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Lowry & Spinelli
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From: Steven Engelfried <stevene>
Date: Tue, 6 Apr 1999 21:18:08 -0700
I haven't read "No Pretty Pictures" (I confess: I can only take so much holocaust literature). I wonder how it works as an author memoir. Does it give insight to Lobel's work, or are her wartime experiences the story in themselves? The Lowry and Spinelli books were fascinating to read as
"author books." Besides giving bits and pieces of where her stories come from, Lowry's memoir really opens her up as a person. Like Beverly Cleary, the stark reality of her life doesn't match the image I had of the creator of Sam and Anastasia Krupnik (although now I should re-read "Autumn Street"). But she shows how the pieces of a life can come together and lead to something unexpected. "Knots in My Yo-Yo String" was more what I anticipated. We could already guess that vacant lots and back alleys must have been paradise to a young Jerry Spinelli. I'm impressed that he's able to take that almost idyllic childhood and turn it into some pretty powerful books. That innocent excitement at being part of a bunch of boys comes out in "Wringer" in a much more disturbing way. The only thing that bothered me about "Knots" is that I felt he used hindsight to rationalize a few things about that life. He was so honest about what it can be like to be a kid
(like the way he just decided he was going to punch another boy...that was perfectly rational in the eleven year old world I remember (though in no other world I know of)). But a couple of times I felt he was coloring the truth. I may have the details wrong, but when he writes about a teacher
(tutor?) that he and his teenage friends teased, then didn't visit when he was sick, I feel like he's trying to justify and forgive himself. There was a passage about racism too that I thought he maybe didn't explore enough. Still, it's a very good book...you could recommend it to kids who haven't even read Spinelli I think, and it will inspire them to try him.
Steven Engelfried, Children's Librarian Deschutes Public Library 601 NW Wall Street Bend, OR 97701 ph: 541a7p72 fax: 541a7p73 e-mail: stevene at deschutes.org
Received on Tue 06 Apr 1999 11:18:08 PM CDT
Date: Tue, 6 Apr 1999 21:18:08 -0700
I haven't read "No Pretty Pictures" (I confess: I can only take so much holocaust literature). I wonder how it works as an author memoir. Does it give insight to Lobel's work, or are her wartime experiences the story in themselves? The Lowry and Spinelli books were fascinating to read as
"author books." Besides giving bits and pieces of where her stories come from, Lowry's memoir really opens her up as a person. Like Beverly Cleary, the stark reality of her life doesn't match the image I had of the creator of Sam and Anastasia Krupnik (although now I should re-read "Autumn Street"). But she shows how the pieces of a life can come together and lead to something unexpected. "Knots in My Yo-Yo String" was more what I anticipated. We could already guess that vacant lots and back alleys must have been paradise to a young Jerry Spinelli. I'm impressed that he's able to take that almost idyllic childhood and turn it into some pretty powerful books. That innocent excitement at being part of a bunch of boys comes out in "Wringer" in a much more disturbing way. The only thing that bothered me about "Knots" is that I felt he used hindsight to rationalize a few things about that life. He was so honest about what it can be like to be a kid
(like the way he just decided he was going to punch another boy...that was perfectly rational in the eleven year old world I remember (though in no other world I know of)). But a couple of times I felt he was coloring the truth. I may have the details wrong, but when he writes about a teacher
(tutor?) that he and his teenage friends teased, then didn't visit when he was sick, I feel like he's trying to justify and forgive himself. There was a passage about racism too that I thought he maybe didn't explore enough. Still, it's a very good book...you could recommend it to kids who haven't even read Spinelli I think, and it will inspire them to try him.
Steven Engelfried, Children's Librarian Deschutes Public Library 601 NW Wall Street Bend, OR 97701 ph: 541a7p72 fax: 541a7p73 e-mail: stevene at deschutes.org
Received on Tue 06 Apr 1999 11:18:08 PM CDT
