From: Ginny Moore Kruse <gmkruse>
Date: Mon, 08 Jan 2001 12:08:19 -0600

Thank you to everyone who has written so respectfully about a matter which is so important, i.e., writing from outside of a culture or time. It's clear that people with "inside" experience do differ, and if we can think personally for a moment, we'll probably each recall personal experiences in which this happens. It certainly does in families as they reminisce. Linda Sue's example of responses to archival documents and family experiences makes that point, as did Rita and others. We look forward to Kathy's interview of Gloria Whelan in a spring issue of School Library Journal, and we also will watch for Dean Schneider's interview of Suzanne Fisher Staples in a future issue of Book Links. Sounds as if each will be articles to save.

Rukhasana's remark "I think anyone who writes from outside a culture will be scrutinized by members of that culture much more carefully. I think that's fair, and I think that's only to be expected." This is true of any award-winning book for readers of any age, whether the award acknowledges writing of fiction or nonfiction or art. Not long ago The God of Small Things, a novel for adults written by Arundhati Roy, received much acknowledgement. Yet some readers from India or who once lived there found parts of that novel to be distressing in terms of reliable cultural substance. Some of you have heard me say that the glare of a harsh spotlight shines on any book given an award or best seller status. That's why book award committees or panels of judges must not avoid raising and confronting any concerns about books under serious award consideration and deciding whether or not a highly appreciated book is worthy of a particular literary award or distinction - for any reason, not only because of cultural substance.


During this season of each year, the CCBC-Net community examines the books brought to heightened attention because they've received well respected, national awards for writing and/or art in books for children and/or teenagers. We do this not to trash the books or the book creators but, rather, to gain a variety of informed perspectives on each of these books. We keep in mind that each committee has spent countless volunteer hours (in most instances, make that days and weeks and months) examining, reading, rereading, and discussing eligible books. They've tried to do their best in making their decisions. The very book one group of individuals chooses to honor in a given year might be quite different from the book another group looking at the same pool of contenders might select. Ultimately it's a group consensus, and because it's inappropriate for committee confidentiality to be broached others can never ever really know the depth to which any award discussion went or the direction it took.

We hope that as each award committee or panel of judges will examine the eligible books for what they can appreciate first and foremost, they will also do the difficult task of exploring any inaccuracies, flaws, unreliable information, confusing organization or voice, etc. etc. The books selected will definitely be thrust into the spotlight, that we know. Perhaps a book is "moving," "affecting," "gives a memorable snapshot of one family in one certain place or time," "is a page turner," "made all of the kids laugh," etc. But is it worthy of a particular award?

It's fairly easy to see that the beautifully designed volume of The Homeless Bird has on its jacket a quilt not at all like the quilt featured in the story. This raises the question of whether or not jacket art or other matters external to the text of an award book need to be examined, and - if so - how significant are they? Do they matter?

It's interesting to me that no one has mentioned Many Stones by Carolyn Coman, even though it, too, takes place in a nation in which I'm certain few of us have lived or visited. Dean appreciates Many Stones. On January 3 he told us why: "Carolyn Coman has a knack for putting the reader in the head of her main character, so we're not just reading about the character, we're in the character, thinking and feeling our way along with her. This is a sophisticated and delicate novel you keep thinking about long after you've finished it. It handles tough themes with a sensitive touch."

In reading what you wrote, Dean, I wonder if you were writing about how Ms. Coman handled the theme of grief in Many Stones. It makes me wonder if readers of Homeless Bird have explored whether or not Ms. Whelan wrote about the grief of a child separated from her birth family. Or perhaps another question might be, would you use The Homeless Bird to teach about India or Many Stones to teach about South Africa? Or is each novel "about" something else?

Ginny Moore Kruse gmkruse at facstaff.wisc.edu Cooperative Children's book Center www.education.wisc.edu/ccbc/ A Library of the School of Education, University of Wisconsin Madison
Received on Mon 08 Jan 2001 12:08:19 PM CST