From: Sako Ikegami <sako>
Date: Fri, 15 Nov 2002 10:28:19 +0900

I'd like to mention Anne Fine whose books often portray interesting family situations. "Step by Step" describes various step?milies, "Crummy Mummy" is about a parent-child where the caretaker status is reversed. As in "Madame Doubtfire", the mother is the primary wage?rner in several of her novels.

Jacqueline Wilson's novels also show unconventional family situations. "Tracy Beaker" is an orphan adopted by a single woman, "Illustrated Mum" depicts a family where the single mother is mentally ill but refuses care,
"Secrets", where the child prefers to live with her grandmother rather than her mother.

And then there are the classic tales where an unrelated person becomes the primary caretaker. Streatfeild's "Ballet Shoes" among several others, the "Mary Poppins" series, and "Jungle Book".

Laurence Yep's novels also show diverse family dynamics. His two Newbery honor books have children being brought up in an all-male community. Sequels to these books, "Child of the Owl", and "Thief of Hearts" also involve unconventional and/or biracial families.

Sako
Received on Thu 14 Nov 2002 07:28:19 PM CST