From: Karen Breen <KarenBreen>
Date: Wed, 13 May 1998 19:58:46 -0400

Susan's comment about humor as a counterpoint to tragic situations reminds me of an incredible scene in Jan Slepian's _The Alfred Summer_. Lester, who is a CP kid, demonstrates his way of getting down the subway steps and, in spite of the picture of this boy with arms flailing and body as some sort of perpetual motion machine, his description of himself (or maybe it's described by his friend) is achingly funny. The author has personal experience with kids like Lester and allows us into his view of the world based on the humor she has found them to have. I used to read this passage aloud during class visits or assembly talks, because I was convinced that kids would warm to the character and then, when reading the book, which is funny throughout, they would learn so much more about perseverance. Likewise, I used to read aloud from the Bagthorpe books. Find the funniest scene and then, if you can keep from becoming hysterical in the reading, read it with passion. Kids used to find me terribly amusing I'm sure, when I was laughing so hard, I could hardly talk. (Oh, yeah, the weird librarian). But, they knew that they could count on me to find the really funny books. Karen Breen New Visions for Public Schools karenbreen at compuserve.com
Received on Wed 13 May 1998 06:58:46 PM CDT