From: Vanston <jvanston>
Date: Thu, 16 Dec 1999 17:59:55 -0500 (EST)

On Thu, 16 Dec 1999, Rae, Bonnie wrote:

manner people would have been incensed. BJ

I was wondering how other people reacted to this message. I really liked WHEN ZACHARY BEAVER CAME TO TOWN (In fact, previous to reading it, I had my heart set on THE FOLK KEEPER for the Newbery. Now I'm torn) True, Zachary is intially treated as a side show attraction (and I think the time period in which it is set allows for this - not that it's alright (i.e. moral), but it would be more unrealistic in today's awareness [or PC attitude, however you chose to see it]). But I think that the book does paint a full picture of Zachary. In fact, at first I didn't like him, despite pitying him. But then I grew to like him as the book progressed. The book did not stereotypically portray him as a jolly fat person. He reacts more realistically - cautiously, defensively, as one might expect a person who has been insulted repeatedly to act. In fact, I think, after the intial gawking, most of the townspeople are kind to him - leaving food, checking up on him, not turning him over to foster care immediately, etc. (Of course, there are exceptions, such as the little boys who bang on his trailer) And I think Holt helps raise our awareness of how isolated and cruel life can become for an obese person. Sometimes a wrongdoing has to be addressed before it can be righted And if you think people today are kinder to obese people just because they don't pay to gawk at them...

(And I can think of another book - THE HALF CHILD by Kathleen Hersom - the child, who is mentally handicapped, is thought to be a changeling by the superstitious townspeople. The child is treated cruelly, or neglectfully, by some, because it's assumed that she'll return to her "real" folk if she is unhappy.)
Received on Thu 16 Dec 1999 04:59:55 PM CST