From: rukhsanakhan <irrualli>
Date: Mon, 27 Aug 2001 12:34:43 -0700

Would you dismiss Booker prize

I tend to dismiss most Booker prize winners as being incredibly dull and pretentious. They take far too long to make their point, and by the time you reach the point it wasn't worth the trek. (Must be the children's writer in me--I tend to have a short attention span.) And before you ask, yes, I did make myself read some of them.

There are some good adult books out there but in my opinion they are few and far between. Two of my all time favourites are Alias Grace and To Kill a Mockingbird. What endears me to them is that along with sumptuous prose and brilliant imagery they didn't forget to tell a good story. (I guess that's the storyteller in me.) I find with most adult books you get one out of the three i.e. sumptuous prose, imagery and story.

Regarding your question: 'Does all children's literature have to be hopeful?' my answer would be an unequivocal 'Yes!'.

Children don't have the life experience that adults do. They don't understand that they can rise above their circumstances. That things can get better. That just because they're loner geeks as adolescents, doesn't mean they'll stay that way. (I'm proof positive of that!)


Kids need hope.

There were two major things in my childhood that allowed me to survive. Books and faith. Books were an escape when things got unbearable. (I tended to read historical adventure stories and fantasy. Loved Geoffrey Trease and Eloise McGraw and Elizabeth George Speare to name a few. I remember seeing the Chocolate War when I was a kid. It had just come out. The cover was dark and dreary and I avoided it. Boy am I glad! Gritty realism was what I was trying to get away from.)

Faith sustained me. Faith allowed me to face my reality and endure it. Faith in God, faith that there was some kind of grand scheme, faith that there was method to all this madness and purpose to all the suffering, and faith that things would get better or perhaps I'd get stronger, or perhaps a combination of both. I think the theme of the Chocolate War actually runs contrary to this. (perhaps that's why I feel so strongly against it)

These happened to be my coping mechanisms. I'd never dream of thinking they'd apply to everyone.

Perhaps The Chocolate War is 'hopeful' to some kids because it affirms how bad things are. Although I don't understand it, I'm willing to acknowledge that. But for the vast majority of kids it's incredibly bleak and might send them over the edge. Don't we have enough trouble with teen suicide as it is?

And frankly, I didn't see that 'sense of resiliency of the human spirit' that you saw in The Chocolate War. How can you find resiliency in the fact that the main character gets the crap beaten out of him? He doesn't bounce back. In the end he warns his friend not to buck the universe. That it's futile. What's so resilient about that?

I confess I don't understand this trend of copying adult styles that seems to be prevalent in children's books. I'm not sure why you even bring up the fact that in adult literature such bleakness is commendable. Why should it matter? We are discussing children's books, not adult books. Completely different genre.

If kids want bleakness and adult themes why don't they just read an adult book? They will anyway. How many teens are reading Steven King and Danielle Steele?

Rukhsana

p.s. I might as well warn you. I'm probably even more stubborn than that Jerry character in the Chocolate War.

http://www.rukhsanakhan.com
Received on Mon 27 Aug 2001 02:34:43 PM CDT