LiterariLeigh

Well everyone, I'm only one week away from finishing the Teen Reading challenge. Lots of other librarians and readers are participating, reading as many young adult books as we can within a three month period. It's a great reason to read all those books I meant to get to as a teenager, and I rather like having an adult perspective now.

Somehow, I managed to get through high school and college without reading J.D. Salinger's classic The Catcher in the Rye. I have now rectified this situation with pleasing results. Narrator Holden Caufield is sixteen years old in 1945. Although an intelligent boy, his bad grades get him expelled from his most recent fancy prep school. Unwilling to face his parents right away, Holden checks into a New York hotel not far from his family's apartment. After several awkward attempts to connect with adults and friends his own age, Holden visits his little sister Phoebe, the only person he really seems to communicate with. Although things don't work out exactly as Holden planned them, he realizes how troubled he is, and that he needs help with his passage into adulthood.

The language and style of the writing are what really impressed me. Holden comes off as just what he is - a teenager with troubles who's trying to figure out life. The Catcher in the Rye is one of the most commonly challenged books (books people ask to be restricted or removed from a library) due to profanity, sexuality, and encouraging teen rebellion, but also makes Top 100 book lists everywhere and has won countless awards worldwide. I say read it and judge for yourself.