From: Jillian Hershberger <jillian>
Date: Sat, 9 Jan 1999 14:27:36 -0500 (EST)

First, a short self-introduction. I have been a lurker for about a year and have found this list to be invaluable. I am Children's & Youth Services Librarian for a small maverick public library on the edge of Washington D.C. Our community is where the hippies and radicals from the 60's have moved to have children and become more sedate and lawyerly, though we have the die-hard granola set, the working-class set from the days in which Takoma Park was "Tacky Park," and a large immigrant population (approximately 48 different ethnic groups in a population of 18,000). I also want to make the disclaimer that I have equal parts envy and disbelief when people talk about what kids read and love in their communities. There are a few chidren who talk to me about what they like and dislike, but often this is really a mystery to me, what is really going on in their minds. So I ask those of you who DO have a clue - what do kids think about Bruce Brooks' new series the Wolfwings (I think is the title of the series)? I love these books about a ice hockey team, each book taking the point of view of another person on the team. In one respect they remind me of the Bully of Barkham Street books, where the reader gets to see some of the same events related from radically different standpoints. And the writing about the sport....I am not a sportster, but I have practiced some martial arts and other body?sed arts, and I find these books fascinating in the way they portray what is going on at a very deep level, sometimes with almost mystical overtones. I have a hard time following the plots at times, (the writing is not Matt Christopher by any means), but I still am mesmerized and compelled to keep ordering these books and reading them. I have successfully pushed them onto kids but have had no feedback. Speak to me, please!

Jillian Hershberger Takoma Park Maryland Library Takoma Park, Maryland
Received on Sat 09 Jan 1999 01:27:36 PM CST