CCBC-Net Archives
Batchelder Award
- Contemporary messages sorted: [ by date ] [ by subject ] [ by author ]
From: Monica Edinger <monicaedinger>
Date: Thu, 17 Mar 2005 07:44:31 -0500
I too was very moved and impressed with Crow Girl. I agree as to the way the various characters just stoically and without self-pity simple forge on with their lives. For some reason the establishment of a new home and family made me think back to the warmth I felt when reading the original BOXCAR CHILDREN as a child. But, of course, there is much more to this book than that. What strikes me now as I attempt to recall my original response when reading it last year is that while I'm usually a character-driven reader, what stayed with me most with this book was the setting and the atmosphere it evokes through the book. There was this sense for me (established, of course, at the start) of great isolation. I thought of certain northern places I've visited that were also quite isolated and sparsely inhabited (the far north of Norway and Finland, the island of Harris and Lewis ) when reading this book. It was haunting and lovely. I too wondered too about how children responded. I think it might be a worthy book for a class literature unit. (Hmmm....do I need to give up one of my beloved classics for this one?) Or a read aloud. (Too many to read and not enough time for me this year; maybe next year though.)
Monica
Date: Thu, 17 Mar 2005 07:44:31 -0500
I too was very moved and impressed with Crow Girl. I agree as to the way the various characters just stoically and without self-pity simple forge on with their lives. For some reason the establishment of a new home and family made me think back to the warmth I felt when reading the original BOXCAR CHILDREN as a child. But, of course, there is much more to this book than that. What strikes me now as I attempt to recall my original response when reading it last year is that while I'm usually a character-driven reader, what stayed with me most with this book was the setting and the atmosphere it evokes through the book. There was this sense for me (established, of course, at the start) of great isolation. I thought of certain northern places I've visited that were also quite isolated and sparsely inhabited (the far north of Norway and Finland, the island of Harris and Lewis ) when reading this book. It was haunting and lovely. I too wondered too about how children responded. I think it might be a worthy book for a class literature unit. (Hmmm....do I need to give up one of my beloved classics for this one?) Or a read aloud. (Too many to read and not enough time for me this year; maybe next year though.)
Monica
-- Monica Edinger The Dalton School New York NY edinger at dalton.org monicaedinger at gmail.comReceived on Thu 17 Mar 2005 06:44:31 AM CST
