EW’s books editor asks: What do you do when you hate what your daughter is reading?
What do you do when your daughter reads books you hate?
And youd be right.
But it hurts nonetheless.
And now shes readingGossip Girl?
At first I tried to tell myself its a phase.
ButBaby-Sitters Clubbooks are innocuous.
Nothing but vapid sitcoms in book form.
Theyre not my favorites, but there are worse.
(To think that when I was growing up, Judy Blume was considered racy!)
Where do I start?
Where can I start?
Are the messages in aGossip Girlnovel any worse than those in an issue ofTeen Cosmo?
(Which, by the way, shedoesntread.
At least, not that I know of.)
Or from an evening of online grid TV?
I dont have any ready answers.
You might say, Take the book away.
Dont let her read things like that.
Well, I cant.
I dont believe in censoring books.
As a high school freshman and a straight-A student, my daughter can make her own reading choices.
Not that shed listen to my suggestions anyway.
A year ago I could hand herThe No.
One of her favorite novels, by Sonya Somes, is written in blank verse.
The two of us talked (or, rather, I talked) aboutGossip Girl.
Why does she like them?
Theyre easy to read, she shrugged, clearly not wanting to be drawn into the conversation.
So what to do?
We have a house full of wonderful books.
The shelves are crammed with them; great teetering piles booby-trap most rooms.
In fact, I casually threwThe Road From CoorainandI Capture the Castleon the coffee table last night.
One day, sooner or later, shell find them.
What do you think of theGossip Girlseries?
For more of Tina Jordans thoughts on current childrens books, seeKids Corner.
