From: Lynn Smith <LSMITH>
Date: Thu, 03 Jul 1997 11:56:13 -0500

I remember having to read "Fog Magic", a Newberry Honor Book by Julia Sauer for a class. It is a magical space and time book. At the same time my children were reading Anne Lindbergh ("Hunky-dory Dairy" and "The People of Pineapple Place") and John Bellairs (books in which the main character generally finds an object from the past). I thought how wonderful that I could recommend
"Fog Magic" to them and that they would never know that it was from 1944. The same with the "Westing Game" , a 1979 Newbery winner which is an Agatha Christie like mystery. I think that genre definitely is a factor in whether a book can withstand the test of time. Science Fiction and Mystery sometimes don't date as quickly and often other time periods are important to the story. It doesn't guarantee classic status as there are many factors that make a book a good book, genre is simply one of them.
Received on Thu 03 Jul 1997 11:56:13 AM CDT