From: Jonathan Hunt <jhunt24>
Date: Thu, 22 Jan 2004 01:40:17 +0000

THE TALE OF DESPEREAUX was one of my three Newbery picks (THE RIVER BETWEEN US and AN AMERICAN PLAGUE being the other two). I did not care for DiCamillo's earlier work nearly as much as most people, and I went into this one with a very hostile mindset, but it completely won me over, and then I read it aloud to my 6th graders and it won them over, too. Leaving aside the debate over whether the "dear reader" comments are endearing or annoying, DESPEREAUX still has one of the strongest and most distinct narrative voices of the year. Its other strong suit is the non-linear narrative structure. Introducing the hero, the villain, and the accomplice in separate and successively earlier narrative threads before having them collide in the end, and doing so in such a fashion that the book remains accessible to a child audience, is the stroke of genius that elevates this book to "most distinguingished contribution" level.

THE CANNING SEASON is a much more comfortable fit with BBYA and the Printz than with Notables and the Newbery. I see its core audience as middle school, but reaching up to grades 9 and 10 rather than down to grades 4 and 5. I'm happy to see her writing for this audience as I think they are much better equipped to appreciate her writing on their own (whereas children often need to have her read aloud to them or recommended by an adult). In order to find Horvath brilliant, you first have to find her funny, and I'm not sure that her brand of humor is as widely appreciated in the reading population at large as it is on children's book prize committees. A closer look shows that three of her prestigious awards and honors came at the hands of small committees. THE TROLLS and THE CANNING SEASON were recognized by the five person NBA committee, EVERYTHING ON A WAFFLE by the three person BG-HB committee. Of course, the fifteen person Newbery committee also chose to recognize WAFFLE. We've talked before on this list about how much humor varies from person to person, and I wonder if it isn't easier for a smaller award committee to produce a more idiosyncratic choice than one of the larger committees, but I am willing to entertain the anti-fuck idea and any other reasonable conspiracy theories. ;-)

Jonathan

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Received on Wed 21 Jan 2004 07:40:17 PM CST