From: Frank Daneli <edanieli>
Date: Wed, 22 Jul 1998 08:16:43 -0400 (EDT)

I just got through reading _The Fine White Dust_ for my Children's Lit graduate course. I was curious how young readers respond to a character who believes that religion, going to church without his parents and liking Jesus would relate to them. I decided that it wasn't the issue of religion. It was really the issue of a child's idol disappointing him or her. The Preacher Man can be anybody from a Scout Leader to a camp councilor or teacher who has made promises of doing something with a child and making that child feel worthwhile, accepted for his differences. The child feels important in the idol's eyes and then finds that he is not important at all. The disappointment and heartbreak is overwhelming. Pete says they are his
"Dark Days" which all of us have experienced. But do you think young people will see this connection or do you think that the topic of religion will be too central for them to see around it? Edie Danieli edanieli at nh.ultranet.com












At 09:07 PM 7/16/98 00, you wrote:
Received on Wed 22 Jul 1998 07:16:43 AM CDT