Not all students in my school are the same size. They can also be 6 years apart chronologically. So when a 7th grader came to check out a book from James Patterson today, I found myself telling him that I didn't think the book was for someone who was 12 years old. "I've read books from this author before," he said. I replied, "Oh, you must have read Witch and Wizard or Maximum Ride." "Yes, I loved those books," he responded. Then I had to explain that this author writes books for adults as well as children. Since the title of the book was "Honeymoon", I made a judgement call and would not check out the book. Believe it or not, this is the first time that has ever happened to me in 22 years of teaching. Students usually check out books which are age-appropriate. If you work in a school with junior/middle school students and high school students, I'd be interested in how you deal with a situation like this. I know this time I made the right decision.
