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teachingmyown
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| Posted: Dec 11 2006 at 8:53pm | IP Logged
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Can someone tell me what, if anything, would be problematic in this series for an eleven year old girl? I read the first book a few years back and can't recall problems. However, I also recall a customer returning one of the books, I believe it was Many Waters, saying that they didn't want their kids to read it.
Help! I can't keep up with this child's reading habits. 
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Martha
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It's been a bit since I read them...
the only slight 'issue' might be that in the last book (i think?) she is grown and has issues with her mother.
she marries her boyfriend and they have 6 (or more?) children. she basicly sets aside any career for herself to help her marine biologist dh and to raise a family, which her career mother just doesn't understand. there's nothng truely negative actually said, it just a general confused, but still loving kind of thing. Her dd is kind of noticing how things are when she goes to spend the summer with her grandparents.
I love this series and have already let my oldest 2 read the series. however, I have been called "liberal" in what reading material I allow, so..
use your own judgement! 
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KellyJ
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I have to ask my husband, as he's read all of them. I do think that that book has a line or two that he blacked out with marker. He said it was TMI. Blacking that little part out doesn't cause a problem in the flow of the sentence(s). I don't even know what it was, as I said if it was TMI, I didn't need to know what it was. But, I can verify that it was Many Waters and whereabouts in that book that the problematic line is.
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KellyJ
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| Posted: Dec 12 2006 at 9:14am | IP Logged
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I was looking for something in our school closet and saw Many Waters there on the shelf. I thumbed through it and noticed that the blacked out part was in the chapter "Pelican in the Wilderness," page 36 in our edition. The paragraph starts out: "The tent flap opened enough...." The TMI is about halfway through the paragraph.
I'll still ask my husband if there was anything other than that spot in Many Waters.
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kjohnson
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I have not yet read this series and have seen mixed reviews. It is on the Kolbe Recommended Reading List, while it is heavily criticized by Michael O'Brien in A Landscape with Dragons. It's been a while since I read O'Brien's book, but he describes L'Engle's books as "Christian Neopaganism."
I haven't formed my own opinion on this series, so I'm interested in what others have to say. An Orthodox priest gave my oldest dd's the boxed set last year, so I've definitely received mixed signals on these.
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Lisbet
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My husband started this as a read aloud last year for the bigger kids (he reads while I nurse the littles down) and I know he stopped soon into the book. I don't know exactly why, I'll ask him about it.
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Willa
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Many Waters was not one I'd give to most 11 year olds. It had a lot of good points but it was set in the Biblical time period where humans married nephilim, dark angels. I don't think the material would be inappropriate for some older teens but it seemed a little too mature in tone and theme for a young one. There would be things that would be difficult to explain and possibly a bit scandalizing.
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Martha
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WJFR wrote:
Many Waters was not one I'd give to most 11 year olds. It had a lot of good points but it was set in the Biblical time period where humans married nephilim, dark angels. I don't think the material would be inappropriate for some older teens but it seemed a little too mature in tone and theme for a young one. There would be things that would be difficult to explain and possibly a bit scandalizing.
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WHA...?! Yikes! Okay, I'm going to go hunt my shelves because that doesn't sounds anythign like what I remember reading at all. And I certainly wouldn't be tossing that to be read by the boys....
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jdostalik
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I held off on letting my dd read A Wrinkle in Time forever. She would ask me occasionally when she would remember, if she was old enough to read it. I finally pre-read it. I had read it as a child and remember loving it, but I didn't remember enough to make sure it was appropriate for my dd. A Wrinkle in Time, I thought was fine, though I see O'Brien's problems with L'Engle. There is a character who is a Fortune Teller and I'm sure O'Brien wasn't keen on her being portrayed positively. There are good points to the series--the protagonist comes from a loving and large family. Bad points on the series as a whole: I found that it gets darker and darker and the symbolism (as Willa points out) gets stranger and more disturbing. Also, if you have a child like mine, who once she finds an author she loves, insists on reading all titles by said author, watch out...L'Engle has some really "avant garde" teen literature out there that I feel is totally inappropriate for any age.
Just my .02 to add to the mix! 
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rose gardens
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I read most of the series as an adult and really liked "A wrinkle in Time". (However, I never did finish Many Waters; that book lost my interest since it did get strange.) In one of the books in the series L'Engle's character lumps Jesus together with other people as someone who simply "did good". That struck me as odd, and I saw Michael O'Brien's point when he noted his concerns with L'Engle's works.
The books in this series are really quick reads, so it wouldn't take more than an evening or so to read one to decide for yourself if it's appropriate for your daughter. I also highly recommend the resource book "A Landscape With Dragons" by Michael O'Brien, whom a couple of other poster's referred to above. I haven't read all of L'Engle's works, so I would use caution. But I really liked the first book "A Wrinkle in Time", and my oldest child did too.
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LLR4
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This thread is from 2006.
I found it yesterday when searching the forum here, looking for information/experiences about this series of books by this author, Madeleine L'Engle.
It seems my dh's sister ordered a 4 book series by this author for my daughter's birthday coming up. (She'll be 11). My dh's sister said they 'are Christian books'--but she always says what she thinks will convince us, true or not.
