From: Megan Schliesman <Schliesman>
Date: Thu, 26 Feb 2004 15:32:43 -0600

Sheila Welch commented that "I felt that Mattie's relationship with the black boy character (can't recall his name) was a little stretched. I just didn't feel that such a friendship would have existed at that time in that place. However, I believe the story was based partially on the author's family history, and maybe she knew of a real situation like that."

I agree with Sheila--for me this was the weakest part of a very strong book. Not only did I wonder about the friendship, but I wondered about the boy's behavior when he challenges the white men at the train station. On the one hand, it was a wholly human and understandable response to the tormenting he'd undergone. On the other, I wondered that he would have behaved that way--by the time he's on the cusp of adulthood, it seemed he would have understood the risks that such behavior opened himself and his family to. As awful as it is to know that he would have needed to constantly monitor what he said and how he behaved in public, it seemed he would have been heavily aware of this.


And while the attitudes toward him among the rich hotel guests are definitely grounded in racial prejudice, it seems that most of the town is remarkably free of such prejudice, with the exception of the train station incident and its aftermath. It's wonderful. But is it realistic?

Megan

Megan Schliesman, Librarian Cooperative Children's Book Center School of Education, UW-Madison 600 N. Park St., Room 4290 Madison, Wi 53706 608&2?03 schliesman at education.wisc.edu
Received on Thu 26 Feb 2004 03:32:43 PM CST