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The Diary of Patsy and Other CSK Books
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From: K.T. Horning <khorning>
Date: Fri, 20 Feb 1998 12:13:44 -0600 (CST)
I have been following the discussion of "I Thought My Soul Would Rise and Fly," and other titles in the "Dear America" series with great interest. The discussion of fact versus fiction is an important one. We struggled for so many years against watered-down, fictionalized biographies for children, now it seems we are getting the other extreme: fiction pretending to be real history. Does it matter? Well, if we care anything about teaching kids history, you bet it does!
It seems to me that good writing in historical fiction should stand on its own and shouldn't have to rely on packaging to make it seem more authentic. Nor should it have to be turned into a text-book history lesson in order to prove itself worthy. "I Thought My Soul Would Rise and Fly" is a good book in spite of its packaging, not because of it. In fact, I was just about ready to write off the series as another in a long line of American Girls rip-offs until I noticed that the books were being written by the likes of Joyce Hansen, Patricia McKissack and Kathryn Lasky. It troubles me that these writers are being treated like hack writers with the implication that their names on the book jackets would detract from the books' appeal, rather than enhance it.
Kathleen Horning Cooperative Children's Book Center School of Education University of Wisconsin-Madison
Received on Fri 20 Feb 1998 12:13:44 PM CST
Date: Fri, 20 Feb 1998 12:13:44 -0600 (CST)
I have been following the discussion of "I Thought My Soul Would Rise and Fly," and other titles in the "Dear America" series with great interest. The discussion of fact versus fiction is an important one. We struggled for so many years against watered-down, fictionalized biographies for children, now it seems we are getting the other extreme: fiction pretending to be real history. Does it matter? Well, if we care anything about teaching kids history, you bet it does!
It seems to me that good writing in historical fiction should stand on its own and shouldn't have to rely on packaging to make it seem more authentic. Nor should it have to be turned into a text-book history lesson in order to prove itself worthy. "I Thought My Soul Would Rise and Fly" is a good book in spite of its packaging, not because of it. In fact, I was just about ready to write off the series as another in a long line of American Girls rip-offs until I noticed that the books were being written by the likes of Joyce Hansen, Patricia McKissack and Kathryn Lasky. It troubles me that these writers are being treated like hack writers with the implication that their names on the book jackets would detract from the books' appeal, rather than enhance it.
Kathleen Horning Cooperative Children's Book Center School of Education University of Wisconsin-Madison
Received on Fri 20 Feb 1998 12:13:44 PM CST
