From: Megan Schliesman <mjschlie>
Date: Wed, 4 Sep 1996 16:02:20 -0500

The question of Mia's likability (or lack of it) is an interesting one to me because I think it's one of the thing that Susan Freeman does so well bring out the fact that a child's behavior is not always likable. Mia's behavior does not make her a flawed human being; it simply makes her human. It also does not exempt her from sympathy, given her circumstances. AT the same time, her circumstances do not excuse her behavior. This is difficult territory for child readers, and important territory, because it reflects on such human truth. Mia's circumstances in and of themselves may not be universal, but certainly many children will recognize on some level the less-than-kind behavior and the way it sometimes gets oor feels ut of control in themselves or in another. Susan Freeman draws connections between Mia's behavior and circustance (as the wonderful discussion on ritual points out), but at no time did I think she excused it. She just portrayed something that felt very real.

I also find it interesting on a personal level that while Mia isn't wholly likable, I did enjoy the book. OFten, when I don't care for the protagonist, I don't care for the book. But there is an important distinction between not caring for and not caring about - and while I didn't always like Mia's behavior, I always cared about Mia herself.

Megan Schliesman Cooperative Children's BOok Center
Received on Wed 04 Sep 1996 04:02:20 PM CDT