A few of my “learning network” people on Twitter (including @TheReadingZone and @cdobrez) posted the following Tweet in the last couple of days: “Does anyone write 200 page teen novels anymore? I have a stack of review books that know no page limit. Love you Harry Potter, but...”
The implication of the incomplete “but” at the end of the Tweet is the recognition that though we fond readers might like bigger books, with long-developed characters and stories, we have to recognize that at a certain point, even we don’t like books that are overly-long, 700 and 800 pages. And if we that love to read find such long books a bit too much, think about how adolescents might feel.
On the one hand, there is a reason to give a longer book to a young reader. If that reader can really dig into the character and plot over a lengthy period of time, that reader may find quite an affinity for that particular book (and if it is part of a series, like Harry Potter, that reader may continue to read through the series).
However, there is a big risk with stocking really long books in the classroom library and assigning them to young readers. They can be very intimidating. I know there are still times when I choose not to read a book because it is so thick that it gives me the impression that it will take a lot of work to get into, and will take too long for me to complete to suit my reading moods at that moment. If I feel this way, I can imagine a struggling or unmotivated young reader will feel even more put out by a book that looks like 4 novels put together.
The long and the short of a Tweet like this is that it is discouraging to see these adolescent series becoming so demanding of readers. While many young readers get into them and are excited about them, it’d be nice to see novels and series for adolescents that still check in at about 200 pages. These could be kept around for readers not quite ready or unwilling to tackled 700 and 800 pages. And of course, you’d like to keep new titles around for contemporary student interests. If the trend continues to create lengthy novels, the 200 page readers (such as myself on occasion) will be left with the old retreads (I love Where the Red Fern Grows, but it can only be read so many times).
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