My niece is turning 13. She is mature for her age, bilingual, top of her class, a voracious reader. I mentioned to my mom (her grandma) that I want to get her White Oleander, Memoirs of a Geisha, The Bell Jar and Madame Bovary for her birthday. She was adamantly against it and said “wait five years”.
I read these books at a young age (11-15?) and while (at the time) I didn’t entirely understand the themes discussed, I still really enjoyed them and they contributed importantly to my personal development in terms of intellect, cultural awareness, femininity, etc. Also, like my niece, I’d experienced a lot of difficult things at a young age and these books made me feel less lonely. Another point is, since she lives in a foreign country, she doesn’t have access to many books in her preferred language (English) so I’m not sure she’s had the opportunity to read much classic literature. I’d love to offer these titles.
What do you think? Too serious/depressing? What sort of books would you choose in this context? I honestly feel like YA ie Twilight would almost be an insult to her. Maybe Star Girl or Normal People? Thanks in advance for your perspective.
by Fickle-Student-9990
4 Comments
I’d say the Bell Jar is probably ok, but Memoirs of a Geisha has some pretty seriously adult themes, even beyond the obvious.
Spoilers ahead, but >!I’m not really sure it’s appropriate for a 13 year old to be reading about a man who collects “virgin blood” on a towel that he deflowers a prostitute/geisha on, or some guy getting off on listening to a girl urinate.!<
I think you’re skipping over a few steps, personally. I don’t see that it matters what her reading level is, or her perceived maturity level. There’s plenty of books in between young reader and R rated adult books.
Let her be a kid while she is a kid.
It depends on the child. Additionally, I think you should probably respect her mother on this one as a matter of courtesy. There may also be reasons these would be especially hard for your niece, perhaps reasons you don’t know about. Young adults are currently in the throughs of a mental health crisis.
Conversely, there are so so many incredible books for a 13 year old that are, for example, from the perspective of a person in her age range dealing with these same issues, or are by and for adults but don’t necessarily contain suicide or assault. For example, perhaps Pride and Prejudice or Jane Eyre might be interesting to her and meet your sister’s approval. I would also plug Wild Swans here– an incredible true history of 3 generations of a woman’s family, where her grandmother, mother, and herself all take part in different kind of rebellions against corruption and sexist oppression in China. It’s a remarkable book.
Personally I think it has less to do with maturity and more to do with innocence/naivete. I was also a voracious reader and very mature for my age, but was incredibly naive even as a 13-year-old—even The Bell Jar would have been too much (or just boring). Imo this is less a question of “inappropriate for her age” and more “too young/inexperienced to appreciate.”
There are plenty of other classics that deal with themes of femininity without diving explicitly into sexuality that she might get more out of. Jane Eyre, North and South, Pride and Prejudice, etc.