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The parents in "The Cuckoo's Child"
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From: Kathleen Horning <khorning>
Date: Mon, 09 Sep 1996 20:02:52 -0500
One of the interesting points that came up in our monthly discussion group here at the CCBC when we discussed "The Cuckoo's Child" was the issue of what happened to Mia's parents. Some people assumed they had died in an accident at sea and others thought they had defected to the Eastern Bloc. I was in the first group initially but when I went back and read the book for a second time, I could see how readers would come up with the parents-as?fectors theory. Actually it adds another layer of complexity to the story and leads to a lot of double meanings, especially with the innocent, off-hand remarks that Mia makes that the adults around her are obviously reading more into than she herself understands. It also makes Mia a bit more of a sympathetic character, as she would be dealing with a type of abandonment even more painful than death, that is, her parents choosing their political ideals over their children.
I appreciate that Suzanne Freeman didn't explicitly state one way or the other whether the parents defected but left it open to each reader's interpretation, so I'm not expecting the author to tell us what she had in mind. I am. however, interested in hearing what other readers think about the parents as defectors, and wonder if it colors your opinion of them or of Mia (or any of the other characters for that matter).
KT Horning Cooperative Children's Book Center University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Education 4290 Helen C. White Hall 600 North Park St. Madison, WI 53706 USA 608&3930/FAX 608&2I33 email: khorning at facstaff.wisc.edu
Received on Mon 09 Sep 1996 08:02:52 PM CDT
Date: Mon, 09 Sep 1996 20:02:52 -0500
One of the interesting points that came up in our monthly discussion group here at the CCBC when we discussed "The Cuckoo's Child" was the issue of what happened to Mia's parents. Some people assumed they had died in an accident at sea and others thought they had defected to the Eastern Bloc. I was in the first group initially but when I went back and read the book for a second time, I could see how readers would come up with the parents-as?fectors theory. Actually it adds another layer of complexity to the story and leads to a lot of double meanings, especially with the innocent, off-hand remarks that Mia makes that the adults around her are obviously reading more into than she herself understands. It also makes Mia a bit more of a sympathetic character, as she would be dealing with a type of abandonment even more painful than death, that is, her parents choosing their political ideals over their children.
I appreciate that Suzanne Freeman didn't explicitly state one way or the other whether the parents defected but left it open to each reader's interpretation, so I'm not expecting the author to tell us what she had in mind. I am. however, interested in hearing what other readers think about the parents as defectors, and wonder if it colors your opinion of them or of Mia (or any of the other characters for that matter).
KT Horning Cooperative Children's Book Center University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Education 4290 Helen C. White Hall 600 North Park St. Madison, WI 53706 USA 608&3930/FAX 608&2I33 email: khorning at facstaff.wisc.edu
Received on Mon 09 Sep 1996 08:02:52 PM CDT
