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Cynthia Rylant's Books for Older Readers: The Islander and
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From: JoAnn Portalupi <jport>
Date: Sat, 11 Jul 1998 19:21:58 -0700 (PDT)
I haven't yet read The Islander so I can't comment specifically on that book. But I would like to draw a connection based on Megan's description:
" ... the narrative voice--that of a young man looking back on the events from his childhood that defined his understanding of family, home, and self, leading him from feelings of loneliness and isolation to a deep sense of identity and belonging. Such transformations as these in our lives often incorporate a sense of transcendency--stepping with trust into a world beyond the concrete and explainable (especially when it is first represented in the appearance of a mermaid)."
Over the two weeks of reading and talking about Rylant's work with older students, we found ourselves drawing comparisons to her book, An Angel for Solomon Singer, and her short story "Spaghetti" (In Every Living Things.) In working with these two stories we talked about the distinction between house and home and specifically about Rylant's definition of home as portraryed in her books. Megan's description practically fits "Solomon" to a tee with the exception of the fact that I"m not sure Solomon develops a
"deep sense" of identity and belonging by the end. Maybe it's too hard to move that far in a PB. Still, both those stories begin with characters who experience loneliness and isolation and through the events of the story take a step toward identity and belonging. Surely this is a central theme in Missing May. Our discussion of home, in the context of Rylant's work, led one student to define home as a place where you are needed. I love carrying that definition into my reading of Missing May where Summer surely found home and a place where she was needed.
What a treat to have Dick Jackson on line with us. Thanks for your comments on classifying genre. I've found myself ocasionally puzzling over a book (a similar puzzlement was Music of the Dolphins by Hesse.) The fact that one can get lost in a book without knowledge of a category is a good reminder.
JoAnn
JoAnn Portalupi University of Alabama at BIrmingham School of Education, C & I 901 So. 13th Street Birmingham, AL
(205) 934T19 email: jport at uab.edu
Received on Sat 11 Jul 1998 09:21:58 PM CDT
Date: Sat, 11 Jul 1998 19:21:58 -0700 (PDT)
I haven't yet read The Islander so I can't comment specifically on that book. But I would like to draw a connection based on Megan's description:
" ... the narrative voice--that of a young man looking back on the events from his childhood that defined his understanding of family, home, and self, leading him from feelings of loneliness and isolation to a deep sense of identity and belonging. Such transformations as these in our lives often incorporate a sense of transcendency--stepping with trust into a world beyond the concrete and explainable (especially when it is first represented in the appearance of a mermaid)."
Over the two weeks of reading and talking about Rylant's work with older students, we found ourselves drawing comparisons to her book, An Angel for Solomon Singer, and her short story "Spaghetti" (In Every Living Things.) In working with these two stories we talked about the distinction between house and home and specifically about Rylant's definition of home as portraryed in her books. Megan's description practically fits "Solomon" to a tee with the exception of the fact that I"m not sure Solomon develops a
"deep sense" of identity and belonging by the end. Maybe it's too hard to move that far in a PB. Still, both those stories begin with characters who experience loneliness and isolation and through the events of the story take a step toward identity and belonging. Surely this is a central theme in Missing May. Our discussion of home, in the context of Rylant's work, led one student to define home as a place where you are needed. I love carrying that definition into my reading of Missing May where Summer surely found home and a place where she was needed.
What a treat to have Dick Jackson on line with us. Thanks for your comments on classifying genre. I've found myself ocasionally puzzling over a book (a similar puzzlement was Music of the Dolphins by Hesse.) The fact that one can get lost in a book without knowledge of a category is a good reminder.
JoAnn
JoAnn Portalupi University of Alabama at BIrmingham School of Education, C & I 901 So. 13th Street Birmingham, AL
(205) 934T19 email: jport at uab.edu
Received on Sat 11 Jul 1998 09:21:58 PM CDT
