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From: Ginny Kruse <gmkruse>
Date: Thu, 28 Sep 1995 20:20:00 -600
We hope you will continue to reflect on the themes in Scorpions and Fallen Angels and some of the insights each book has provided for you or for young readers with whom you are in touch. Scorpions and Fallen Angels are full of discussible ideas; we barely tapped the surface. Spend time with these books and others by Walter Dean Myers, and share your comments with the CCBC-NET community whenever you wish.
Pat Enciso commented that as readers we are listeners to Richie Perry's story, one he had not understood himself as he headed back to the U.S.A. after being in Vietnam. As readers, we are listeners to the authors of thoughtfully developed books such as Scorpions and Fallen Angels. What are their characters telling us? What is Walter Dean Myers pointing out by means of his "angels," the fictional youth whose experiences remind readers of today's realties? He unfolds images of many kinds of scorpions, but also many forms of heroism. He offers unexpected signs of hope, and he often offers humor. His readers, too, can pull their collars against the winds, facing into them, like Jamal.
Sometime you might want to read more about Walter Dean Myers and his books. One excellent source is the article "Threads in Our Cultural Fabric" by Roger Sutton, a conversation with Walter Dean Myers published in School Library Journal (June, 1994: 24().
Rudine Sims Bishop is the author of a fine literary biography of Walter Dean Myers titled Presenting Walter Dean Myers published in 1991 by G.K. Hall as part of the Twayne U.S. Authors Series. Look for it.
If you've never discovered Rudine Sims' Shadow and Substance; Afro-American Experience in Contemporary Children's Fiction (National Council of Teachers of English, 1982) make time to locate this slim volume in a library. After you read Sims' analysis of fiction published between 1965y, you'll know why she named Myers as an
"Imagemaker" long before books such as Scorpions, Fallen Angels, Somewhere in the Darkness, Now is Our Time and Malcolm X were written and published. We frequently recommend Shadow and Substance to individuals seeking to study Multicultural Literature. After reading Shadow and Substance you'll understand more about "culturally conscious" fiction, as well. This important work is out of print at this time, but it is worth the search.
Myers' new novel, Shadow of the Red Moon, will be published in November by Scholastic. It's a fantasy involving young teenagers
(angels?) whose land/nation/kingdom is being destroyed. They are sent forth by their adults to survive by seeking a distant homeland. Myers has once again challenged himself to work in a different genre, and he has challenged his readers to explore contemporary themes in a new way. I read Shadow of the Red Moon last weekend and am still shaping my own thoughts about it. Share your responses with all of us after you read this or any other books by Walter Dean Myers - at any time. Ginny
******************************************************************** Ginny Moore Kruse (CCBC-NET e-mail: gmkruse at ccbc.soemadison.wisc.edu) Cooperative Children's Book Center (CCBC) A Library of the School of Education University of Wisconsin - Madison CCBC e-mail: ccbcinfo at soemadison.wisc.edu CCBC fax: 608&2I33 CCBC Librarians: Megan Schliesman, Kathleen Horning, and
Ginny Moore Kruse U.S. Mail Address: Cooperative Children's Book Center 4290 Helen C. White Hall 600 N. Park St. Madison, WI 53706 U.S.A.
Received on Thu 28 Sep 1995 09:20:00 PM CDT
Date: Thu, 28 Sep 1995 20:20:00 -600
We hope you will continue to reflect on the themes in Scorpions and Fallen Angels and some of the insights each book has provided for you or for young readers with whom you are in touch. Scorpions and Fallen Angels are full of discussible ideas; we barely tapped the surface. Spend time with these books and others by Walter Dean Myers, and share your comments with the CCBC-NET community whenever you wish.
Pat Enciso commented that as readers we are listeners to Richie Perry's story, one he had not understood himself as he headed back to the U.S.A. after being in Vietnam. As readers, we are listeners to the authors of thoughtfully developed books such as Scorpions and Fallen Angels. What are their characters telling us? What is Walter Dean Myers pointing out by means of his "angels," the fictional youth whose experiences remind readers of today's realties? He unfolds images of many kinds of scorpions, but also many forms of heroism. He offers unexpected signs of hope, and he often offers humor. His readers, too, can pull their collars against the winds, facing into them, like Jamal.
Sometime you might want to read more about Walter Dean Myers and his books. One excellent source is the article "Threads in Our Cultural Fabric" by Roger Sutton, a conversation with Walter Dean Myers published in School Library Journal (June, 1994: 24().
Rudine Sims Bishop is the author of a fine literary biography of Walter Dean Myers titled Presenting Walter Dean Myers published in 1991 by G.K. Hall as part of the Twayne U.S. Authors Series. Look for it.
If you've never discovered Rudine Sims' Shadow and Substance; Afro-American Experience in Contemporary Children's Fiction (National Council of Teachers of English, 1982) make time to locate this slim volume in a library. After you read Sims' analysis of fiction published between 1965y, you'll know why she named Myers as an
"Imagemaker" long before books such as Scorpions, Fallen Angels, Somewhere in the Darkness, Now is Our Time and Malcolm X were written and published. We frequently recommend Shadow and Substance to individuals seeking to study Multicultural Literature. After reading Shadow and Substance you'll understand more about "culturally conscious" fiction, as well. This important work is out of print at this time, but it is worth the search.
Myers' new novel, Shadow of the Red Moon, will be published in November by Scholastic. It's a fantasy involving young teenagers
(angels?) whose land/nation/kingdom is being destroyed. They are sent forth by their adults to survive by seeking a distant homeland. Myers has once again challenged himself to work in a different genre, and he has challenged his readers to explore contemporary themes in a new way. I read Shadow of the Red Moon last weekend and am still shaping my own thoughts about it. Share your responses with all of us after you read this or any other books by Walter Dean Myers - at any time. Ginny
******************************************************************** Ginny Moore Kruse (CCBC-NET e-mail: gmkruse at ccbc.soemadison.wisc.edu) Cooperative Children's Book Center (CCBC) A Library of the School of Education University of Wisconsin - Madison CCBC e-mail: ccbcinfo at soemadison.wisc.edu CCBC fax: 608&2I33 CCBC Librarians: Megan Schliesman, Kathleen Horning, and
Ginny Moore Kruse U.S. Mail Address: Cooperative Children's Book Center 4290 Helen C. White Hall 600 N. Park St. Madison, WI 53706 U.S.A.
Received on Thu 28 Sep 1995 09:20:00 PM CDT
