From: Nina Lindsay <linds_na>
Date: Fri, 3 Nov 2000 10:57:36 -0800 (PST)

On Fri, 3 Nov 2000 Aptimber at aol.com wrote:


I don't think it's fine for adults either, although some of us may be more adept at detecting this than children are. I think it's just bad writing.

Arthur Slade said in his post:

"It's impossible to know exactly what motivates any one person, but if you research enough you can find patterns in their lives that indicate their thoughts. "

-- and I think that's part of the writer's charge, and can lead to presenting interpretation as fact. It's very frustrating when I see this happen, because to an editorial eye it's so often easily corrected ... a matter of saying "may have" or "probably ... because" instead of "did"!

I find Albert Marrin's work to be particularly problematic this way. For an example of someone who manages to avoid this pitfall, look at Marc Aronson's SIR WALTER RALEGH AND THE QUEST FOR EL DORADO (Clarion, 2000). In his text and wonderfully explanatory notes, he makes the process of research-leading-to-interpretation clear to adult and young readers.


Nina Lindsay, Children's Librarian Oakland Public Library, CA linds_na at oaklandlibrary.org
Received on Fri 03 Nov 2000 12:57:36 PM CST