CCBC-Net Archives
The Diary of Patsy and Other CSK Books
- Contemporary messages sorted: [ by date ] [ by subject ] [ by author ]
From: Megan Schliesman <Schliesman>
Date: Fri, 20 Feb 1998 11:29:42 -0600
Thank you, Brenda, for passing on comments from the editor on what the goals of the Dear America series are. From the response the books are getting from young readers, the primary goal of producing appealing historical fiction seems to be a success. And I know I certainly believed in the historical authenticity of The Diary of Patsy. By this I mean I knew it was fiction, but this made me appreciate the author's skill in weaving a tight story that was filled with historical detail without sacrificing the plot or emotional tenor of the story (sometimes so much effort can go into establishing a historical setting that these aspects get lost).
The issue of blurring the line between fact and fiction is obviously one of concern for some adults. Please continue to share any comments you have on this in the context of discussing The Diary of Patsy. I'm wondering if the response among child readers to The Diary of Pasty was disappointment when they discovered the characters were not real, or if it didn't t matter to them (even if it matters to some of us). Do young readers ultimatley not care as long as the story is good, feel disappointed, or, as Lisa Von Drasek has mentioned, do they argue the case for fact? (They ARE real) What is it that made Patsy so real to the readers--is there something in the narrative-?yond the packaging--that convinced them as well?
Nancy Silverrod and Karen Wendt have both discussed the potential problems involved when a child who is learning history or who wants to learn history--who wants to seek out more information-?nnot easily distinguish between factual and fictional sources. I have already mentioned how the Epilogue in The Diary of Patsy confused me, an adult reader, and I think the book would have been so much better served if the Epilogue had been ommitted--something that was purely fiction, but in which the voice changed from first-person diary to third person biographical essay. The photographs and other factual information on the era in which Patsy lived that appeared at the end didn't bother me because it WAS so clearly factual, though an introductory line such as
"Photographs and other information from the time in which Patsy's story is set" would have been ideal.
At the same time we continue to discuss Patsy, I also want to invite comments about the other CSK Author books as well. Forged by Fire by Sharon M. Draper is a "prequel" of sorts to Draper's earlier book, Tears of a Tiger, which earned Draper the Coretta Scott King New Talent Award in 1995. Draper is a high school English teacher in Cincinnati and was named the National Teacher of the Year in 1997. Forged by Fire, like Tears of a Tiger, is an intense, emotional narrative experience for the reader. It follows the hard, difficult life of Gerald, a teenage boy who fights to protect himself and his younger sister from the abuse of their stepfather and neglect of their struggling mother. It is a story of courage and survival. Has anyone shared this book with teeage readers?
Bayard Rustin: Behind the Scenes of the Civil Rights movement by James Haskins profiles this man who worked to support (and, indeed, to help conceive) many of the major efforts of the Civil Rights movement in the 1960s. Rustin is certainly a figure of rich signficance and I found myself welcoming the opportunity to learn about him in this way.
Megan Schliesman Cooperative Children's Book Center School of Education University of Wisconsin-Madison Room 4290 Helen C. White Hall 600 N. Park St Madison, WI 53706 Telephone: 608&3720 FAX: 608&2I33 schliesman at mail.soemadison.wisc.edu
When I read Nancy Silverrod's comments about Dear America, published here at Scholastic, I asked the editor, Tracy Mack, to respond. Here's what she has to say:
Our primary goal in publishing the series was to get kids hooked on history. To that end, we made every effort to make the books physically appealing -- this included not printing the authors' names on the covers, to give the momentary illusion that the diaries are real. (As you've noted, the authors' names are printed on the title page, so the only difference between a Dear America and a traditional book is the absence of the author's name on the front cover.) We were not trying to dupe readers, but rather to lure them in. What harm does it do a child to believe that a character in a book could be real? Isn't that, after all, an author's mission, to create living, breathing characters who speak directly to kids? Are "Catherine, Called Birdy," by Karen Cushman and "Out of the Dust," by Karen Hesse irresponsible? They are both diaries that are works of historical fiction.
I agree with Nancy Silverrod that it is important for students of history to understand how history is documented, what constitutes primary and secondary source materials, and what is fictional. (That's why we're so meticulous in the backmatter of the books.) But isn't that secondary to making history come alive? If we don't find engaging ways to present historical material, we will not have students of history.
