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Logan family series
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From: Maia <maia>
Date: Fri, 07 May 1999 14:45:15 -0400
Susan Daugherty said:
I first want to clarify that Eleanora quoted Dean when she thought she was quoting me (well, I was quoting him) - ah, email is complicated sometimes, eh?!
I agree with Eleanora and Susan that we do have to discuss what really happened, in all its horrors. I also think that we have to do so carefully, so that we don't lock kids into a dark tunnel at the end of which they see no sky. Depression and violence go hand in hand - and kids that don't feel empowered to make a difference eventually give up. My concern about Taylor's books is not that they accurately described how evil it was, it's that I thought that they left too much of the good implied - the good that built and maintained that family. And I guess, as a reader, I also feared that she would ultimately betray her character, based upon her Newberry speech. Like kids, I have to believe that there is an end to the tunnel, a reason to keep on hoping. If Cassie's generation had truly given in to bitterness, would they have fought for the Civil Rights Movement? Is it wrong to want to be able to trust that Cassie will make it, that living or dead, beaten or lifted up, her soul will still remain whole? Maybe I'm nuts, (!) but I think that kids need to have a model for that, more than anything else. I'm glad to know that, so far, Cassie bears through - so I will go ahead and read the rest of the series. Perhaps in the intervening years since she won the Newberry, Taylor decided to hold on to Cassie's hope?
As far as revisiting "No Pretty Pictures," well, I imagine we'll be faced with the same questions when we look at "The Middle Passage" next month...! And again and again, anytime we look at a text that describes something truly awful. It seems like a complicated balance to me.
I think Susan's correct that kids (and adults) will find the events in the Logan family series eye-opening. One thing that Taylor does an incredible job of is describing the multiple layers of abuse - that it wasn't 'just' lynchings, but also a devastating assault economically
(when they were forced to plow the cotton under, and when the union was cracked by Granger's manipulation), as well as educationally (the soiled and over-used textbooks, Cassie's mama's removal from teaching), etc. I also think it does a good job of driving home the point that just because laws are enacted, doesn't mean they are effected - for example, the right to vote. And that's something that kids should be taught to think about as they busily memorize historical dates.
Maia
Received on Fri 07 May 1999 01:45:15 PM CDT
Date: Fri, 07 May 1999 14:45:15 -0400
Susan Daugherty said:
I first want to clarify that Eleanora quoted Dean when she thought she was quoting me (well, I was quoting him) - ah, email is complicated sometimes, eh?!
I agree with Eleanora and Susan that we do have to discuss what really happened, in all its horrors. I also think that we have to do so carefully, so that we don't lock kids into a dark tunnel at the end of which they see no sky. Depression and violence go hand in hand - and kids that don't feel empowered to make a difference eventually give up. My concern about Taylor's books is not that they accurately described how evil it was, it's that I thought that they left too much of the good implied - the good that built and maintained that family. And I guess, as a reader, I also feared that she would ultimately betray her character, based upon her Newberry speech. Like kids, I have to believe that there is an end to the tunnel, a reason to keep on hoping. If Cassie's generation had truly given in to bitterness, would they have fought for the Civil Rights Movement? Is it wrong to want to be able to trust that Cassie will make it, that living or dead, beaten or lifted up, her soul will still remain whole? Maybe I'm nuts, (!) but I think that kids need to have a model for that, more than anything else. I'm glad to know that, so far, Cassie bears through - so I will go ahead and read the rest of the series. Perhaps in the intervening years since she won the Newberry, Taylor decided to hold on to Cassie's hope?
As far as revisiting "No Pretty Pictures," well, I imagine we'll be faced with the same questions when we look at "The Middle Passage" next month...! And again and again, anytime we look at a text that describes something truly awful. It seems like a complicated balance to me.
I think Susan's correct that kids (and adults) will find the events in the Logan family series eye-opening. One thing that Taylor does an incredible job of is describing the multiple layers of abuse - that it wasn't 'just' lynchings, but also a devastating assault economically
(when they were forced to plow the cotton under, and when the union was cracked by Granger's manipulation), as well as educationally (the soiled and over-used textbooks, Cassie's mama's removal from teaching), etc. I also think it does a good job of driving home the point that just because laws are enacted, doesn't mean they are effected - for example, the right to vote. And that's something that kids should be taught to think about as they busily memorize historical dates.
Maia
Received on Fri 07 May 1999 01:45:15 PM CDT
