From: Marc Aronson <75664.3110>
Date: 27 Feb 96 09:34:30 EST

Ginny was nice enough to ask for my thoughts about DAMNED STRONG LOVE. Here some comments, more or less as I think of them. Of course I'd also like to hear
(read?) from any of you who may have your own thoughts about the book. I do hope to end with some provocative thoughts.

We first heard tell of the book when one of our editors was told about it by its German publisher at Bologna. All we had to go on was the book in German and a short description. The true story of the this cross-national teenage gay love affair during the war sounded like it could be an EDGE book, but there were many, many questions. The first, oddly enough, was not about the nature of the book but the probable style. Many German YA books, and in particular books from that house and even by Lutz Van Dijk, author of this book, are quite didactic. The subjects they deal with may be quite interesting -- about issues of race, culture, religion, and coming of age. But the style is really not what we look for in EDGE. From the first our idea has been that the best way to communicate about other cultures, or to make different experiences accessible to younger readers is through great writing. The writing, in that way of thinking, is often more important than the subject. That is why, for example, we feel Kyoko Mori's SHIZUKO'S DAUGHTER teaches most about Japan and Japanese culture through how each sentence is constructed than through any information it imparts about women, men, family, divorce, suicide, etc.

So the big question about DAMNED STRONG LOVE was whether it was a damned strong book. We sent it to Elizabeth Crawford to get an opinion. Libby is an excellent resource for questions like this. Not only is she a fine translator, she worked for many years as an editor of books for younger readers. She has an eye for a book as it fits into American kids' literature, not just as a candidate for translation.

When we send out a book for a reader's report, we ask a few questions. We request that the reader give a summary of the book, an overall evaluation, and a sample translation. The sample actually must have two parts. We want to see both the very best passages -- those that would incline us to publish the book -- and the very worst -- those that gave the potential translator a sinking feeling. Why, you might ask, would any translator go along with this? Wouldn't they want us to use their services? Well, maybe, and it is a real disadvantage that we are not more proficient in more languages here -- now it is easier to find French, German, Spanish, Chinese, Hebrew, and Arabic readers around the office than it once was, but we still should be doing better. But the main reason to trust translators is that they will only find work with us if their word is trustworthy. And, since we pay them a royalty on all books sold, their best chance of making money is working on a book that people actually want to read.

Libby loved the book. We are looking to see if we can find her report, which we cn post. She also wrote a letter to share with all of you that we will input this week. She felt it was a story of human love, not of in particular gay love, that had to be told. But she did select a passage that gave her pause. This was the scene in which Stefan discovered his attraction to men on the night his brother took him out to drink, fantasize about women, and masturbate. Not only was this a passage about homosexuality, it had the overtone of incestuous desire. When she mentioned it on the phone and in her cover note, we feared that perhaps this was not a book for us. But when we read what are now pages 305 in the book we felt just the opposite. The passage that she had translated as her example of a possible reason not to publish the book was, in our eyes, the very strongest argument in its favor.

We were struck in those very charged pages by the narrator's innocence. There was not a word or phrase in those passages placed their to shock or to pander to the reader. This was a direct, moving, personal expression of dawning feeling, as it must have taken place. That the object of feeling was a brother was not the issue, this was the way a young man came to recognize himself, his own desires. There was a purity and beauty in this work that meant we had to publish it.

Were we worried about censorship etc? Not really, though later one reviewer asked if were not concerned that the title might create sales problems. No, "Damned" was just the right word. The relationship was both very strong and condemned, only "Damned" said both. Damned said something else too. We do not want anyone to be fooled by this book. It is what it is. We want people to know what they will find on these pages. If reading about homosexuality, or love that could even extend to Nazis, is a problem for someone we want them to know that before they open the book. We realize that this is not a book for everyone, but so what. Not every book should be.

On the same list with DMANED STRONG LOVE we published two other books that deal with World War II: Jacob Boas' WE ARE WITNESSES and Helene Deschampes' SPYGLASS. We chose the same artist to do all three jackets, and to use that extended canvas to explore a theme. Each jacket shows the armed might of the Nazis and juxtaposes against it an individual or -- in this case -- a couple. Though the books are entirely distinct, they are all about individual human responses to tyranny, oppression, and to a given historical moment. George Pratt, the artist we chose, has done a brilliant graphic novel called ENEMY ACE, as well as a series of haunting monoprints that deal with the camps. We hope that he may eventually exhibit or publish those prints, for they are brilliant.

As those of you who have read the book know, Stefan is alive. He came to America earlier this year, and has also visited Holland. He will eventually take a trip to Israel too. All of these visits are being filmed and a documentary about his life will result from that. This created some problems, as when the crew wanted to film him being filmed on a gay cable station in New York. The station has had its problems and did not want the crew there, but the film makers felt this was a key scene. In the end the station manager was cool and collected and all went well.

Now to get to the more difficult issues the book has raised for us. We were pleased by the strong reviews it got, and the editorial about it in the HORN BOOK. That gave us some hope that it might be a candidate for mention by the Batchelder committee. But in San Antonio we suddenly realized something that we had never thought of. Just like the Newbery and the Caldecott, the Batchelder is an ALSC award. It must, by rule, ignore books aimed at older teenagers. Should DAMNED STRONG LOVE qualify for such an award? In the end we think it should, not only because ALSC does go up to 14, but because this is essentially a book about coming of age. One of the crucial thresholds any of us cross at that time is defining our sexuaity, or our sexual conflicts. That may come at many different ages. This is a book that has much to say to any reader experiencing those yearnings.

It is easy for us to write this, it can even sound like ad copy. But we have been pleased that various teen discussion groups around the country have reported similar thoughts. We sent the book out to one in Englewood New Jersey and some of the most moving comments came from Eighth Grade girls, who felt that they were learning about love. Others, though, only felt that they could understand Stefan's feelings by picturing him as a girl. Even that kind of comment was fascinating.

We were pleased that the committee did recognize the book. But we continue to feel that there is a fundamental problem in the entire ALA award structure. Right now we are editing two diaries (one under contract, one under consideration) that were kept by young people in the camps. The subjects are on the deepest level of human experience: moral choice, life and death, the formation of the soul in times of agony and stark choice. Should such books be eligible for prizes? Of course. Will they be under the current rules? OF course not.

Why is this? Why -- we are heating up here so this is dangerous -because we want to ignore both the literature aimed at older teenagers and the teenagers themselves. This is a great failing in ALA. We do not grant real attention-getting honors to the most challenging books that come from kids' divisions of publishing houses. There will be a panel that will tackle some of these issues at ALA in New York. Michael Cart will be the host, Dick Jackson of Orchard, Francesca Lia Block, and I will be among the speakers. I hope to see you there.

As one of my best middle school teachers used to say, "comments, questions, observations?" -- He is now a bookseller.

Marc Aronson
Received on Tue 27 Feb 1996 08:34:30 AM CST