A Thousand Acres discussion

Although I personally wouldn't recommend this book for someone so young, if you read it already and understood it than good for you! When I was a teenager I stuck to literature geared toward young adults and never challenged myself. If you are willing to try books that are meant for adults with some more serious adult themes go for it. Disclaimer- maybe ask your parents first next time?

I only have a 5 year old, but I'm not sure how I would feel about him reading a book with incest and infidelity when he was 11. I do think it's great that you're interested in such award-winning, difficult books at such a young age. Keep reading!

Hi Ana, A thousand Acres is usually geared toward students in grades 11 or 12. A number of teachers use it as a class reading book and often pair it with William Shakespeare's play "King Lear". I would suggest that at some point, should you read "King Lear", you might want to reread A Thousand Acres. The book you read is considered to be a modernized retelling of Shakespeare's play. You may find that it brings a whole new aspect to your reading. That said, I would probably have preferred you to read the book when you were a bit older because of the subject matter. Considering the type of things that are on television and in the movies now, you may be very aware of all of the things mentioned in the book. I do suspect that the book may have made you a bit uncomfortable, which may be why you asked your question. Yes, children can read the book. Are they ready to read it? Maybe not.

I dont think it is for YOUNG children. A mature teen yes

I would allow (and possibly encourage) my 14 year old daughter to read this book. It might root out some abuse that a parent was oblivious to, but I think it contains valuable lessons on many fronts. Keeping your emotions bottled up is a temporary fix! It may take a lifetime for them to surface, but surface they will. The destruction this flood will create will only be compounded by the length of time it has to grow.
I would not just toss this book to any kid and say "here,read this", but for the right child I think it would be good.

I don't think there is much in the subject matter of this book that would hold the attention of a younger reader.