Received on Fri 20 Feb 1998 11:29:42 AM CST
Date: Fri, 20 Feb 1998 11:29:42 -0600
Thank you, Brenda, for passing on comments from the editor on what the goals of the Dear America series are. From the response the books are getting from young readers, the primary goal of producing appealing historical fiction seems to be a success. And I know I certainly believed in the historical authenticity of The Diary of Patsy. By this I mean I knew it was fiction, but this made me appreciate the author's skill in weaving a tight story that was filled with historical detail without sacrificing the plot or emotional tenor of the story (sometimes so much effort can go into establishing a historical setting that these aspects get lost).
The issue of blurring the line between fact and fiction is obviously one of concern for some adults. Please continue to share any comments you have on this in the context of discussing The Diary of Patsy. I'm wondering if the response among child readers to The Diary of Pasty was disappointment when they discovered the characters were not real, or if it didn't t matter to them (even if it matters to some of us). Do young readers ultimatley not care as long as the story is good, feel disappointed, or, as Lisa Von Drasek has mentioned, do they argue the case for fact? (They ARE real) What is it that made Patsy so real to the readers--is there something in the narrative-?yond the packaging--that convinced them as well?
Nancy Silverrod and Karen Wendt have both discussed the potential problems involved when a child who is learning history or who wants to learn history--who wants to seek out more information-?nnot easily distinguish between factual and fictional sources. I have already mentioned how the Epilogue in The Diary of Patsy confused me, an adult reader, and I think the book would have been so much better served if the Epilogue had been ommitted--something that was purely fiction, but in which the voice changed from first-person diary to third person biographical essay. The photographs and other factual information on the era in which Patsy lived that appeared at the end didn't bother me because it WAS so clearly factual, though an introductory line such as
"Photographs and other information from the time in which Patsy's story is set" would have been ideal.
At the same time we continue to discuss Patsy, I also want to invite comments about the other CSK Author books as well. Forged by Fire by Sharon M. Draper is a "prequel" of sorts to Draper's earlier book, Tears of a Tiger, which earned Draper the Coretta Scott King New Talent Award in 1995. Draper is a high school English teacher in Cincinnati and was named the National Teacher of the Year in 1997. Forged by Fire, like Tears of a Tiger, is an intense, emotional narrative experience for the reader. It follows the hard, difficult life of Gerald, a teenage boy who fights to protect himself and his younger sister from the abuse of their stepfather and neglect of their struggling mother. It is a story of courage and survival. Has anyone shared this book with teeage readers?
Bayard Rustin: Behind the Scenes of the Civil Rights movement by James Haskins profiles this man who worked to support (and, indeed, to help conceive) many of the major efforts of the Civil Rights movement in the 1960s. Rustin is certainly a figure of rich signficance and I found myself welcoming the opportunity to learn about him in this way.
Megan Schliesman Cooperative Children's Book Center School of Education University of Wisconsin-Madison Room 4290 Helen C. White Hall 600 N. Park St Madison, WI 53706 Telephone: 608&3720 FAX: 608&2I33 schliesman at mail.soemadison.wisc.edu
When I read Nancy Silverrod's comments about Dear America, published here at Scholastic, I asked the editor, Tracy Mack, to respond. Here's what she has to say:
Our primary goal in publishing the series was to get kids hooked on history. To that end, we made every effort to make the books physically appealing -- this included not printing the authors' names on the covers, to give the momentary illusion that the diaries are real. (As you've noted, the authors' names are printed on the title page, so the only difference between a Dear America and a traditional book is the absence of the author's name on the front cover.) We were not trying to dupe readers, but rather to lure them in. What harm does it do a child to believe that a character in a book could be real? Isn't that, after all, an author's mission, to create living, breathing characters who speak directly to kids? Are "Catherine, Called Birdy," by Karen Cushman and "Out of the Dust," by Karen Hesse irresponsible? They are both diaries that are works of historical fiction.
I agree with Nancy Silverrod that it is important for students of history to understand how history is documented, what constitutes primary and secondary source materials, and what is fictional. (That's why we're so meticulous in the backmatter of the books.) But isn't that secondary to making history come alive? If we don't find engaging ways to present historical material, we will not have students of history.
Received on Fri 20 Feb 1998 11:29:42 AM CST
