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[CCBC-Net] Robert Cormier and Emotions
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From: Edie_Ching at cathedral.org <Edie_Ching>
Date: Thu, 9 Aug 2001 12:35:29 -0400
I just want to second Cindy's comments about Cormier's last book, The Rag and Bone Shop. I think it is a book that will demand discussion by young adults and cause them to think critically about our justice system as well as about interpersonal relationships. And yet it is not a didactic book at all and goes further than Myers' Monster. Edie Ching St. Albans School Washington, D.C.
Message----From: Cindy Dobrez [mailto:dobrez at novagate.com] Sent: Thursday, August 09, 2001 8:11 AM To: ccbc-net at ccbc.education.wisc.edu Subject: [CCBC-Net] Robert Cormier and Emotions
I am far from an academic expert on Robert Cormier's writing, but I still remember my first read of I Am The Cheese. It was the first time I felt compelled to immediately flip to the front pages and begin to read a finished book again. I was amazed by what he had done. I've read Patty Campbell's Presenting Robert Cormier book and have reread the chapter about I Am The Cheese every time I return to that book and still it makes me wonder.
Ever since that first experience, I read his books wondering what he is going to do to me next. Even armed with that knowledge, I am rarely prepared. I've read The Rag and Bone Shop, his last book, to be published in October and am once again amazed by the emotions that such a gentle man could evoke with his writing. I don't want to say too much about this book, hoping that most readers can come to it innocently, without having read too many reviews. It will be a book we will be talking about for awhile.
I reread After the First Death last year in preparation for the YALSA Best of the Best ALA preconference. I thought it might have become dated, having been published in 1979 and dealing with terrorism. It worked as well today as it did then.
With many of my favorite books I remember where I was or what was happening to me at the time I read the book. With Robert Cormier's books, I vividly remember the emotions I felt while reading his stories. Many of the negative responses that his books receive are generated because we don't want to feel what Cormier makes us feel when we read his books. His characters make me want to rail against all that is evil, and there, I think, is where we find the hope that so many claim is missing in his books.
I didn't know Robert Cormier personally, but I sure am going to miss him.
Cindy Dobrez, Librarian Harbor Lights Middle School 3600 N. 152nd Ave. Holland, MI 49424 616s8h84 dobrez at novagate.com
Received on Thu 09 Aug 2001 11:35:29 AM CDT
Date: Thu, 9 Aug 2001 12:35:29 -0400
I just want to second Cindy's comments about Cormier's last book, The Rag and Bone Shop. I think it is a book that will demand discussion by young adults and cause them to think critically about our justice system as well as about interpersonal relationships. And yet it is not a didactic book at all and goes further than Myers' Monster. Edie Ching St. Albans School Washington, D.C.
Message----From: Cindy Dobrez [mailto:dobrez at novagate.com] Sent: Thursday, August 09, 2001 8:11 AM To: ccbc-net at ccbc.education.wisc.edu Subject: [CCBC-Net] Robert Cormier and Emotions
I am far from an academic expert on Robert Cormier's writing, but I still remember my first read of I Am The Cheese. It was the first time I felt compelled to immediately flip to the front pages and begin to read a finished book again. I was amazed by what he had done. I've read Patty Campbell's Presenting Robert Cormier book and have reread the chapter about I Am The Cheese every time I return to that book and still it makes me wonder.
Ever since that first experience, I read his books wondering what he is going to do to me next. Even armed with that knowledge, I am rarely prepared. I've read The Rag and Bone Shop, his last book, to be published in October and am once again amazed by the emotions that such a gentle man could evoke with his writing. I don't want to say too much about this book, hoping that most readers can come to it innocently, without having read too many reviews. It will be a book we will be talking about for awhile.
I reread After the First Death last year in preparation for the YALSA Best of the Best ALA preconference. I thought it might have become dated, having been published in 1979 and dealing with terrorism. It worked as well today as it did then.
With many of my favorite books I remember where I was or what was happening to me at the time I read the book. With Robert Cormier's books, I vividly remember the emotions I felt while reading his stories. Many of the negative responses that his books receive are generated because we don't want to feel what Cormier makes us feel when we read his books. His characters make me want to rail against all that is evil, and there, I think, is where we find the hope that so many claim is missing in his books.
I didn't know Robert Cormier personally, but I sure am going to miss him.
Cindy Dobrez, Librarian Harbor Lights Middle School 3600 N. 152nd Ave. Holland, MI 49424 616s8h84 dobrez at novagate.com
Received on Thu 09 Aug 2001 11:35:29 AM CDT
