From: Peter Butts <pbutts>
Date: Sun, 18 Feb 2001 19:48:54 -0500

Erin wrote:

" .......I was a little disappointed to read about the game called Death early on--I assumed that was what they had been shown emerging from, and it seemed a bit shallow and unoriginal. I was relieved to find the game ended fairly early in the book and Almond moved on to weave a more intriguing tale....."



While I don't exactly disagree with you, I would say the game called "Death" is played throughout the book....just on a different level. The evolution of the boys' understanding of the connectedness of life and death, their own connectedness with the history of their town and the land itself, is part of what makes this a YA book for me.

The comment about the Christian elements was interesting to me. I last read _Kit_ on the Winter Solstice...a day that plays a prominent role in the book, and Almond's layering of both Christian and pre-Christian elements, the overlapping stories of Lak and the school play all contribute to the richness of the story.

There has been some criticism of the choice of a less "edgy," younger book, and I think I can allow that the committee anticipated some of the criticism. But as each of these layers was discussed, we became more convinced that _Kit's Wilderness_ was not only a fine piece of literature, but truly was "young adult literature, as well.

-Peter
- ************************** Peter Butts * "One man gathers what * East Middle School * another man spills." * Holland, MI 49423 ************************** pbutts at edcen.ehhs.cmich.edu www.holland.k12.mi.us/ems/ mel.org/education/
Received on Sun 18 Feb 2001 06:48:54 PM CST