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Creech's nationality
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From: fossj at shrsys.hslc.org <fossj>
Date: Fri, 14 Jul 1995 15:14:03 EST
I know you have moved on to discussing the characters, but I sent my first comments on Robin's comments to a wrong address or something. I agreed with Robin the first time I read WTM and wondered where Creech got the background to write the book. The Newbery committee thought it was a very American book in its setting and this was a little curious since we knew the author spent so much time in England. In her Newbery speech Creech mentioned that as a teenager she and her family made a similar journey from Ohio to Idaho and the book followed much the same itinerary. She aslo mentioned that the book in some ways reflected her homesickness for her native country. At one of the dinners we had with Sharon, someone (actually I think it was Carla) mentioned how accurate the depiction of Madison was in the book. Sharon's comment was that rather than getting the information first hand, she had used Fodor's guide for the restaurant names and such. It' a good thing she didn't use the Fodor's Chicago guide that I used for ALA because some reviewer would have taken her to task for having her characters make lunch reservations at the Hard Rock Cafe! In answer to KT's question, I wouldn't put WTM on a Native American list. I, too, wonder why Sal is always presented as being Native American in all the reviews and publicity because it's really only part of the background of her life that is mysterious or of interest to her and is not really what defines heridentity. I had wandered about how Creech came to write about a girl with Native American background when she didn't seem to have any, and again in her acceptance speech, Sharon mentioned that when she grew up she knew she had Indian ancestors, but really didn didn't know about the culture. I liked that she refused to apologize about writing about her own romantic view of Indians stayed true to her experience and didn't worry about being thought "politically incorrect" or "politically ingratiating" as Judith Gorog calls it. JoAnne
Received on Fri 14 Jul 1995 03:14:03 PM CDT
Date: Fri, 14 Jul 1995 15:14:03 EST
I know you have moved on to discussing the characters, but I sent my first comments on Robin's comments to a wrong address or something. I agreed with Robin the first time I read WTM and wondered where Creech got the background to write the book. The Newbery committee thought it was a very American book in its setting and this was a little curious since we knew the author spent so much time in England. In her Newbery speech Creech mentioned that as a teenager she and her family made a similar journey from Ohio to Idaho and the book followed much the same itinerary. She aslo mentioned that the book in some ways reflected her homesickness for her native country. At one of the dinners we had with Sharon, someone (actually I think it was Carla) mentioned how accurate the depiction of Madison was in the book. Sharon's comment was that rather than getting the information first hand, she had used Fodor's guide for the restaurant names and such. It' a good thing she didn't use the Fodor's Chicago guide that I used for ALA because some reviewer would have taken her to task for having her characters make lunch reservations at the Hard Rock Cafe! In answer to KT's question, I wouldn't put WTM on a Native American list. I, too, wonder why Sal is always presented as being Native American in all the reviews and publicity because it's really only part of the background of her life that is mysterious or of interest to her and is not really what defines heridentity. I had wandered about how Creech came to write about a girl with Native American background when she didn't seem to have any, and again in her acceptance speech, Sharon mentioned that when she grew up she knew she had Indian ancestors, but really didn didn't know about the culture. I liked that she refused to apologize about writing about her own romantic view of Indians stayed true to her experience and didn't worry about being thought "politically incorrect" or "politically ingratiating" as Judith Gorog calls it. JoAnne
Received on Fri 14 Jul 1995 03:14:03 PM CDT
