From: Kathleen Horning <horning>
Date: Mon, 31 Jan 2000 18:45:45 -0600

Jean, I'll be curious to see what you think of "May Amelia" once you've had a chance to read it.

The white European point of view that runs throughout the book, I thought, was that of May Amelia herself, who exhibits more of a 19th century point of view than a 20th. As a reader, I thought that was one of the things that made the book so distinctive. Much historical fiction for kids today seems to take a character from the late 20th century and plunk her down in the past. (Anne Scott McLeod published an insightful article about this in Horn Book a while back.) But May Amelia seemed, to me at least, like a 100 year-old year old, if you know what I mean.



I may be proven wrong by a historian among us, but it seemed like an authentic lateth century European immigrant girl point of view to me. Anyone else have an opinion?

Kathleen T. Horning (horning at education.wisc.edu) Cooperative Children's Book Center University of Wisconsin-School of Education 4290 Helen C. White Hall 600 North Park St. Madison, WI 53706 608&3930 FAX: 608&2I33
Received on Mon 31 Jan 2000 06:45:45 PM CST