REVIEW: Lit Up by David Denby

 3/5 stars

Denby’s book is worth a read for high school English teachers determined to help young students develop a love of literature.

As the book’s subtitle indicates, Lit Up is about David Denby’s experience in several high school English classrooms over the course of a couple of years. He details a few teachers’ techniques for transforming students’ attitudes about reading. Be prepared: these teachers and students engage in some deeper thinking and discussion than I remember experiencing at that level, even in advanced placement courses. I needed to give my brain a rest every now and then while I was just reading about it!

Denby analyzes the methods and dialogue of the teachers and students – and not always objectively. At some points in the book, I wished the author had held back from inserting his own life philosophies and political views. It didn’t ruin his overall purpose, however, which was to argue in favor of pushing students toward great literature and maintaining the importance of the humanities in a STEM-focused generation. My only other warning about the book is that Denby completely outlines the plots of many of the books the classes read. These very descriptive sections are great for readers, except when you want to avoid spoilers about books you haven’t yet read! In that case, I recommend skipping those parts; you won’t lose out on the main information.

The teachers in Lit Up are clearly very passionate about what they do and I admired their resolve in teaching difficult texts to sometimes difficult students. It was inspiring to read about the students going from either not caring or not knowing how to approach important literature to actively engaging in the classroom. It made me determined to be in a role like that someday, but it also was a bit intimidating. I could only hope to be such a great educator. But this book offered some excellent ideas for doing so and I would recommend it to anyone interested in examples of what does or doesn’t work in an English classroom today.

Release Date: February 2, 2016 (Henry Holt and Co.)