Invitations to the World: Teaching and Writing for the Young

by Richard Peck

Words of wisdom, helpful tips, and social commentary are provided by this Newbery winning author as he discusses his career as a writer through a collection of poems and excerpts from his novels.

Genres: Writing, Nonfiction, Biography, Memoir

208 pages, Hardcover

First published September 30, 2002

About the author

Richard Peck was an American novelist known for his prolific contributions to modern young adult literature. He was awarded the Newbery Medal in 2001 for his novel A Year Down Yonder. For his cumulative contribution to young-adult literature, he received the Margaret A. Edwards Award from the American Library Association in 1990.

Reviews

[J. Wootton · Rating 4 out of 5]

For $1 I bought this evidently-overprinted hardcover by a much-decorated author of whom I had never before heard. Absolutely a dollar well-spent.

Peck's thesis is that all YA literature is about presenting young people with invitations to the larger world. In his view, children are by nature (and often also by nurture) easy prey to localized mindset conformity - that is, to living in as small a world as they possibility can and making it their whole universe.

He bases this idea of child social psychology largely on his own observations as an American high-school and junior-high teacher from 1959-1971. I happen to think he's still largely correct: It seems to me that the primary purpose for which young people use tech-based social connectivity is for weaving ideas from the web - which in many respects is its own tiny, memetic universe - into their local context, for good and for ill.

Invitations to the World is partly an anthology of Peck's own fiction, partly a synthesis of four decades' observation on parenting, teaching, education, the suburban boom, censorship battles, and American youth, and partly a how-to on the deeper, thematic issues of making good literature for young people. (I hesitate to say "today's" young people, since the audience for which Peck first began writing are of my parents' generation).

I heartily recommend this for anyone who cares about teaching, American education, the sociology of youth, or writing fiction. As soon as I finished it I promptly sent a copy to an educator friend; I expect it will make excellent fodder for a sequel to our discussion of Seth Godin's Stop Stealing Dreams.

[Rebecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is weirdly targeted... I found it in the YA biography section, but it's not really "for the young." It's for adults interested in young adult lit. It's part memoir, part reflection on how YA writing has changed over the course of Peck's long career, and part analysis of his own oeuvre. Turns out Peck is a bit of a curmudgeon! In this volume he really lets out all the "those kids and their cars and their malls and their email and their disrespect for authority" rants he's been holding in. You've got to respect the guy - he's in his 80s but he still goes out and visits schools and works deeply not to moralize at kids, but to wrap up his lessons in compelling, timely fiction.

Also, I'd known that he grew up in central IL as my dad did, and had naturally been drawn to his books set there. But I'm glad I read this because it turns out the setting is actually the smallll town of Cerro Gordo - his father's hometown as well as my own grandmother's! I doublechecked with my dad and he was all "Oh sure, there were some Pecks there. One of the families owned a store and used to give Granny Bea a discount on canned goods, they were some kind of distant cousins..." There you have it.

[Kressel Housman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Richard Peck is one of my favorite writers, so when I read that he wrote a book on the craft of writing, I just had to get hold of it. I did learn some things about craft, but the book was more of a survey of young adult literature than a writing book. He cited many of his own books and explained how they came about. He also cited other young adult writers he respects, such as Robert Cormier and Judy Blume. Oddly enough, the Harry Potter series got only a passing mention, which made me wonder if Peck suffers from a bit of professional jealousy, especially since Blossom Culp was exhibiting her powers about a decade before Harry Potter hit the literary scene. Peck also had a few other bones to pick – one with book censors and the other about teen social politics. I thought he was spot on with most of his analysis. You’ve got to hand it to him; after years as a high school teacher and the research involved in producing his own books, he does understand teens very well. So overall, this is an informative book, but don’t expect any magical solutions for your writing.

[Angélique (Angel) · Rating 4 out of 5]

While I didn't agree with every thing Peck had to say about writing for young adults, I still found this book very helpful to my process as a writer of young adult fiction. It was more accessible than any other non-technique oriented book on writing that I have attempted to read and more thought-provoking than I had anticipated. The strongest feature of this book was its ability to inspire me to flesh out my own YA writing paradigm and consider how my past experiences & roles have shaped this viewpoint. I highly recommend this book to any fledgling YA writers.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lot of this book is Peck discussing his own books and where they came from, but it's liberally sprinkled with his sharp one-liners about education and writing. He also talks about YA books and how they work. Any Peck fan would love this book; aspiring authors will also find lots of helpful stuff.

[Fern · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book. It's about how Richard Peck got into writing and has wonderful examples, stories and quotes.

[Marissa Genta Pineda · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is Mr. Peck's sort of memoir on being an author and teacher of teenagers. He sounds a bit jaded by his teaching experience, but he has some amazing insights on young people and writing.