like reading classics is hard enough as an adult, let alone trying to bring kids into it. Plus, many classics are also on banned book lists, so there is that too. On the other hand, they are at the core of much of the media we consume today, so they might already relate to it or be exposed to it from school, teachers, friends, and family.
Whatever your opinion on classics or age appropriate reading lists, don’t count out classics.
Until next week…..keep your spaces cozy, and your reading a little unhinged.
Take care,
Your Resident (future) Bookseller
Quiet Nook Books
nice! when i was a kid, the road trip distraction was counting the red trucks and blue beetles!
much better if it were audio books - as I feel sick reading in cars.
I've read all of the ones you mention, except Steinbeck.
I'm trying to finish White Nights now (on the commute - not road trippin)..