historicalyafen | (no subject)

Does anybody else read Elizabeth Wein's "Young Pilots" books (Code Name Verity, its various companions, and the others dealing with the same time period and subject matter)? If so, what do we think of them?

I've read Code Name Verity, Rose Under Fire, and most recently The Pearl Thief and really enjoyed all of them. I could nitpick about them (and have, on my Tumblr) but I'm so happy to have World War II fiction that's appropriate for teens and early adults and that deals with personalities and relationships rather than solely military or technical subject matter that I've fallen in love with them anyway.

I recently bought Firebird, a recent and for some reason very hard to find one dealing with a Soviet airwoman suspected of treason, but I haven't read it yet. It was actually initially going to be a birthday present for a dyslexic family member of mine (Wein wrote the book in a way that prioritized readability for dyslexic readers, which I wasn't aware that anyone was doing and greatly admire) but even a month after Christmas I'm still really on the fence about giving a book for young readers to someone in his fifties. I'm sure the book is great but he's not really a YA or children's literature fan and I don't want him to feel that I'm patronizing him. If anybody has read it, what would you recommend I do?

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"I'm still really on the fence about giving a book for young readers to someone in his fifties. I'm sure the book is great but he's not really a YA or children's literature fan and I don't want him to feel that I'm patronizing him."

Age and reading preferences are two separate issues (says the person in their fifties). If he actively dislikes kidlit/YAlit, then I'd agree that such a gift would be risky. But if he simply doesn't seek out such books himself, then you could just tell him the truth: This is a book by an author you really enjoy reading, on a topic you thought he'd enjoy. No need to make a big deal over a book's age categories, which, quite frankly, often come down to marketing decisions on the part of the author or publisher.

He's never expressed any particular opinion one way or another on age categories in fiction, but he's also not much of a reader in general. There are children's or family-oriented movies he likes a lot. Thanks for the advice; I'm not used to shopping for people significantly older than me or buying people books they didn't specifically ask for.

Edited 2019-02-04 02:15 (UTC)

Yeah, choosing books as gifts can be totally intimidating, even when you know that the person is an avid reader. :)