From: 4joyces at mchsi.com <4joyces>
Date: Tue, 19 Oct 2004 12:51:33 +0000

Sitting on my shelf, with its battered bookjacket and wrinkled Newbery seal, is the copy of FROM THE MIXED-UP FILES that I read as a preteen. It has survived many moves and culling of books.

What I loved (and still love) about E.L. Konigsburg is that she treats the children in her novels with respect and without the faintest whiff of condescention. They are people that are somehow wiser than most of the adults around them. This is the "independence" that others have mentioned--and also the realization that the world of children is in many ways separate from ours, with its own rules and possibilities.

I was also a tremendous fan of Joan Aiken (WOLVES OF WILLOUGHBY CHASE) at this age (10)--whose children were always completely independent, battling evil adults. And they always did it with verve and humor! I wonder if E.L. Konigsburg is in a way carrying on that British tradition of literate novels with intelligent, feisty protagonists who work together for the common good?

Joyce Sidman www.joycesidman.com
Received on Tue 19 Oct 2004 07:51:33 AM CDT