From: Merri Lindgren <Mlindgren>
Date: Thu, 14 Nov 2002 17:57:34 -0600

Thanks to everyone who has shared titles you've especially appreciated that portray a variety of family types. Like Jody, I was thinking of how step-parents are rarely shown in a positive light. "Lord of the Deep" by Graham Salisbury (Delacorte, 2001) is one of the few examples that came to my mind in which a teenage boy shares a strong and loving relationship with his stepfather.

We've discussed how some family structures are far and few between in books for children; others seem to occur much more frequently than you would find in real life. Orphans seem especially bountiful: "Dillon Dillon" by Kate Banks, "The Red Rose Box" by Brenda Woods, "Saffy's Angel" by Hilary McKay, "A Single Shard" by Linda Sue Park are just a few recent novels which feature orphans. Obviously, orphaned characters are fertile ground for authors to work from. What other books would you like to comment on that highlight an orphan's life? Why do you think this is a theme that never seems to grow old?

Merri

Merri Lindgren, Librarian mlindgren at education.wisc.edu Cooperative Children's Book Center (CCBC) www.education.wisc.edu/ccbc/ A Library of the School of Education, University of Wisconsin - Madison
Received on Thu 14 Nov 2002 05:57:34 PM CST