Have their been any more recent experiences or opinions about these books? Not that the stories change, but I'd like to know more about how these books line up with our Catholic beliefs and teachings, what inappropriateness they may or may not contain....etc. She is a huge, avid and advanced reader (in terms of comprehension), and will read just about anything. But I am particular about what goes into her head. : )
Any info or viewpoints would be appreciated!!
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jdostalik
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Laura,
I would pre-read A Wrinkle in Time, if I were you. It would only take you a few hours to read and that way you would know for sure whether L'Engle's writing is appropriate for your daughter. I would say if A Wrinkle in Time sends off any red flags, the rest of the books would definitely be a problem for you...
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sarahb
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Oh these are beautiful books. Im sad to hear that many of you are bothered by them.
Many Waters is actually MY favorite L'Engle book. L'Engle is a sci fi writer in many senses, esp this series. Many Waters is not for an 11 year old, however. It is in the same "family" of books as Wrinkle, which I feel is appropriate for an 11 yo. Many Waters deals with subject matter which i would feel is more appropriate in HS. 15ish.
The dark forces at work in Many Waters (and in the other books in that family) are pretty clearly dark and working for evil while the forces for good are also obviously good. There is no shadow character in these books (the shadow figure is some one like bat man or the hulk- a troubling mix, not fully heroic.) God's love really does shine in the good characters. The book is set pre flood. really, like just weeks before the flood. Noah is represented as are his sons.
In Wrinkle, grumpy unlikeable Meg and precocious beloved brother Charles Wallace must rescue their dad from evil which has sucked him into another dimesion. Themes which are helpful in childhood- Calvin O'Keefe, a jock and Big Man on Campus type joins the siblings to fight the evil- transcending his stereotypical role. CW has tremendous issues with bullying in another book in the series bc he is a genius. Calvin overcomes an abusive home life (not too disturbingly described.) Ok Im rambling here...Anyway, those three together figure out to defeat the evile thing and save the dad they can use love, which the evil can not understand. Wiki does a better summary than I do, and if you have thematic concerns you may want to read there 
As a personal project last year I made it my plan to read all of L'Engle's works- kids, YA and adult. Most fascinating was her auto biographical Two Part Invention- the story of her marriage to a well known soap actor. Le'Engle's books are simply full to the BRIM of music. Two Part Invention is a play on the Bacj inventions. Classical music reoccurs over and over in these books and is integral in her writing I believe. So is faith and I believe religious themes- not catholicism, specifically, but the greater biblical themes. Many of the books in another series revolve around Canon Tallis, an episcopalian reverend. I would guess that L'Engle herself has a profound relationship with her heavenly Father and that she was likely a prcaticing episcopalian. She is, I believe still alive but I am afraid she is very unwell...
I find her books essential to childhood. But not YOUNG childhood.
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Lara Sauer
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Madeline L'Engle recently passed away.
I have always loved the first three books of the Wrinkle in Time series. For me Many Waters was just sort of an add-on that really didn't do much to enhance the series for me. I think the first three books, (A Wrinkle in Time, A Wind in the Door and A Swiftly Tilting Planet) could be read without concern. I think I was probably in the 6th grade when I read the series for the first time.
Peace.
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LeeAnn
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I am/was a huge L'Engle fan. I went through a phase of trying to read all her fiction about ten years ago. Didn't quite succeed, but close. She does have a couple of problematic issues from a Catholic standpoint. In "House like a Lotus," which is about Polly, Meg's daughter, there are lesbian (not named so, but obvious) neighbors and a general attitude of acceptance of them.
See here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_House_Like_a_Lotus
In her non-fiction--the memoir series, perhaps? it's been a while--she relates an "insight" that she had about trying to reconcile the idea of a Loving God with the story of Abraham and Isaac. Her conclusion was that Abraham misunderstood God--I don't remember the details and no longer have the book--maybe I can find it online....
OK, it's in "The Rock that is Higher" and she describes her idea of God being disappointed in Abraham for literally obeying Him, for choosing the Law (obedience) over "love". I think she thought God was testing Abraham to see if he would defy God out of love for his son--which apparently she thinks was the right choice.
Anyhow..The Wikipedia page on L'Engle describes her as a universalist, which I believe is accurate. Universalism is the idea that all will be saved because of God's limitless mercy and infinite love.
So, that being said, I still like many of L'Engle's books. However, I only choose to keep the three Time trilogy in the house. Everything else I would be careful of and read before giving to your child. Some are OK, some are sort of depressing ("problem" novels, I think Regina Doman calls them--like Zacahary, Polly's suicidal boyfriend) and some are for mature minds only.
I hope that helps explain some of the criticisms about her. I love, love, love the Murray family in the Time trilogy, and some of her other books, but not all of them are equally good.
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LLR4
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Thank you EVERYONE for your input on this book series, and special thanks to Sarahb and LeeAnn for the specifics from the stories that maybe concerning.
I really appreciate everyone's time and opinions to help me decide which way I should go on this.
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Sparrow
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I've only read A Wrinkle in Time and A Wind in the Door, and I loved them both, though I would definitely pre-read anything because her subject matter can be dark and disturbing (I was a teen when I read A Wind in the Door and I still remember being really freaked out by it!)
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4Real Forums : Living Literature
Topic: A Wrinkle in Time series
