From: GRIFFISC at bcvms.bc.edu <GRIFFISC>
Date: Mon, 08 Apr 1996 09:45:09 -0400 (EDT)

I have been a Vera B. williams fan for a number of years. The book that I have discussed most often with others recently is Scooter. The scene that most people appreciate in that book seems to be the temper tantrum incident. I appreciate it because she really captures the feeling of being out of control and knowing you are out of control at the same time. This scene also shows the importance of feeling secure in learning how to handle emotions. Williams gets to the emotional essence of the experience and shows how the conflict can be resolved.

I have also had interesting discussions about the setting of Scooter. We have a lot of discussion around when the story happens. References to frisbees and some other nineties-type toys and objects make it set now, but most people feel that the freedom and safety Elana feels in her apartment building and neighborhood make it set in another earlier time. In thinking about this I remembered what Vera Williams said about the book when she spoke last april at the CCBC Conference--she thinks of it as utopian fiction. And in a way whe is right---it is realistic though, because, for me she gets the emotions right. Another way to think about it is that it happens in what Margaret Mahy calls "the place of story."--that world where some of my favorite thinkgs happen.

Susan Griffith Lesley college Cambridge, Massachusetts
Received on Mon 08 Apr 1996 08:45:09 AM CDT