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And Now Miguel
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From: HUMMINGRK at aol.com <HUMMINGRK>
Date: Mon, 14 Jul 1997 12:08:40 -0400 (EDT)
I returned from vacation to find my email box bursting with discussions of my favorite books. Some I loved as a child, and some (like Katherine Paterson's) I have come to love as an adult. And Now Miguel falls into the latter group. I don't know why I didn't read it as a child (I'm not all that old!), probably because the librarian thought it was a "boy" story or maybe because in New England it was too far removed culturally. But I'm so glad I found it.
Is the book true to its culture? I really don't know, but it feels real, sounds real. Miguel comes alive on the pages as if he had lived and breathed and found a way up to his beloved mountains.
More important to me is the question: is the book still a good story? That answer is absolutely yes. My sister gave the book to my boys when they were small. Thinking that they were not ready for such a complex story, I read it myself and loved it. When I read it aloud, finally, it was even better. The words rolled off my tongue with the sound of a stream in the Sangre de Christo Mountains. My boys, too, loved the story. They begged to reread it again a year later, and again a third time. I would say that marks And Now Miguel as a good story.
Another book to throw into our discussion of classics is Maniac Maggee by Jerry Spinelli. I've lost count of the number of times we (my boys and I) have read and reread the book. If you have a copy hand, check out the introduction. What do you think?
Sullivan Hill
Received on Mon 14 Jul 1997 11:08:40 AM CDT
Date: Mon, 14 Jul 1997 12:08:40 -0400 (EDT)
I returned from vacation to find my email box bursting with discussions of my favorite books. Some I loved as a child, and some (like Katherine Paterson's) I have come to love as an adult. And Now Miguel falls into the latter group. I don't know why I didn't read it as a child (I'm not all that old!), probably because the librarian thought it was a "boy" story or maybe because in New England it was too far removed culturally. But I'm so glad I found it.
Is the book true to its culture? I really don't know, but it feels real, sounds real. Miguel comes alive on the pages as if he had lived and breathed and found a way up to his beloved mountains.
More important to me is the question: is the book still a good story? That answer is absolutely yes. My sister gave the book to my boys when they were small. Thinking that they were not ready for such a complex story, I read it myself and loved it. When I read it aloud, finally, it was even better. The words rolled off my tongue with the sound of a stream in the Sangre de Christo Mountains. My boys, too, loved the story. They begged to reread it again a year later, and again a third time. I would say that marks And Now Miguel as a good story.
Another book to throw into our discussion of classics is Maniac Maggee by Jerry Spinelli. I've lost count of the number of times we (my boys and I) have read and reread the book. If you have a copy hand, check out the introduction. What do you think?
Sullivan Hill
Received on Mon 14 Jul 1997 11:08:40 AM CDT
