CCBC-Net Archives
newberys
- Contemporary messages sorted: [ by date ] [ by subject ] [ by author ]
From: Christine Hill <chill>
Date: Tue, 30 Jan 2001 15:39:05 -0500
Some random thoughts-1. Has anybody remarked that this is the third year in a row that the Newbery winner has been set during the Depression? It is interesting to compare the three with Thimble Summer, a winner written during the Depression as a contemporary novel. TS seems to take hard times and thrift as givens, rather than worthy of note. The only occurence which specifically tags it as a Depression novel is the teenage hobo Garnet's family takes in. 2. This is also the second year in a row that all (I believe; I haven't read Hope Is Here yet) the winners are written in the first person. Last year was a knock your socks off year for narrative voice, with Bud and the Prinz contingent, Melinda, Steve and (was it?) John (of Hard Love; I thought Skellig was extraordinary, but not for its narrative voice). The only one of this year's crew that compares in terms of first person narrative voice is Joey Pigza, I believe. Bud and Joey are such achingly real boys in the way they tell their stories, both smart and naive, both brave and foolish. Although I enjoyed The Wanderer for the plot and point of view, I don't totally buy either of its narrative voices as real young people. They sound like adults who use a little slang to me. I liked Sal's narrative voice in Walk Two Moons even less. She sounded like a little old lady to me. In contrast, one of Konigsberg's gifts is making a very smart narrator sound just like a kid. What Richard Peck does with narrative voice in A Year Down Yonder is interesting. The first sentence makes clear that the narrator is an adult looking back on her teenage self, but the narrator remains transparent most of the time. Her delivery is very deadpan. When she does show herself it is with sly wit, as when she reveals she had written the newspaper items or remarks in passing that Royce was never much of a basketball player. Christine M. Hill Willingboro Public Library One Salem Road Willingboro, NJ 08046 chill at willingboro.org My new book! Ten Terrific Authors for Teens, Enslow, 2000
Received on Tue 30 Jan 2001 02:39:05 PM CST
Date: Tue, 30 Jan 2001 15:39:05 -0500
Some random thoughts-1. Has anybody remarked that this is the third year in a row that the Newbery winner has been set during the Depression? It is interesting to compare the three with Thimble Summer, a winner written during the Depression as a contemporary novel. TS seems to take hard times and thrift as givens, rather than worthy of note. The only occurence which specifically tags it as a Depression novel is the teenage hobo Garnet's family takes in. 2. This is also the second year in a row that all (I believe; I haven't read Hope Is Here yet) the winners are written in the first person. Last year was a knock your socks off year for narrative voice, with Bud and the Prinz contingent, Melinda, Steve and (was it?) John (of Hard Love; I thought Skellig was extraordinary, but not for its narrative voice). The only one of this year's crew that compares in terms of first person narrative voice is Joey Pigza, I believe. Bud and Joey are such achingly real boys in the way they tell their stories, both smart and naive, both brave and foolish. Although I enjoyed The Wanderer for the plot and point of view, I don't totally buy either of its narrative voices as real young people. They sound like adults who use a little slang to me. I liked Sal's narrative voice in Walk Two Moons even less. She sounded like a little old lady to me. In contrast, one of Konigsberg's gifts is making a very smart narrator sound just like a kid. What Richard Peck does with narrative voice in A Year Down Yonder is interesting. The first sentence makes clear that the narrator is an adult looking back on her teenage self, but the narrator remains transparent most of the time. Her delivery is very deadpan. When she does show herself it is with sly wit, as when she reveals she had written the newspaper items or remarks in passing that Royce was never much of a basketball player. Christine M. Hill Willingboro Public Library One Salem Road Willingboro, NJ 08046 chill at willingboro.org My new book! Ten Terrific Authors for Teens, Enslow, 2000
Received on Tue 30 Jan 2001 02:39:05 PM CST
