Children's Literature in the Middle School

Abstract

The topic, Literature in the Middle School, inevitably focuses on the uses and values of literature for youngsters in the middle school years. The focus cannot be on a finite body of literature, for a separate body of chil dren's literature for the middle school just does not exist. Instead, literature for older children, young adults, and even some adult literature provide the content for this age level. Children in the middle school often have one foot still back in childhood and the other stepping into young adulthood. They are diverse in their needs and interests; thus, a wide range of content should be available for use by these children in the middle—in the transescence of their de velopment. But the actual use is another matter. Amid the general hue and cry that today's children cannot or do not read, one wonders if enough consideration is being given to the what of reading. Children's literature, both fact and fiction, is what reading is all about. The question then is whether it is being used as content for the reading program in the middle school.