The History of BookAngles
Shocked Parents
BookAngles was conceived about a year and a half before BookAngles.com launched in 2003. A friend and homeschooling mom mentioned that she was considering assigning the book Of Mice and Men to her then nine-year-old son. She’d never read the book – didn’t have time – but she knew it was considered a classic that appears on many suggested reading lists.
Because my friends know I am an avid reader and love children’s literature, they often ask my opinion on books for their family. These moms uniformly love their children and want the best for them. Often, they have several other young children at home, and they are, like all moms, busy ladies.
When I gave that mother a quick recap of the themes and plot in Of Mice and Men, she became perturbed. In her estimation, her son was clearly not ready to tackle the issues in this book featuring, among other “adult” content, a wife who is a sexual tease and who accuses a man of rape; drinking; fighting; and a murder.
This scenario, of parents shocked when I reveal to them the content of their child’s recommended readings, repeated numerous times over the next year or so. Busy moms who otherwise relied upon suggested reading lists and “the classics” decided instead to ask me. My descriptions prompted many parents to steer their child to more appropriate reading material, or to delay selections or become more involved in the reading so they could guide their child through certain sections and discuss the issues.
Homespun Beginnings
Early BookAngles reviews are shorter than most later reviews. They included reviews of books I was reading with my own children and reviews our girls wrote about books they read. Letting them write reviews was a great training ground, helping them to gain discernment in their own reading selections. At first, I made our reviews available to a small circle of friends and acquaintances.
Serving Busy Parents, Teachers and Librarians
It quickly became apparent that today’s busy, yet concerned, parents need and want a resource like BookAngles. The same goes for thoughtful grandparents, teachers and librarians who help decide on behalf of parents which book is appropriate for a particular child/student, including books found on various required reading lists.
As our children have grown, with many interests and pursuits to fill their days, the job of writing reviews has fallen almost exclusively to me. My husband, who spends most of his time writing instead of reading, also found time to put pen to a few of the reviews. And one invited guest also contributed several times over the years.
Our Angle and Noteworthy Content
In response to parents who often ask my personal opinion of a book, beyond a factual synopsis of the content, “Our Angle” tells how we feel about the quality and content of each selection. We also quantify “Our Angle” with a star rating. The heart of BookAngles lies, however, in the detailed listing of “Noteworthy Content,” which helps adults decide for themselves when and if a book should be on the reading shelf of a child in their charge. To best meet that need, my reviews in recent years have become more detailed.
Literary Landmines
Today’s libraries and bookstores are full of literary landmines. Large numbers of books no longer reflect traditional Judeo-Christian family values, including books on well respected lists like the Newbery Awards. That is why I wrote a magazine article on this very subject, which you can
read here.
A Worthwhile Pursuit
BookAngles is a time-consuming pursuit. We spend many hundreds of hours a year reading books, writing reviews, answering daily e-mails, maintaining the website and conducting research. It brings me pleasure and satisfaction to empower other parents, like you, to decide what is best for your children/students and to intelligently discuss issues raised by various authors. I have no desire to make these decisions for you.
With no promotional budget and mainly word of mouth, web traffic (as of early 2008) reached over 500 page views per day before we totally redesigned the site. I owe thanks to many of you for the encouragement and support that keeps this resource alive, growing and available to increasing numbers of adults who CARE about the mental food they offer the children in their care.
-Derri