Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. Each week, a new topic is posted and you can create your own top 10 list! This week's topic: books that tackle tough issues.
1) To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee - this book really spoke to me the first time I read it as a 14 year old. Having to choose the right thing to do when it's not the popular choice is not easy, but it's something that we have to do. This book is one that everyone should read and take the lesson to heart.
2) Unbearable Lightness by Portia de Rossi - tackling the issues of eating disorders, de Rossi takes the reader into her illness. There were several times while I was reading this book that I had to put it down and walk away. It became too much to sit and read all at once. It definitely opened my eyes to something that I knew very little about.
3) The Anti-Romantic Child by Priscilla Gilman - I am not a parent, but reading this book was truly heartbreaking. Gilman's memoir tackles the issue of raising a child with a learning disability (her son had hyperlexia) and the difficulty of dealing with these issues. Whenever someone is pregnant, I don't think they dream of a child with a learning disability, which is what she discusses, how her son (whom she loves dearly) disappointed her dreams for the perfect child.
4) Night by Elie Wiesel - Wiesel's book focuses on his survival in a Nazi concentration camp. Haunting, scary, terrifying ... this book takes you into a world which few survived and shows you the strength that Wiesel had to have in order to survive. I believe that this should be required reading in school.
5) A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith - telling the story of Francie Nolan and her childhood in Brooklyn, Smith shows how living with an alcoholic parent takes a toll on the children, having a mother work to the bone to provide for her family, and the difficulty of growing up in the slums can affect a child.
That's all that I could think of for this week. What do you think? What are some books that tacke those tough issues?
I read A Tree Grows in Brooklyn a long time ago, but I forgot about the alcoholic parents. I just remembered the difficulty Francie had growing up where she did with little money. Thanks for the reminder.
ReplyDeleteUnbearable Light sounds disturbing but good. Onto my TBR pile it goes.
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Anne
http://headfullofbooks.blogspot.com
The Anti Romantic Child sounds intriguing.
ReplyDeleteMy Top Ten
http://teawithmarce.blogspot.com/2011/07/top-ten-books-that-tackle-tough-issues.html
Great list!
ReplyDeleteEvery Tuesday, I forget to include at least one very important book. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn was this week's. Thanks for reminding me how badly I need to get my own copy of it. :)
I love that I've read most of these. Great list! I agree.
ReplyDelete