/lit/ - Literature

"A Wrinkle In Time" is way more challenging than I expected. I'm surprised at how often I see this recommended as a children's novel, when it seems like a surprisingly challenging read. I've read Chronicles of Narnia, Harry Potter, and the Phantom Tollbooth all in my adult life and totally understood why they're good for kids - easy to understand, casual fantasy elements, not too abstract concepts, etc.

But I'm reading A Wrinkle in Time now and there's a lot of challenging material in it. The fantasy is more abstract and isn't cut and dry "We live in a knowable world, but here's a crazy hidden world with x, y, and z creatures introduced one chapter at a time." Instead, the very first fantasy chapter plunges you into a strange environment, where you get on a flying creature, pick flowers that help you breathe, watch your guides change shape and voice, and shifts the environment several times.

Additionally, the vocabulary is way above those other novels. The quotes in different languages are the obvious example, but even their english translations seem conceptually very challenging for kids. Even without those, here's a regular sentence:

"If you have some liniment I'll put it on my dignity," Mrs Whats it said, still supine.

I teach 7th and 8th grade and I guarantee my students don't know three words in that sentence in that context.

I initially saw the book recommended as a 5th grade reading level and thought "Oh, this will be a nice novel for my 7th graders to ease into the year with." 70 pages in and I'm wondering if my 8th graders can even handle it. I was going to do Hatchet with them, but am definitely considering it the easier read of the two and going to give it to 7th instead.

Anyone else feel this way? For those who read it when you were younger - did you get it?

>>8092221

I consider Dune to basically be a sci-fi hero's journey story, basically sci-fi LOTR.

And if that's what you're looking for, I recommend A Wrinkle in Time/The Time Quintet by Madeleine L'Engle.

So for the Wrinkle in Time series, are the second generation O'Keefe books worth reading, or should I stick to the quintet?